When I first decided to try and write about The Warriors, I went into this thinking that this was a classic that everyone was familiar with and I might face some harsh judgement from critics with whatever I had to say. Then I showed the Netflix sleeve to Mary and she said something like “What is this? A comedy or something?” and I replied with with “Huh?? That’s one of my favorite movies, what are you an alien??” And I got “Uh, OK, I don’t know about this.” so I told her to “Beat it, kid” and then went about my business. A little bit later, my friend Jeffrey J came into my office to ask about something and I was like, “do you remember this???” and he looked at it and said something to the effect of, “Never heard of it” and I thought to myself, “who are these communists?” and then I got around to watching one of my favorite movies ever.
So, I guess I don’t know. In my eyes this is a CLASSIC film – a snapshot of the late 70s in gritty, gang style, dirty New York detail with wicked acting and a great story and a fantastic cast and killer music with super effective slow motion action scenes. No CGI, no fluff, no bullshit. I’ve probably seen this 50 times and I loved it the other day when I watched it just as much as I did when I was a kid. But I also got to thinking – you know – this might not resonate and be considered a classic by people who aren’t familiar with the time it was made (vis a vis Mary). I mean, this is about a group of GANGS making a truce to get together and talk about taking over New York – and they all come in many different “colors” – some of which include dudes in mime outfits, roller skaters, pink jackets, huge afros and leather vests with no shirts. So, using Mary again, she might try to check this out and think “whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatt?”.
In no way can i say that I “lived this”… I grew up in the 70s in middle America and California, but I remember street gangs before there was “Colors”. Groups of dudes hanging around the local 7-11 with switchblades who liked to push kids like me around and spit on us when we were playing video games – it was no fun but I wasn’t living in the boroughs of New York so I am sure it was much more tame. With all of that said, to me this is a classic movie and one that I will always love, but it might not be for “new” viewers who aren’t familiar with the subject matter or the time frame – as in – people that don’t remember what it was like to not have a cell phone or had to get up to change the TV channel : )
The story here is about gang land New York – and a dude named Cyrus (the leader of The Grammercy Riffs) calls a truce to stop wasting each other and gathers a shitload of people together to unite everyone and take over the city. If you’ve seen this, you’ll appreciate this quote: “Caaaaaaaaaaannn youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigggg itttttttttttttt?” (If you haven’t seen it, that’s kind of his memorable unification line). Well, some weird looking memeber of The Rogues decides to waste Cyrus and blames it on The Warriors so they high tail it out of there, realize they’re marked men and that they’re going to have to Bop (fight) all the way back home to Coney Island when the new leader of The Riffs puts a bounty on their head.
That’s right Boppers! Swan, Snow, Ajax, Cochise, Cowboy, Rembrandt and Vermin are going to have the night of their lives! They have to escape from skin heads, The Orphans, The Lizzies, the roller skater gang, the cops, The Rogues and last but never least, The Baseball Furies. I don’t know about you, but these guys freaked me the fuck out and that chase scene through the park is fucking fantastic! If you haven’t ever seen this – yashould.
P.S. – After I watched this and wrote my drafts, I gave it to Mary for a watch to test my theory and…….. she liked it!! Hopefully she’ll comment about her experience.
I am really excited about this movie!! When I first read the movie description on the Netflix sleeve, I thought it sounded extremely lame. However, I decided I would watch it and boy I am sure glad I did!!! I actually went home to see if this was available for streaming through Netflix and sadly it is not. So now I have to wait for EI to buy it — but now that I have typed that sentence I am not so sure I can wait. I might have to go get my own copy!! This movie was extremely entertaining! And those Baseball Furies – scary peeps running through the park with bats — come on Warriors remember to use your feet in a fight!! I can’t wait to watch this again!!!!
LikeLike
YAY!!!
LikeLike
For those of you who read the comments on posts – We normally make a big deal out of Friday the 13th here and I point everyone to the F 13 page but…. I used to have this blog over on iWeb and there I would just copy and paste images in to the browser. Right when I got the hang of iWeb they shut it down and I moved to WP and copied and pasted all of the old posts here. I noticed yesterday that every single picture from the old site has vanished and my OCD has me screaming so I am spending a ton of time fixing hundreds of missing images. WAAAAAHHH.
LikeLike
Hmmm, you have made a convincing case, I might look into this!
LikeLike
YOU SHOULD!!
LikeLike
I remember this from a late night movie one time. I enjoyed it, for a cult classic.
LikeLike
Hey THANKS John! I’m happy to hear I’m not alone!
LikeLike
Actually, the film IS a comedy. An unintentional comedy. Don’t get me wrong. I love it. But it’s cheesy. REALLY cheesy. It’s gritty and it’s fun. But cheesy, too. Plus, I love the look of NYC in the 1970s.
