Week 2: The Warriors (1979)

Can you dig it?

The Warriors
Directed by Walter Hill
Written by Sol Yurick (novel), David Shabe & Walter Hill (screenplay)
Starring Michael Beck,James Remar,Deborah Van Valkenburgh,David Patrick Kelly
Cinematography Andrew Laszlo
Editing by David Holden
Distributed by Paramount Pictures
Running time 93 minutes

Before Viewing

I grew up around the same time this movie came out, and when I was a kid, the part of town I lived in had gangs in it. Not the ‘thug life/Colors/Bloods/Crips’ types of gang members of the mid-to-late 80s (those came later), but the kind of gangs associated with the 70s- cholos, spray-painters, that kind of street gang. It wasn’t so much about color and bandanas as it was about neighborhoods and territories. Although I wasn’t really exposed to it, I knew about it.

The other thing that was around when I was a kid and was fairly new to me was cable/pay TV. I used to love looking through the cable guide at all the movies, looking at both the ones I was excited about watching and the ones I knew  my parents wouldn’t let me watch. Needless to say, I did a lot of reading about those Rated R films. I was aware of a lot of them. I figured that one day, I’d get the chance to see some of those films.

I bring both of these up because the film ‘The Warriors’, which I watched, ties into both of these. It deals with those street gangs of the 70s who were interested in marking up and defending their turf. I remember years ago reading about the film and seeing the trailers for the film and being intrigued, especially by the looks of the gangs (I mean, look at the poster to the right- what 8 year old WOULDN’T be fascinated by some of those thugs?). Recently, I kept coming across references to the film in diffrent articles and blogs I had been reading, and I decided to track a copy down. I was excited when I finally had a chance to see this cult classic.

**Before I go on, I do have to mention that I saw the Ultimate Directors Cut version on DVD. If you are a fan of the movie from WAAAAAY back and haven’t seen this version, you might be scratching your head about some stuff I mentioned. It might be worth revisiting the film in its new form to see what you think. OK, that’s out of the way.**

My Thoughts After Viewing

The thing that I first noticed was the ‘comic book’-style animations that are a part of the new director’s cut of the film (I was aware of them from reading different articles before viewing). Personally, I liked them because it gave the movie the feeling of being a mini-epic, as if the story were were about to see was one for the ages. Basically, the montage compared the Warriors, a gang of Coney Island toughs, to ancient Greek mercinaries who had to fight their way out of enemy territory and back home (which is really what the movie is in a nutshell).

The opening montage of the Warriors at their Coney Island turf preparing for the big gang summit mixed with the footage of the other gangs making their way to the meeting as a great way to introduce some of the colorful characters the Warriors would be meeting. Some of them look cool, some look mean, and some are downright goofy (I’ve never seen such a vicious group of mimes, for example). Then you have groups so bizarre, it’s hard to know whether to be terrified or amused (the Baseball Furies, anyone?) Nevertheless, the setup is great because you get a sense of the eclectic groups that you know the Warriors will be face. The nine Warriors making their way into the City for the gang summit seem so loose and relaxed on the subway while the other gangs look deadly serious. Even though these guys are gang members, you can’t help but like them- Cleon the leader, Rembrant the tagger, and guys like Fox, Ajax, and Swanwho seem to be the muscle. The boys are on the way to a gang summit deep in the heart of the city. One of the leaders of the Grammarcy Riffs, Cyrus, because he has a revolutionary idea- he wants all the street gangs to end the fighting between each other and instead band together to form a super gang that would outnumber the total amount of law enforcement in the city. Under his plan, this 60,000 strong gan would rule the city. Although everyone seems enthused by the plan, things quickly change when Cyrus is assassinated by Luther, leader of the gang the Rogues, for reasons which are not initially clear. One of the Warriors sees Luther shoot Cyrus, but Luther quickly turns the tables by loudly accusing the Warriors of doing the killing during the chaos of the moment. Suddenly, the Warriors have a price on their head. Their leader Cleon is jumped and presumably killed by the Riffs, but the remaining 8 Warriors safely make their way out of the meeting area when the police start raiding the meeting.

However, now they have a problem. They are far away from home and now have been blamed for the murder. Word goes out quickly from the Riffs- bring us the Warriors, dead or alive. The group of 8, stuck in a cemetary, now know that they have to somehow make their way home to Coney Island through miles of unfriendly and unsympathetic gang territory. The journey home makes up the rest of the film.

The rest of the film follows a pretty episodic structure. There’s tension between Swan and Ajax over who should be the de facto leader now that Cleon’s gone. Swan prevails, but you know that he also needs to watch his back. The Warriors need to battle their way back home, and along the way they face a number of different gangs, all with a unique identity:

* The Turnbull ACs, a gang of denim clad skinheads

* The Orphans, a weak group of wanna-be’s so insignificant that they weren’t invited to the gang summit

* The Baseball Furies, a baseball jersey-wearing, face-painted, bat-toting band of toughs 

* The Lizzies, an all-female gang who tries to seduce and kill some members of the gang

* The Punks, who looked like they stepped out of the “Come On Eileen’ Video

The Warriors, tough guys that they are, take on each group successfully. What I did like about the film was that not every Warrior makes it back. One dies, one gets arrested- you don’t necessarily know who’s going to survive. Along the way they pick up a female, Mercy, who almost gets them into trouble, but in the end she falls for one of the Warriors. She was actually a pretty interesting character. I will say that all the main characters, like Ajax, Swan, and even Rembrant, did a good job looking both scared and tough at the same time. I found them believable enough that it made the film enjoyable. In the end, that’s all that matters with this film- it’s fun. I had a good time watching it, watching these guys go round after round with the goofiest bunch of enemies this side of a 80s Nintendo game. You enjoy watching these guys on their journey, you hope they make in through, and you feel satisfaction when they face their final battle on the beach against the Luther and the Rogues. Even though these guys are street thugs, you feel for them and you want them to prevail. It’s easy to see how this film became a cult classic.

The Final Verdict

That 8 year old kid whose interest was piqued in this film many, many years ago was NOT disappointed. I enjoyed watching the film so much, it passed one of my ultimate tests- I went out and bought it on DVD so I could watch it again! You need to check it out, especially if it’s a film that you vaguely remember from your childhood.