Review of The Warriors (1979) by Orion C — 25 Oct 2010

Ever since I saw Craig Mack's "Flava in Ya Ear (Remix)" music video which began with Diddy (Puff Daddy at the time) clinking two glass bottles together and saying, "Baaad Boy, come out and plaaay!"Â? I'd been dying to see the movie that inspired that memorable intro, "The Warriors".

I'm always leery when it comes to 70's movies because they typically made them kinda campy, unrealistic and VERY "Hollywood" and this movie was all those things but somehow it worked. Probably because they let it be a story that didn't take itself too seriously, there's a great cameo from the late Lynne Thigpen as the DJ, (she also played the Chief in 'Where in the USA is Carmen Sandiego?') who cleverly narrates and moves the story along. Yet at the same time the movie expressed the toughness or gullyness if you will of the "Warriors" gang as they fought their way back to their territory in Coney Island. I also couldn't help but notice the beautiful shots of New York in the background all throughout the movie. It was also cool to see actor James Remar, who now plays the father and conscious of Dexter Morgan on one of my favorite Showtime shows 'Dexter'.

The most surprising part of this 70's classic was the fact that the famous line, the one referenced by Diddy himself doesn't even happen until the end of the movie AND if taken in direct correlation from the movie its use in the Bad Boy's video doesn't make any sense... But I guess we'll chop that up to artistic license and hell if it weren't for that, I wouldn't have even watch the movie in the first place.

"The Warriors" the movie is a timeless classic that was a good watch even today. It's earned a place on my "Top Movies to Watch before I Die List" and I'd definitely say "Rent it!" only because you can no longer see it on the big screen of course.