Review of The Warriors (1979) by Rj M — 14 Jan 2011

It may be firmly stuck in the 70's, but director Walter Hill's journey through the depths of New York City has a legend unrivaled by most movies of the time. The movie caused such a stir in 1979 that the studio was forced to pull all of its advertising, due to complaints about the violence. The only gang movie to feature only 2 guns, it's filled with barenuckle brawling at its best. After being falsley accused of murdering a rival gang leader, The Warriors must make their way back to their home turf of Coney Island all the way from The Bronx. The problem is that every gang in the city is out to get them.

The movie is a comic book come to life. All of the gangs wear matching outfits, some of them so brightly colored you'd have a hard time taking them seriously if they walked up to you. The names are also colorful, The High Hats, The Boppers, The Turnbull AC's, The Riffs, and my personal favorites, The Baseball Furies, a gang dressed in NY Yankee baseball uniforms, and bright face paint. Every gang member is in top physical condition, because director Walter Hill cast Broadway dancers in all the gang roles.

The Warriors themselves are made up of multi-racial characters, led by Swann (Michael Beck) and Ajax (James Remar). Some of them aren't exactly the toughest thugs on the street, and you wonder how they were intitated into a gang to begin with. But just as the movie is comic book, the characters are caricatures, archetypes that are meant to show a type of person, rather than a specific individual.

Although a social statement at the time, the movie was never meant to be taken as seriously as it was back then. It's a cartoon. It's an odyssey through a strange land. Only in a movie could the streets of New York be completely deserted except for the roving bands of gangs. But that deserted look adds a tremendous feeling of foreboding. The photography is first rate, and "The City That Never Sleeps" looks completely like a ghost town.

Walter Hill is famous for making "guy" movies. Movies that appeal totally at the testosterone level, and this is one of his best. The extended cut DVD offers some shuffled scenes, and comic book style transitions to drive home the feel and intention of the movie. There also exists an opening sequence that was not included in any DVD that shows The Warriors on the sunlit Coney Island Boardwalk when they are briefed about the meeting they will be attending.

An interesting note....Director Walter Hill and one of the actors Thomas Waites, who played the character Fox, had such a falling out, that Waites is not even credited in the movie.