Review of The Warriors (1979) by Caesar M — 02 Sep 2012

The Warriors is one of those movies that I heard allot about but never actually sat down and seen it. Well that changes today and I could see why many people like this movie so much.

The Warriors is set in a future, dystopian New York City, turf gangs and cops rule the streets. When one gang leader tries to bring all gangs together against the cops Coney Island's The Warriors are framed for his murder and the entire city turns on them. The plot is straight forward and essentially doesn't offer much in terms of characters. Every single one of our main characters feels flat with not much defining personalities and I could rarely recall any of the characters being developed. Though the characters might not be the most complex the movie does offer plenty of excitement finding new ways to make the journey more dangerous. Whether it being outnumbered by an enemy gang or having the police chasing them down you'll feel electricity go through your vein while watching. The best thing about the plot is that its pretty simple and easy for anyone to get into, though it doesn't exactly have a message of any kind. All we see our characters do beside walking home is talk about getting and the movie seems to forget say anything significant about their criminal lifestyle. The movie might not offer memorable characters but it does offer entertainment in a very thrilling and worthwhile manner.

The cast acting is nothing groundbreaking due to the fact their characters don't really go through anything emotional. Their performances are still good for the most part with the exception of David Patrick Kelly who was over the top in his role and makes one lame goofy gang leader. The direction has a cool style giving the film a unique personality. Each gangs also has a different theme to differentiate themselves among hundreds of gangs which is pretty cool. One gang in particular looked goofy with their mine/baseball player theme which I couldn't stop laughing at. Just like some of the characters in this movie the fight scenes themselves are also look cartoonish but are fun to watch. These fight scenes are staged pretty well and are very impressive even putting some crime/thriller of today to shame.

The Warriors is not deep nor complex, it simple and stylized entertainment at it finest. If you got some time to kill or haven't seen The Warriors yet it's a great to pass the time.