 |
“Can…
you… dig it?”
Time to wax nostalgic again my friends.
Back in 1979, director Walter Hill introduced
audiences to the wonderful world of street
gangs. Though, not the street gangs that
really roam the streets of New York City,
but a more stylized and somewhat cartoonish
version. Gangs dressed as baseball players
(with painted faces) or rolling through
their ‘turf’ on roller skates
inhabit the world of “The Warriors.”
Yet, despite the unrealistic appearance
of most of these gangs, the film is still
quite gritty and fun to watch.
The main gang in the story is called (of
course) The Warriors, and one night they
find themselves invited to a huge gang rally.
All of the major gangs are invited to this
rally, which is being led by Cyrus, the
leader of The Riffs. Cyrus’ plan is
to unite all the rival gangs in a war against
the police so they might take over the city
and make it their own. But in the midst
of Cyrus’ oration, he is shot down
by another gang’s leader.
|
But The Warriors are blamed for the assassination
and the chase is on. They must make it back to
their ‘turf’ back on Coney Island,
running a through gauntlet of gangs all bent on
claiming the reward for their deaths.
“The Warriors” was a guilty pleasure
of mine for many years, not that to is a bad movie
by any stretch. It just has moments of cheesiness
and plot holes that you could drive a truck through.
But again, the move still works. The fight scenes
are well choreographed and shot; and the actors
all do a fairly good job with their roles. Michael
Beck (Swan) does a great job in the role of The
Warrior’s leader (a position he takes on
after their original leader is killed), and as
it was the first role I ever saw him in, I was
shocked a couple of years later when I saw him
dancing and singing opposite Olivia Newton John
in “Xanadu.”
Also of note is Daniel Patrick Kelly as Luther,
the crazed leader of The Rogues and Cyrus’
actual assassin. When they finally cross paths
with The Warriors, it sets up one of the most
memorable scenes of the film. And when I say memorable,
it’s because of Luther’s taunts of
“Warriors… come out to plaaayyyeee…”
while clinking empty bottles together. It goes
on forever, and his voice is so grating that it
has stuck with me for over twenty years (as I’m
sure it has anyone else who has ever seen the
film). Kelly has since often played other manic
characters and never ceases to disappoint.
I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention
the late Lynn Thigpen, who plays a radio DJ who
gives codes out over the air to give away The
Warrior’s location. You only see the lower
half of her face in all of her scenes, but her
rich delivery of dialogue carries a good portion
of the film. You might be familiar with Thigpen
from her stint on “Where in the World is
Carmen Sandiego” or as the voice of the
Moon on “Bear in the Big Blue House.”
The film was released on DVD a few years back,
but it was as a bare bones edition with no special
features whatsoever. Now, Paramount is re-releasing
it in an all-new Director’s Cut, complete
with all the extras that weren’t available
last time. I was curious what would be added to
this ‘Director’s Cut’, and as
it is explained by Hill in the DVD’s introduction,
the additions mostly come in the form of comic-book
like transitional sequences that he states bring
the film closer to his original vision.
Along with this introduction, there are four lengthy
featurettes that focus on various aspects of the
making if the film. They cover quirt a bit of
ground in these featurettes, the most interesting
of which I found to be the costume design.
Over the years “The Warriors” has
turned into a kind of ‘cult’ classic.
It’s almost as popular to day as it was
back then. So much so that it allowed the release
of this new DVD version and the introduction of
a video game later this month. The film itself
might not be to everyone’s taste as it is
a bit violent (in a comic book way), but I personally
still enjoyed it after so many years.
Directed by: Walter Hill
Starring: Michael Beck, James Remar
Extras: Introduction by Director Walter Hill,
4 Featurettes – “The Beginning”,
“Battleground”, “The Way Home”,
The Phenomenon”, Original Theatrical Trailer
Specifications: Widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1
Surround Sound, Dolby Digital 2.0
Studio: Paramount
Release Date: 10/4/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: R (For Violence and Language)
Website
We'll give The Warriors: Ultimate Director's
Cut an A.
|
