Review of The Warriors (1979) by Pablo M — 25 Oct 2010

Walter Hill ( "48 Hrs", "Hard Times", "Extreme Prejudice" ) shows his directing flair for action, drama and style in this crackling 1979 movie about a Coney Island gang falsely accused of murder and fleeing from their accusers....the other NYC gangs and the New York City Police Department.

Hill successfully adapted to the screen the moderately popular novel by author Sol Yurick who worked with the NYC Dept of Welfare in the 1950's. Yurick used the basis of ancient Greek history and the torturous trek home by Greek soldiers after their leader , Cyrus the Younger, was killed in the Persian Wars...and simply updated the setting to modern day NY and it's raging gang warfare embracing the five boroughs !

Set amongst a hostile, nocturnal world of neon lit train stations, baseball bat wielding gang members and lethal, gun toting women "The Warriors" moves along at a frenetic pace with a fine selection of young actors taking the lead. Michael Beck plays the cool headed, war chief "Swan", seeking to get the other members back home to Coney Island alive and in one piece. James Remar is unforgettable as the woman chasing, hot headed "Ajax"...always out to prove his manhood with his fists. And David Patrick Kelly is perfect as the murderous, but cowardly leader of the Rogues.

Attending a combined meeting of dozens of street gangs deep in the South Bronx to hear the Gramercy Riffs plans to control the streets of New York, the Warriors are wrongly accused of the shooting death of their charismatic leader, "Cyrus". The finger of blame pointed their way, they flee via any means they can and upon their way back to home base encounter violent opposition from the low life "Orphans", the shaven headed "Turnbull AC's", the face painted "Baseball Furies", the seductive all female gang, the "Lizzies" and even rifts within their own ranks lead to trouble.

The film was roundly savaged by several sections of the community (mainly law enforcement & welfare groups) upon it's release for apparently inciting gang violence and it's poor depiction of inner city street kids, and yes, there were several nasty incidents at theatre's upon the film's release, but these have been blown well out of all proportion. Although, I must say when the film was released in my country (Costa Rica) it was already riding a wave of notoriety, and attracted "bad boys" in their droves to watch this "infamous" gang flick. When viewed in the cold light of day, the film is actually fairly cartoon like in it's depiction of urban violence and most anyone who receives a beating seems to be left just rubbing their head and moaning ( think Sylvester the Cat ) in discomfort !

Actor Thomas G. Waites who played the Warriors gang member "Fox", disagreed with the script and effectively walked out in mid-production, so a grip doubled for Waites in several scenes and Waites' name was removed from the final credits. Additionally, the "Fox" character's fate was re-written to have him die in the film after being hurled in front of a subway train.

Interestingly, out of a on screen line up of promising young talent, very few of the cast went on to any real major fame & fortune in Hollywood. Lead actor Michael Beck (Swan) went on to appear next in the sugary "Xanadu" with Olivia Newton-John, and by his own admission, it was not a great career move, and his film career unfortunately never really flourished. James Remar (Ajax) has easily experienced the most success (with about 70 feature film's under his belt) and he has continued his motif of tough, aggressive leads in films like "48 Hrs", and plenty of "straight to video" action fare...plus Remar even crops up regularly on "Sex and the City" & "Third Watch" re-runs ! (It's good to see that hard hitting "Ajax" never left New York.), now a days you can catch him on the great Showtime series "Dexter".

And the terrific David Patrick Kelly has kept busy, usually in other sinister, criminal roles...check out his performances in "Commando", "The Crow" & "Wild at Heart" !

Sadly, young actor Marcellino Sanchez who played graffiti artist "Rembrandt" died from cancer only a few years after the films release.

The recently released "Ultimate Directors Cut" of this cult classic has several superb extras. Apart from an introduction from director Walter Hill, and some interconnecting comic panel art between sequences in the feature, the DVD has four mini featurettes chock full of interviews with key cast members and production staff discussing key sequences in the film, plus the phenomenal cult following that has developed for "The Warriors".

A colorful, exciting and fast paced film...albeit corny in places with that silly love story sub plot with bee stung lipped, Deborah Van Valkenbergh..."The Warriors" is a bonafide cult film with a legion of fans across the globe . . . .