Movie Title: The Warriors
Director: Walter Hill
Date Released: February 9th, 1979
Part 1 – Spoiler Free Quickie Review
I’ve never read the book the Warriors just because I find nothing wrong with the movie and love it so dang watch. I’ve watched it maybe 10 times. It’s a great just sit around with friends, watch the mindless violence and have a few good laugh at the insane gangs. The movie follows the titular gang, The Warriors. They are accused of having killed “Cyrus”, kind of the crime boss of NYC – and have to fight their way across New York from the Bronx to their home turf of Coney Island. On the way a number of hilariously awesome gangs are fought. There’s the gang they call “the skinheads” – who have a couple of black guys in there too. So I guess just skinheads because they’re bald. There’s a gang of orphans, a woman gang, a mime gang we fleetingly see at the beginning, a roller skate gang – and my personal favorite, the Baseball Furies. They are dressed up in baseball uniforms, wielding bats as their weapons and have ridiculous clown-like makeup on. I LOVE them. It’s said that they were “created due to Walter Hill’s [the director’s] love of baseball and the music group Kiss.” So that explains a lot. The opposing gang is pretty simple, their leader is just super insane. I love him as well.
If you like violence, a decent amount of plot to keep you interested, and an insane number of stereotypical characters – you’ll love this movie. It’s fun to just have a beer and watch this movie with friends. And don’t get me wrong, I love this movie and think it’s great for what it is. It stays funny and cheesy and the violence is always there, so I love it.
Part 2 – In Depth Spoiler Ridden Review/Synopsis
There’s a good synopsis here.
There’s really only one “spoilery” thing I want to mention, because it’s always bothered me. Supposedly these gangs are meeting in the Bronx with 9 representatives of their whole gang. Now, if this is a very important meeting, you’re going to theoretically bring your 9 best men. That’s why I don’t understand why the kind of younger kid, Rembrandt is there. I know for movie purposes it just makes it so you have a nice well rounded group, but for all practical purposes, it’s just stupid to have him there. One scene, the fight in the bathroom, he’s just kind of sitting in the corner with Mercy as everyone else beats up the rollerskate gang. Silly.
The “Warriors… come out to play-ay” thing gets me every time. That’s the line that sticks in your head and just resonates because it’s so creepy and so awesome at the same time. The actor, David Patrick Kelly, is actually the one that thought of this taunt. Originally, the car was just going to drive slowly by, but it was his idea to do this weird taunt. He said he based it off of a neighbor he used to have. That’s a neighbor I’d hate to have.
Overall: 7.5/10
Just go watch it, it’ll be fun. It’s not the best movie ever made, but it’s hilarious, fun to watch, full of violence and a decent plot.
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