Review of The Warriors (1979) by Brandon W — 21 Jul 2012

I feel like if you went into the Warriors not knowing what to expect you would either be delighted by a decent little gem you'd stumbled upon or hate it and walk away but either way it really wouldn't leave much of a lasting impression. But this is a purely hypothetical situation as The Warriors has become one of the biggest cult films of all time and if you've heard of it and are watching it you will be having some expectations good or bad. The movie was filmed in the late 70s by Walter Hill who would become most famous for directing the buddy cop movie 48 Hrs. It was based off a book though god knows what kind of book, and was shot on a very low budget so low that Hill who wanted to give the film the look of a comic book could not even afford a splash panel between scenes which would have separated the "chapters" and is done poorly in the crappy Directors cut. On a quite unflattering note though the book was devoid of white characters under Paramount's pressure the main cast of The Warriors was predominately white though three black characters were in there as well. But anyways the film was shot mostly in Hollywood but in New York a bit as well (the closing confrontation is indeed on Coney Island) and using actors doing their own stunts and though it had a low budget and made little at the box office it became a huge cult film for the fight scenes and realistic depiction of New York. If New York were like half assed post apocalyptic or something. The movie has garnered such a loyal fan base indeed that its become a mild midnight shows hit and was made into a popular fighting game by Rockstar Games of Grand Theft Auto Fame, and popular Director Tony Scott attempted to do a remake set in modern day Los Angeles. But as my winding introduction implied the hype and cult status of this film may not reflect my own opinions on it. How do I feel? Come Out to Plaay-ayyyyy and take a look.

Look you don't watch the Warriors for the plot but I'll summarize it in a paragraph anyways. The movie takes place in some quasi post apocalyptic New York where the streets are run by flamboyantly dressed teenage gangs at constant war with the police and each other in flashy badass brawls. But as the movie begins the charismatic Cyrus (Roger Hill, can you DIG IIIITTT?) calls a summit of the gangs to make peace and join together against the common enemy of law enforcement. The gangs all dig it at Cyrus is encouragement except the nasty Rogues led by Luther (David Patrick Kelly, he does the Warriors come out to play bit so he's an Oscar caliber actor in my book) who shoot Cyrus in cold blood and in the confusion blame the Coney Island native Warriors. As all the gangs turn on them the Warriors warlord is beaten down and the proud gang has no choice but to flee. But when the other gangs burn the subway tracks (or put like burning wreckage on them or something) they're going to have to fight their way back through Orphans and Baseball Furies and Lizzies. It's going to be a long night for noble Swan (Michael Beck, trust him he's acting) brutal Ajax (James Remar, badass actor, disappointing character) and mild mannered Rembrandt (Marcelino Sanchez, some of the most fun I had with the movie was imagining the book was from his inner monologue because he doesn't have many lines but is always there).

I don't know how quite to sum up my feelings about this movie. It has a lot of style, as I said the Directors Cut with the phony MS Paint color splash cuts is BS but the original has a certain neon cool too it and some fun Mad Max/Escape from New York type imagery before at least one of those movies that I was quite visually satisfied. With the possible exception of lead Beck the actors have a nice sense of chemistry and camaraderie as well and act in quite an enjoyably over blown comic book fashion. But where the movie really falls short is what makes it most famous the fight scenes because frankly there aren't any. My friend had an Art School Professor who talked about seeking out the sight of all the brawls in the movie around New York as a kid so I was expecting some god damn fighting. But though there are some minor skirmishes or more accurately avoiding of minor skirmishes it feels like you're about forty minutes in before the first major fight scene. Now admittedly it's the famous Baseball Furies one and it's glorious but in a movie famed for no holes barred fight scenes I was expecting some goddamn fight scenes. Not comic book like monologues and the characters running a lot. I mean by the end of the movie there have been literally TWO good fight scenes the rest barely count though as I said they're stylish and have some cool imagery for however fleeting they last. And the final confrontation is cool in its own way but a huge let down from a movie that promises dudes in red leather vests beating the shit out of absurdly dressed other dudes. I see why it achieved that cult status and I enjoyed the movie very much in spite of myself but I can't forget my shock, horror and bitter disappointment the first time I saw it.

The Warriors is a product of its time and feels like it, a movie straight out of 70s New York and in its own way that's really cool and honorable. If you want something to capture the cinematic style of a certain decade and place you often need to look too the low budget movies people are getting stoned and going to midnight showings of. It has a decent soundtrack, damn fine directing for being a low budget seventies movie and really fun acting but don't be fooled by the hype. If you want brainless action you better be prepared to wait it out for the long haul because this one takes its sweet time for not a lot of delivery. Still its worth a watch or two stoned or sober and isn't terribly long.