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The Warriors


The Warriors (1979)



Director: Walter Hill
Cast overview: Michael Beck, James Remar
Running time: 92 minutes

I've been looking forward to this film for a while, and it's one I was planning to watch a while back but ended up sidetracked with other things. Set in New York City, it centres around a gang leader called Cyrus who is killed. The Warriors, the protagonist gang of the film, are framed, and they must make their way home to Coney Island. It's a simple enough premise, and one based on the story we are told at the beginning, relating to ancient Greece.

It's OK as a film, but not a lot more than that, for me. I can understand why some love it as it seems to be one of those films where you had to be there. It must have made a big enough impact on people when watching it back in the theatres and in the 1980s that it has stuck with them to this day as one of their film favourites. But, watching it thirty or more years on, it hasn't aged well. Firstly, it seems to be done in a tongue-in-cheek manner. I'm not sure if that's intentional - it probably is - but the gangs themselves are extremely camp and not particularly believable, the dialogue is naff, and I didn't feel anything for any of the characters.

Having said that, it is a very watchable film. It's not boring. It just feels camp and that's not the sort of film I typically enjoy. So maybe it's me rather than a problem with the film. But, hey, we can't like everything, and it would be counter-intuitive for me to give it a higher ranking than the one I think is reasonable based on how much I enjoyed it.



Quotes
Ajax: I'll shove that bat up your ass and turn you into a popsicle.

Cyrus: Can you dig it?

Luther: Warriors, come out to play-i-ay.

Trivia
In the script, Fox was originally the love interest of Mercy, but the two actors had no chemistry and the Mercy romance was transferred to Swan. Waites was fired eight weeks into principal photography, for being difficult and arguing with Walter Hill (director); his character was removed from the movie when a cop threw him into the path of a train during a fight. To this day, Hill felt bad about the rough times he has with Waites. Waites is not in the final credits because he didn't finish the movie.

Swan was to be abducted by a homosexual and sadomasochistic gang who had doberman pinschers. He was scripted to escape and lead The Warriors home.

In one take, Michael Beck (Swan) swings a bat into Deborah's face (in the scene where he throws it at the cop). She was rushed to hospital at 3am for stitches and still has a scar.

Trailer