I Found Cool Stuff - Chapter 12: THE WARRIORS
Can You Dig It?
If I had to make a list of my all-time favorite movies, I'd make a point of including this movie. I'm not going to claim it's a cinematic masterpiece, although it's better than many think. But it does exactly what it sets out to do, maintains its mood and vision consistently throughout, and gives some truely memorable visuals and dialogue.
This is the story of the The Warriors, an up-and-coming street gang from Coney Island, who travel to the Bronx to attend a summit of all the city's gangs. The leader of the summit, Cyrus, "President" of the Gramercy Riffs, the biggest and scariest gang of them all, has a Plan, a Vision even, and he wants to share it with all his brothers and sisters. But something goes horribly wrong, and the Warriors get unfairly blamed. Now the Warriors have to fight their way back from the Bronx to Coney, with every cop and every ganglord in the city out for their blood.
At the heart, it's a retelling of Xenophon's Anabasis, set in a dark and dystopian 1970's. Oh, check it out! According to Wikipedia, today is the anniversery of its original release, February 9th, 1979! Holy Unintentional Coincidence, Batman! But I digress. The New York City of the movie is a dark and forbidding place. People are scared, crime is everywhere, and nearly everything has a layer of grunge to it. The gangs of the city are a fascinating lot, each gang set apart by a specific visual identity, their colors and clothes. Some keep it simple, like black tanktops with white piping, others are flashier -- like the Electric Eliminators and their bright gold jackets. The Warriors example of this is their brown/orange leather vests with their symbol on the back. The gang colors do a great job of setting tone, really. Dark and a little scary, but with just enough flash and dazzle to catch the eye, and give it the edge of unreality.
At the time the movie came out, there were fears that it was too controversial, and would spark gang violence in teens. This didn't really happen, of course, but it did give the film an edge of danger in the public's eyes, and helped make it a cult classic.
Be warned -- this film is not Politically Correct. The protagonists are not nice -- they are criminals. But you'll very likely end up rooting for them anyway.
One other detail. There was a videogame for the PS2 put out based on the movie several years back, and it is fantastic. If you liked the game, the movie does an absolutely perfect job of capturing and expanding on the setting. Most of the game is a prequel to the events of the movie, but then you do get to play through the movie's storyline as well. It's one of my most pleased videogame purchases ever.
The opening six minutes of the Warriors, Ladies and Gentlemen:
If I had to make a list of my all-time favorite movies, I'd make a point of including this movie. I'm not going to claim it's a cinematic masterpiece, although it's better than many think. But it does exactly what it sets out to do, maintains its mood and vision consistently throughout, and gives some truely memorable visuals and dialogue.
This is the story of the The Warriors, an up-and-coming street gang from Coney Island, who travel to the Bronx to attend a summit of all the city's gangs. The leader of the summit, Cyrus, "President" of the Gramercy Riffs, the biggest and scariest gang of them all, has a Plan, a Vision even, and he wants to share it with all his brothers and sisters. But something goes horribly wrong, and the Warriors get unfairly blamed. Now the Warriors have to fight their way back from the Bronx to Coney, with every cop and every ganglord in the city out for their blood.
At the heart, it's a retelling of Xenophon's Anabasis, set in a dark and dystopian 1970's. Oh, check it out! According to Wikipedia, today is the anniversery of its original release, February 9th, 1979! Holy Unintentional Coincidence, Batman! But I digress. The New York City of the movie is a dark and forbidding place. People are scared, crime is everywhere, and nearly everything has a layer of grunge to it. The gangs of the city are a fascinating lot, each gang set apart by a specific visual identity, their colors and clothes. Some keep it simple, like black tanktops with white piping, others are flashier -- like the Electric Eliminators and their bright gold jackets. The Warriors example of this is their brown/orange leather vests with their symbol on the back. The gang colors do a great job of setting tone, really. Dark and a little scary, but with just enough flash and dazzle to catch the eye, and give it the edge of unreality.
At the time the movie came out, there were fears that it was too controversial, and would spark gang violence in teens. This didn't really happen, of course, but it did give the film an edge of danger in the public's eyes, and helped make it a cult classic.
Be warned -- this film is not Politically Correct. The protagonists are not nice -- they are criminals. But you'll very likely end up rooting for them anyway.
One other detail. There was a videogame for the PS2 put out based on the movie several years back, and it is fantastic. If you liked the game, the movie does an absolutely perfect job of capturing and expanding on the setting. Most of the game is a prequel to the events of the movie, but then you do get to play through the movie's storyline as well. It's one of my most pleased videogame purchases ever.
The opening six minutes of the Warriors, Ladies and Gentlemen:
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