Review of The Warriors (1979) by Alex S — 20 Jun 2010
If there is one thing this movie teaches us, it is that the gangs of today have no style, fashion sense or originality. There is a gang of mimes wearing top hats in this movie! Thatâ??s so dumb it becomes the greatest part in the 92 minutes of this movie, and they are literally shown for four seconds.
In fact, the ideas on display here are both the filmâ??s greatest and worst qualities. So our titular gang, the Warriors, are heading to a mass rally organized by another gang, the Riffs, in which nine delegates from 100 gangs will set aside their differences and rule the collective turf together.
Right. When the Riffsâ?? leader is gunned down and the Warriors are framed for the act (when, in reality, a guy who really wants to be Castlevania before there was Castlevania in the gang of the Rogues is to blame), they have to hoof it back 27 miles to Coney Island without any of the other 890 people killing them.
Sounds epic and it would be had there been time to flesh their journey out. Most films could stand to trim a few minutes off but this one would have totally benefitted from packing them on and giving us a reason to care for our gang (besides the â??what the-?â?? named leader, Swan) or to see more of these gangs in action.
Itâ??s a chase/road trip flick that brings so many ideas to the mix that none are completely developed as they should be. We see dozens of gangs but focus on a handful (though the undead baseball bat-wielding zombies, or whatever, were great and the guys with the roller skating leader were fun and, appropriately enough, provided the filmâ??s best action scenes), a gal is introduced so forcibly she may as well be wearing an honorary â??Warriorsâ?? staff production jacket and the entire thing ends so abruptly youâ??ll be forgiven for thinking you liked this movie more than you did upon reflection.
Still, there is style here (unbelievable as the whole thing is, the majority of it is â??coolâ?? and manages the remarkable feat of holding up today) and competent film work (the opening credits, the chase scene in the park, etc.
), so the whole thing turns out better than perhaps Iâ??ve described. That has to be worth something, right?
This review of The Warriors (1979) was written by Alex S on 20 Jun 2010.
The Warriors has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
