The Warriors

The Warriors; Action drama, USA, 1979; D: Walter Hill, S: Michael Beck, James Remar, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, David Patrick Kelly

New York. All street gangs are summoned to Queens due to a speech by the charismatic Cyrus, among them even The Warriors, who otherwise reside in Coney Island. During the summit, Cyrus tells about his plan about the unification of all gangs, but just then he gets shot by Luther, leader of The Rouges, and puts the blame on The Warriors. In the ensuing chaos, The Warriors barely manage to escape to the subway, but lose their leader so the young Swan takes over. In their long journey back home, by foot and train, they lose a lot of members due to attacks of other gangs, but they are joined by girl Mercy from the gang Orphans. The Warriors get back home whereas the other gangs discover that Luther is the real killer.

Once a legendary cult film, today slightly forgotten, "The Warriors" by Walter Hill are still a daft, intriguing, stylish, hip and original achievement, except that they aren't that fresh anymore. Though shot in the 70s, "The Warriors" leave the impression as if they came from the 80s, but they didn't manage to remain timeless. The sympathetic, essential story based on "Anabasis" by Xenophon about a group of gang from the title who travel through the enemy territory of New York to get back home, doesn't waste too much time on characters and much of it remains unexplained, yet many scenes have charm and still seem 'cool', like when Swan (Michael Beck) tells to the "easy" girl Mercy that she should "tie a mattress on her back" or when The Warriors beat the Orphans, whereas the film as a whole posses some kind of nostalgic touch.

Grade:++