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Plot – All of the gangs of New York have been called to a summit meeting by the enigmatic Cyrus. Assassinated by the unhinged Luther of The Rogues gang, the blame for Cyrus' death falls onto The Warriors. The Warriors' turf is Coney Island, a long way off. And in between them and their home lies numerous gangs, all of whom are out for their blood. An epic journey is undertaken. It will take all night, and not everyone will make it back.
This film is quite dated. This film is really rather camp. This film is pretty daft. Oh and this film is also frickin fantastic!!!
At the film's opening we are provided with glimpses of several of the gangs that are going to feature; my personal favourites being the mimes (The Hi-Hats) and the demented looking baseball players (The Baseball Furies). Right then I thought to myself “oh yeah, I think I'm going to like this.” And that early inkling proved well founded.
The story is elegantly simple, it's basically a chase movie just without the cars. The Warriors have to make it from A to B, avoiding or defeating the myriad of gangs that lie in between. It actually feels quite like a video game plot, in a real Streets of Rage kind of way. I can just picture going into an arcade and playing this. However while it is a simple story, there is also something rather epic about it. It feels like a piece of classic Greek mythology, an epic journey with dangers to battle at every turn. As a result our heroes end up resembling somewhat romanticised, mythological legends. And if you wanted to take that further its extremely easy to see the female gang, The Lizzies, as sirens, luring The Warriors to their doom.
While it's perhaps not an accurate portrayal of New York I still think it's a great city movie. This New York is a violent, sprawling, almost apocalyptic playground were just about everyone you meet is wearing gang colours. The location shooting on the rain-slicked streets with a multitude of bridges, tunnels and subway stations helps to give the film a real flavour. Especially with the use of some vivid colours, atmospheric lighting and nocturnal appearance to really bring the film's comic book stylings to life.
At the time of its release the film proved controversial as it was accused of glorifying gangs and inciting gang violence. However I think its too over the top and hyper-stylized to really be taken all that seriously. The violence on show is not particularly graphic, and for the most part is unrealistic, cartoonish and fairly absurd, especially when they are launching members of a rival gang around a bathroom like WWE wrestlers. And on the whole it's just all so theatrical, what with the outlandish gang uniforms and rich, pulpy dialogue that I half expected the gangs to break into song and dance on occasion a la West Side Story.
To be honest characterisation is almost non-existent, with the gang members feeling reminiscent of the clichéd cliques found in high school films; jock, nerd, goth, cheerleader etc. They really are painted with just the most basic traits to slightly differentiate between them. So amongst others you have the smart, cool headed leader (Swan), the rash and impulsive confrontationist (Ajax), the tough, valiant fighter (Cochise) and the young tagger who they seem to treat like a young brother (Rembrandt). However what the gang members lack in depth, they more than make up for in colour and vibrancy. Though the film does take a brief respite for a small, quite poignant little scene were The Warriors find themselves sitting on the subway across from some kids their own age dressed up for a prom, just looking at what they have turned their backs on with their choices. And while none of the characters are particularly likeable (they are gang members after all) the nightmarish situation they find themselves in and their reactions to it give them a humanity and sympathetic manner, meaning that we root for them.
I actually felt like the film shared a lot of similarities with another film that I watched and loved recently - Assault on Precinct 13. Both films take relatively simple stories and deliver them on a small budget, but do them in such a way that they rise above their humble B-movie roots to something special. Both share colourful characters, rich and memorable dialogue and an awesome synth-rock score. And thanks to Walter Hill's direction The Warriors is able to match Precinct 13 in terms of raw power and intensity. Both are highly deserving of their cult followings. Along with this there is also a reminiscent touch of Escape from New York. Both films are set in a stylized, fantasy tinged New York and details a city overrun by criminals and gangs, with a hero or heroes on a perilous journey.
Also similar to Assault... is the fact that some of the acting is not exactly of the highest order and yet remains quite charming and accessible throughout, with a few of the cast; most notably Michael Beck as Swan and James Remar as Ajax, displaying a good deal of charisma. Oh and even though he doesn't have a great deal of screentime, in a weird way David Patrick Kelly creates a truly memorable villain in the twitchy, constantly on the edge Luther. Another element that I highly enjoyed was the all-seeing, all knowing oracle/radio DJ who tracks and reports on the Warriors' progress as they attempt to make it back to Coney Island. It's very effective and is presented in an extremely sultry voice.
With so much action and frequent running the film just explodes with terrific bursts of kinetic energy throughout, aided by Hill's direction. The set-pieces are frequently inventive and highly entertaining. For example the initial rally that opens the film with hundreds/thousands of gang members running around is quite a visual treat. And the chase and battle sequence with The Furies through Riverside Park is just a terrific, pulse-pounding piece of action.
The film's ending almost feels like something out of a Western as we are presented with a Mexican stand-off on a beach between The Warriors, The Rogues and The Riffs. Although I did find it a little anti-climactic as I was expecting one final epic throwdown between The Warriors and The Rogues. But outside of that I just loved this.
Conclusion – A hugely satisfying slice of counter culture cinema, this is just great balls to the wall stuff! With bombastic action and magnificent dialogue this is insanely good fun. If it holds up on a repeat viewing even half as good then I'd say it has a more than decent chance of making my favourite 100 list.
