The Warriors

Somewhere in the future, 1979.  That's the only way I can describe the setting of this movie.  It almost plays out like an american Clockwork Orange.  Lets take a look at one of the greatest films to ever come out of the 70's.


The reality portrayed in this film never existed but it's wonderful to imagine.  The Warriors is a story about gangs and gang violence in New York.  But every aspect is turned up to the hyperreal, giving the entire experience a comic booky adventure story feel.

The plot is simple.  9 men from the Coney Island gang the warriors attend a meeting held by Cyrus (played by scene stealing Roger Hill) a messianic gang leader who proposes uniting all the cities gangs and taking over.  However the leader of The Destroyers, another gang, uses the opportunity to sneak a gun in and kill Cyrus.  In the confusion the blame is pinned on the warriors.  They escape but lose their leader, forcing the second in command Swan up to command.  Now they must fight their way back home.

In a way, the unreality of the setting, which should be this films most significant flaw, actually ends up working.  The gangs wear matching costumes and facepaint to distinguish themselves.  One could imagine the warriors being set in a comic book universe and simply happening to be a story that didn't involve superheroes or villains.

There are also some pretty striking human moments in there.  One that particularly stands out is the short mostly dialogueless scene where Swan and Mercy encounter a group of normal kids on the train.  Nothing is said, it's a quiet scene that emphasises that even if the warriors live in a comic book world, it's one with deprivation and it's felt in a very meaningful way by our characters.

It's not perfect, Ajax is probably more obnoxious than needed and you can't help but feel a little satisfied when he's taken out like a moron.  In fact, the film rarely shy's away from the fact that it's characters are not particularly nice people.

Also for the amount they're foreshadowed and associated with the film, the baseball furies get taken out like a bunch of wimps.

But it's still an absolute classic.

Posted in: film, film review, the warriors