The Warriors (1979)

The Warriors is considered to be a cult classic directed by Walter Hill and sees a group of gangs attend a meeting helmed by Cyrus who is then shot dead and his murdered is falsely accused to be a member of The Warriors and the rest of the film sees the gang try and get back to Coney Island whilst avoiding the gangs and the cops.

Its a simple premise and it’s effectively done. This was made at just the right time. The streets look run down and probably required little to no dressing up in the same way that ‘Escape from New York’ did. The incidental music was excellent and added to the atmosphere of the film. There is something about music from this period that I feel is superb.

The gang’s are a bit cartoonish but I think that its probably an attempt to not make the film feel too gritty and off putting. There are several gangs that are trying to stop the Warriors from getting home and that includes the Orphans who are so far down the L chain of importance they weren’t invited to the meeting. Then there were the Baseball Furies who for some reason had face paint but seemed to be effective up to a point. Then there were Roller skating gang and that leads to what I think is the best fight in the movie which takes place in the toilets and I think that due to the confined nature of the room, its more fun. 

The film’s not perfect and its mainly because of the decisions that the gangs make. I think there are times when they clearly decide to make stupid decisions. Ajax deciding to chat up a woman on a bench in the middle of the night all alone does not ring alarm bells and to add the fact they are supposedly on the run does make him being caught by the police to be the thing he deserves. Also when the sub members come across the Lizzies and go back to their apartment for a party and they seem to have forgotten that they people are on the run and a group of women doesn't ring any alarm bells but mercifully one of them does and they are able to get out alive.

I really liked this film. It was one of those films that people talked about as being a great film and I was always meaning to watch it but when a showing appeared then I had to take advantage of this and I was glad I did. I thought the central performances were really good, the directing was equally as good and the soundtrack was amazing and made me go out and buy it. The Warriors is every bit as good as people say it is.