On DVD: The Warriors (1979)

CAN YOU DIG IT!!!

The Warriors is definitely one of those era films. The movie is a fictional depiction of New York gang warfare at it's worst, and possibly cheesiest.

Here's your movie in a nutshell: one man, Cyrus, wants to unite all the gangs of NY and to control the city. That's a tough endeavor when gangs are territorial. Before he was able to get his plan across to a huge assembly of the top gangs in the Bronx, Cyrus is assassinated. The trigger man blames The Warriors, a gang that hails from Coney Island, Brooklyn. The remainder of the movie is about The Warriors trying to get home through a perilous New York City full of tough guy Cops and silly looking gangs who are all out to get them. Along the way the Warriors lose some members to the Cops or were killed. My favorite stand off was when the Warriors crossed paths with the Baseball Furies. This is a gang clad in filthy baseball uniform and Kiss makeup. If they are trying to be intimidating, they failed. Absurdity at it's best.

Being a New Yorker, I was able to notice a couple flaws in the movie. Their goal was Brooklyn. Why not hop a bus into Queens and get to Brooklyn that way? If they knew everyone was looking for them, why walk under their noses? But that's what makes the movie fun, how completely unrealistic and ridiculous the story really is.

And, yes, it IS a fun movie! I'm even considering buying a copy for my collection. It's amusing remembering a graffiti covered disintegrating NYC of decades past. The movies tend to embellish the realities of my great city, but it only serves to enhance our street cred abroad. Maybe that's why people are courteous when they recognize a New York accent!

Warriors... come out to play-yeee...

CAN YOU DIG IT!!!

Yes Cyrus, I do 'dig it.'

If you would like to know more about it, there's always IMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080120/