LikeLike
I know – one of the things that really stood out to me was how 100% dirty everything was… their clothes, the streets, their fingernails – everything –
LikeLike
It’s actually like that for a lot of NYC movies in the 1970s, and to an extent, into the 1980s. It seemed a lot more… “alive” in the ’70s films though. Sleazy, dirty, grimy, dirty, graffiti-ed, all before they began cleaning it up. In THE WARRIORS, Walter Hill really makes the city come “alive” though, like it has its own identity. The film wouldn’t have been the same without that gritty look and feel.
LikeLike
absolutely! I am guessing you’ve seen this in its original format – the copy I got from netflix had an opening by Hill and some sort of comic book segue at certain points. People need to root out the “original” IMO.
LikeLike
Yeah, I’ve never seen the “comic book segue” one. Man, I feel like watching this one again. Who could forget the music? That opening theme song kicks ass (with the gang members posing and delivering their dialogue with monotony). IN THE CITYYYY. Even the subway stations look alive. Plus, DAVID PATRICK KELLY as a gang leader? Hilarious. I’m going to watch this again.
LikeLike
I can dig it!
LikeLike
I’ve never heard of this but it sounds fantastic! 70s gang movies are generally awesome (if somewhat cheesy) and though I usually tend toward the girl gangs (Switchblade Sisters, Pinky Violence), those dudes seriously look creepy!
LikeLike
You’re in luck! This has a gang of tough ladies called The
Lizzies to fit the bill! You’ll love it!
LikeLike
Sa-weet!!
LikeLike
You are spot on with this one . It is an absolute CLASSIC!
Have you ever seen SAVAGE STREETS? That one is very good, also.
LikeLike
Thank you very much jpthorn! And nope, haven’t seen that but I am going to in the near future – thanks!
LikeLike
Warriiiiiiiors…come out and playeyay!
Hells yeah it’s a classic! But I too didn’t see this flick until it was 15 years old or so when I was in high school.
LikeLike
I loved this movie so much I joined a gang.
LikeLike
SWEET! What kind? Roller skaters? Switchblades? Pink Furies??
LikeLike
True story: The guy who played Vermin taught my public speaking class in college.
LikeLike
Hey!! Awesome!!
LikeLike
I’ve always wanted to see this, so thanks for jogging my memory.
I recently watched The Wanderers thinking it was this. D’oh!
And that was very boring.
LikeLike
HA! I don’t think that’s close – THIS is a FINE, FINE movie!!
LikeLike
I grew up in the 90’s, but this movie is one of my mom’s favourites. She busted it out one family movie night and we were all riveted. I was probably 12 when I saw it for the first time and I remember thinking how scary it would be if all the gangs in the city rose up and revolted against the cops. It stayed with me for a long time and I still love this movie today. Great post!
LikeLike
This movie is one of the best! An Isaacs family classic!! Thanks for looking at this old post, Smash!!
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Isaacs Picture Conclusions and commented:
This reblog is to test a couple of things for the upcoming holidays. 1) I want to see if have figured out how to mess with a reblog and not jack up my theme I pay for and 2) this is one of my favorite posts I’ve done and I would only love it if some of the new Most Beloveds would like to check it out and 3) I could copy the post but I don’t want to lose all of the previous comments and 4) I heart you all. Except Brian. It is purely a sexual thing between Brian and I. Or do I mean “asexual” thing?
ei
LikeLike
So I remember not having a cell phone, and having to stand up to change the channel on the TV. I remember when email was a big deal, and if you had an address, you were awesome. And I remember when high speed internet was as Sci-Fi as alien abductions.
But I have never heard of this movie. (That I was born the year it was made might have something to do with it.) I’ll look into it at some point, though.
LikeLike
Well – I certainly hope you like it – it’s one of my favorites.
Also – I remember when there were only THREE TV channels where I live….
LikeLike
I think we had four. ABC. NBC. CBS. And PBS. Eventually FOX came along to make it five.
And then cable exploded and I got to be jealous of most of my friends.
And then my single mom finished school, found a real job and got off of welfare. And suddenly, we had cable, too. 🙂
LikeLike
You’re right – I forgot PBS and the nightly sign offs “I have reached the bounds of heaven” or some such…
Sounds like a success story!
LikeLike
Mostly. All people have their flaws, though. 🙂
LikeLike
So glad you like The Warriors, Eric. It’s a top movie, made by Walter Hill in his prime. See also The Driver, Streets of Fire etc. Even the videogame by Rockstar was damn cool.
LikeLike
I love it!! I barely remember Streets of Fire – I’ll have to revisit…
LikeLike
Well, I can say I have heard of it, so you won’t hate me there, but I have never seen it. I don’t really have a desire to check this out, but might if it’ll make you happy :).
LikeLike
Well……. this IS an IPC Classic……
LikeLike
I love this movie, and I didn’t see it until I was an adult. Sure, it’s 70s deluxe, but I’m into that, and it also helps that several of the guys are really hot.