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Year of release
1979
1979
Directed by
Walter Hill
Walter Hill
Written by
Walter Hill (script)
David Shaber (script)
Sol Yurick (novel)
Walter Hill (script)
David Shaber (script)
Sol Yurick (novel)
Starring
Michael Beck
James Remar
David Harris
Deborah Van Valkenburgh
Michael Beck
James Remar
David Harris
Deborah Van Valkenburgh
The Warriors
+
(9.3/10)
(9.3/10)
Plot – All of the gangs of New York have been called to a summit meeting by the enigmatic Cyrus. Assassinated by the unhinged Luther of The Rogues gang, the blame for Cyrus' death falls onto The Warriors. The Warriors' turf is Coney Island, a long way off. And in between them and their home lies numerous gangs, all of whom are out for their blood. An epic journey is undertaken. It will take all night, and not everyone will make it back.
This film is quite dated. This film is really rather camp. This film is pretty daft. Oh and this film is also frickin fantastic!!!
At the film's opening we are provided with glimpses of several of the gangs that are going to feature; my personal favourites being the mimes (The Hi-Hats) and the demented looking baseball players (The Baseball Furies). Right then I thought to myself “oh yeah, I think I'm going to like this.” And that early inkling proved well founded.The story is elegantly simple, it's basically a chase movie just without the cars. The Warriors have to make it from A to B, avoiding or defeating the myriad of gangs that lie in between. It actually feels quite like a video game plot, in a real Streets of Rage kind of way. I can just picture going into an arcade and playing this. However while it is a simple story, there is also something rather epic about it. It feels like a piece of classic Greek mythology, an epic journey with dangers to battle at every turn. As a result our heroes end up resembling somewhat romanticised, mythological legends. And if you wanted to take that further its extremely easy to see the female gang, The Lizzies, as sirens, luring The Warriors to their doom.
While it's perhaps not an accurate portrayal of New York I still think it's a great city movie. This New York is a violent, sprawling, almost apocalyptic playground were just about everyone you meet is wearing gang colours. The location shooting on the rain-slicked streets with a multitude of bridges, tunnels and subway stations helps to give the film a real flavour. Especially with the use of some vivid colours, atmospheric lighting and nocturnal appearance to really bring the film's comic book stylings to life.
At the time of its release the film proved controversial as it was accused of glorifying gangs and inciting gang violence. However I think its too over the top and hyper-stylized to really be taken all that seriously. The violence on show is not particularly graphic, and for the most part is unrealistic, cartoonish and fairly absurd, especially when they are launching members of a rival gang around a bathroom like WWE wrestlers. And on the whole it's just all so theatrical, what with the outlandish gang uniforms and rich, pulpy dialogue that I half expected the gangs to break into song and dance on occasion a la West Side Story.
To be honest characterisation is almost non-existent, with the gang members feeling reminiscent of the clichéd cliques found in high school films; jock, nerd, goth, cheerleader etc. They really are painted with just the most basic traits to slightly differentiate between them. So amongst others you have the smart, cool headed leader (Swan), the rash and impulsive confrontationist (Ajax), the tough, valiant fighter (Cochise) and the young tagger who they seem to treat like a young brother (Rembrandt). However what the gang members lack in depth, they more than make up for in colour and vibrancy. Though the film does take a brief respite for a small, quite poignant little scene were The Warriors find themselves sitting on the subway across from some kids their own age dressed up for a prom, just looking at what they have turned their backs on with their choices. And while none of the characters are particularly likeable (they are gang members after all) the nightmarish situation they find themselves in and their reactions to it give them a humanity and sympathetic manner, meaning that we root for them.
I actually felt like the film shared a lot of similarities with another film that I watched and loved recently - Assault on Precinct 13. Both films take relatively simple stories and deliver them on a small budget, but do them in such a way that they rise above their humble B-movie roots to something special. Both share colourful characters, rich and memorable dialogue and an awesome synth-rock score. And thanks to Walter Hill's direction The Warriors is able to match Precinct 13 in terms of raw power and intensity. Both are highly deserving of their cult followings. Along with this there is also a reminiscent touch of Escape from New York. Both films are set in a stylized, fantasy tinged New York and details a city overrun by criminals and gangs, with a hero or heroes on a perilous journey.
Also similar to Assault... is the fact that some of the acting is not exactly of the highest order and yet remains quite charming and accessible throughout, with a few of the cast; most notably Michael Beck as Swan and James Remar as Ajax, displaying a good deal of charisma. Oh and even though he doesn't have a great deal of screentime, in a weird way David Patrick Kelly creates a truly memorable villain in the twitchy, constantly on the edge Luther. Another element that I highly enjoyed was the all-seeing, all knowing oracle/radio DJ who tracks and reports on the Warriors' progress as they attempt to make it back to Coney Island. It's very effective and is presented in an extremely sultry voice.
With so much action and frequent running the film just explodes with terrific bursts of kinetic energy throughout, aided by Hill's direction. The set-pieces are frequently inventive and highly entertaining. For example the initial rally that opens the film with hundreds/thousands of gang members running around is quite a visual treat. And the chase and battle sequence with The Furies through Riverside Park is just a terrific, pulse-pounding piece of action.
The film's ending almost feels like something out of a Western as we are presented with a Mexican stand-off on a beach between The Warriors, The Rogues and The Riffs. Although I did find it a little anti-climactic as I was expecting one final epic throwdown between The Warriors and The Rogues. But outside of that I just loved this.
Conclusion – A hugely satisfying slice of counter culture cinema, this is just great balls to the wall stuff! With bombastic action and magnificent dialogue this is insanely good fun. If it holds up on a repeat viewing even half as good then I'd say it has a more than decent chance of making my favourite 100 list.