Injustice, female seduction, baddies and gang action portrayed by tour-de-force acting performances in this true cult movie (does it still exist?), masterfully directed and written by Walter Hill, screenwriter of Alien (Scott, 1979). Look past the few improbabilities and you'll see that Hill (the Long Riders, 48 Hrs, Crossroads) can/could surpass Spielberg's storytelling qualities and lives up to Woo/Peckinpah action with excerpts in slow motion. I think the wipes between scenes (like Akira Kurosawa and George Lucas among others used) reveal the admiration of Hill and cinematographer Andrew Laszlo (First Blood, Inner Space) for the mentioned storytelling. This one just isn't for kids, although it might feel like the concept for a computergame from time to time. The Warriors doesn't contain the tearjerking and the sentimental stuff that Spielberg and Lucas can't seem to get rid of.
The Warriors is a quite straight forward non-meandering fugitive-film that gives as strong and lasting an impression of the streets and subway of New York as the French Connection does. In this case mostly at nighttime until the apotheosis. The graffiti and/on subways define the setting and the mood of this urban adventure about eight fugitives. City streets don't have much pity for them. That's the only philosophy in this intellectually devoid movie. And I like it that way.
Is The Warriors an icon and the thing a lot of directors try to accomplish today or is it simply suspense? IMO it is a classic alright. With great and dated music, where 'dated' is a compliment (try this one: 'Nowhere to run' by Martha and the Vandellas). You will want to see it again after a while. And again.
David Patrick Kelly (the Funeral, K-PAX) returns as 'Luther' also in 48 Hours (1982) and should get much more recognition today, because he can create a sardonic sort of craziness in a story but also reliability itself. 9/10
The Warriors is a quite straight forward non-meandering fugitive-film that gives as strong and lasting an impression of the streets and subway of New York as the French Connection does. In this case mostly at nighttime until the apotheosis. The graffiti and/on subways define the setting and the mood of this urban adventure about eight fugitives. City streets don't have much pity for them. That's the only philosophy in this intellectually devoid movie. And I like it that way.
Is The Warriors an icon and the thing a lot of directors try to accomplish today or is it simply suspense? IMO it is a classic alright. With great and dated music, where 'dated' is a compliment (try this one: 'Nowhere to run' by Martha and the Vandellas). You will want to see it again after a while. And again.
David Patrick Kelly (the Funeral, K-PAX) returns as 'Luther' also in 48 Hours (1982) and should get much more recognition today, because he can create a sardonic sort of craziness in a story but also reliability itself. 9/10