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The Warriors
Directed by Walter Hill
CAN YOU DIG IT?!!?
This is probably the one line that everyone who sees this movie will remember from the entire film. The Warriors are the BEST.
The movie starts off with a huge meeting. A gang meeting in fact. Every gang in New York sends 9 members of their gang to the biggest meeting ever held by gangs, for gangs. No one who goes is allowed to bring any weapons of any kind, and there are to be no rivalries. There is a truce put in place by New York's biggest gang, The Gramercy Riffs. The leader of the Riffs, A man named Cryus, goes up on a podium and gives a speech. He tells everyone that all of the gangs in New York overpower the police at 3 to 1. He says that while they CAN rule the city, they must keep the peace. Everyone agrees....well not everyone. Someone slipped a gun in and shoots Cyrus.
One of the Warriors sees who shot Cyrus but the shooter himself accuses the Warriors of doing it! So from then on, the Warriors have to huff it back home through countless gang territories ALL THE WAY. Everyone wants to get the Warriors. The gangs, the cops. Everyone is going after them.
The film is supposed to be set, "In the near future" however, it's obviously set in the 70's. I mean, people have afros for crying out loud! But regardless, the Warriors themselves always look cool. The viewer isn't distracted by everything seeming to be too old to be realistic. The film is instead stylistic, and this plays to its favor. The film is supposed to be like a comic book (in the directors cut version, which is what I watched, there are scene transitions where shots will freeze and turn into a comic book kind of style). This is how the film is played out and this is how shots are seen as well as how the characters are. People might not be entirely realistic but they sure don't seem out of place. The rival gangs might seem silly but the film isn't supposed to be realistic. It's stylistic.
The real strength of The Warriors is that the film makes the heros into a team and not just focusing so much on just one character, making HIM the hero. While Swan is the leader, he isn't treated any differently than the rest of the Warriors and all of them end up being likeable guys. This highly works to the benefit of the film! The fact that all of The Warriors is a good guy makes you care for them all.
Strangely enough the film is consistently able to get the viewer into thinking that there is an ever-present threat. In one scene just hearing a single person's footsteps even gets the viewer (as well as The Warriors themselves!) tense and waiting for who it might be around the corner.
The teamwork is really what drives the film home. The film doesn't specifically have an apparent meaning besides get through foreign, enemy infested lands, back home. But the way that the Warriors work together and stand up for themselves when they need to is what draws you in.
Roger Ebert was NOT a fan of this film. He thought that the way that the characters act and how even conversations are played out seem fake and aren't spontaneous like they should be. I would say that he's not looking at the film like it's intending.
The film isn't about male violence without reason. It's not about being exact in its interpretation of actual gangs. The film is a short epic. There is an old story about a Greek army who were smack in the midde of enemy lands with 1000 miles on every side of them in order to get to safety. There are enemies all around them in their quest to get back to their homeland. Sound familiar? The Warriors is about overcoming the odds, not about being a completely realistic depiction of gang activity.....I mean come on, would gangs EVER call a truce for any reason!?!?!?! And also, could they send people from their gang to a place where every gang, including enemy gangs would be? No, it wouldn't happen, but that's not what the film is going for.
The film is going for a modern version of the tale. Since it's not plausible for an army to be in same situation nowadays, it's much more sensible to use gangs. Same concept, but not as high a scale. The characters are treated like epic heros however and all of them are worthy of getting home like they are trying to.
This film grabbed me and is one of the best movies I've seen in a good while! I WILL be buying this dvd, and soon hopefully! The movie is an epic on a small scale. The characters are likeable and believable. The Warriors are the best, and they deserve their home turf!
I give this film
[5/5]
It's fantastic. It was a great film about a small group overcoming the odds against any and all persecution. I don't care if you hate all films before the year 2000 even (although if you do, you're an insane fool)!!! This film doesn't look dated. It is really great. Watch it or die.....like Puff Daddy. I promise you that you won't regret seeing this one. If you don't like it, you must be retarded , there's no other possibility.
September 12 , 2010
ILLegal Alien: Jedi Link of USA.
Of all the muthafuckas in the world, he's the muthafuckest.
This one is a bizarre case. Some places he fits in, others he stands out. No matter where you find him, he'll always be the same guy as he never puts up a facade for any reason. A filmmaker on the rise he has a vast knowledge of useless garbage. If it's in a movie he's seen it. Thanks to the internet he's seen worse. This one is severely scarred by an incomprehension of how retarded people can be. Generally a loner, he knows few, those few don't always support him so he stands on his own.
He is relentless in his pursuit as a filmmaker and refuses to be left out of a business he wants to see improve. He also has ADD which explains the somewhat "all over" nature of his own description.