LikeLike
AWESOME!!! Love this : )
LikeLike
The Warriors is definitely awesome! Never want to see a remake of it. I remember they made a video game based off this movie for the Amiga/Commodore(I think?). I always wanted to splice clips of this movie and make a music video for the Twisted Sister song “Come Out And Play”.
LikeLike
You should – I’d buy a copy : )
LikeLike
Not seen this for aaaaages but it’s awesome. Might have to dig it out again.
LikeLike
YOU SHOULD!!! At least once a year….!
LikeLike
So that was all just pillow talk????!??!!!!?!!
LikeLike
It happens to everyone….
LikeLike
I have never heard of this but it sounds like I would kind of love it.
LikeLike
I hope you do!! I would love it if I sent someone to The Warriors and they developed a love for it : )
LikeLike
Scrolling through the comments, I am flabbergasted and appalled at all the people who don’t know how fucking awesome this fucking awesome movie is. It’s fucking awesome, and whenever I get a haircut, I bring the lady a photo of Matthew McConaughey from Surfer, Dude, so she can see what I want, but next time, it’ll be a Swan photo.
“Warriorrrrrrrrs. Come out and plaaaaay-yay.” I also remember that dude as a homeless guy from this PBS show, Ghost Writer, where five kids could see otherwise-invisible words that formed clues –written by a ghost – to solve mysteries around New York. That was a great show, too.
LikeLike
FUCK YEAH BROTHER!!! And all of your readers will be very excited to see a pic of that fancy hairdo on your site. Maybe Movie Squirrel can do a review of it : )
This movie is fucking awesome and should be mandatory watching : )
LikeLike
Oh I will post indeed. I should post some of my other haircut pics. Currently, I look like a llama, because I forgot my Surfer Dude pic the last time out.
I have a feeling Movie Squirrel will be Movie Raccoon if she reviews Warriors, because I’m not gonna put up with her negativity, and neither will my mitts.
LikeLike
LOL – I can’t wait!! I am currently shorn with a #5 on the top and a #2 around the ears….
LikeLike
Wow! In my short haired days, I went #2 sides, #4 on top with enough flip it in the front. In the words of a great man, We-uh tweeeeeens!
LikeLike
Right on my brother!!
LikeLike
I can’t believe I’ve never seen this. I’d probably actually like it. Because I’m old. Like you. 😉 Pretty sure we have it on DVD, too!
LikeLike
O.M.G. Mutant!!!!
x_x
You need to see this!!!
LikeLike
Lol. So… Are you forcing me to watch this or Big Trouble In Little China first?? 😉
LikeLike
OH MAN……………… It’s Sophie’s Choice!!
I would say Big Trouble first : )
LikeLike
Lmfao @ Sophie’s Choice! Hahaha!
I think I’d go with The Warriors first because I’ve never seen any of that AT ALL. And it looks interesting… But this isn’t happening until sometime in 2014. 😉
LikeLike
Either way – you’re all aces in my book, kid!
LikeLike
Drop everydamnthing you’re doing and watch Warriors now.
LikeLike
You tell her!!!
LikeLike
But I have a migraine 😦 😦 😦 and I think the only movie I’ll have time to squeeze in before Xmas is something shitty for Shitfest! I assume this isn’t Shitfest material?? 😉
LikeLike
I wish I was recording my reaction to this comment, because a blood vessel burst in my eye the moment I read, “I assume this isn’t Shitfest material??” NO SHIT ITS NOT FOR SHITFEST. ITS THE WARRIORS. I don’t speak passionately about many things, but this… for the love of God. I need a glass of wine.
LikeLike
And a pie!!
LikeLike
Lol! I like your passion. I can see why you won that pie eating contest. 😉
LikeLike
I hate Mondays for you : (
This is NO WAY Shitfest material!!! It’s an IPC Classic!!!!
LikeLike
Pingback: The Warriors (1979) Review | Cinema Parrot Disco
Pingback: IMDB Top 250 Horror Recap | Cinema Parrot Disco
Dearest ei, this sounds MENTAL.
Yours in confusion,
fn
LikeLiked by 1 person
My dear fn,
This movie is the best!! You HAVE to see it!
Love and Yours,
ei
LikeLiked by 1 person
Dearest ei,
I trust your judgement. I will try to find it.
Love from your dear friend,
fn
LikeLiked by 1 person
My dear fn,
You are making a good decision with this! Trust me.
Love from across the sea,
ei
LikeLiked by 1 person
Holy whack criminal Batman, Five Top Hats eh! If I had such an awesome rating system I’d probably concur. Come to think of it, I can dig it!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Five top hats indeed!! Caaaaaaaaaaaaaan you dig it?????? I LOVE this movie!! Thanks for checking it out!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m convinced Morpheus’ speech before the crazed cave orgy in Matrix Reloaded was inspired by this scene
LikeLiked by 1 person
You know – I bet you’re right! Good observation! And let’s go ahead and get this one on this site:
#caveorgy
LikeLiked by 1 person