The Warriors is such an iconic cult classic and with the release of Rock Star's Warriors video game a few years back, the film's popularity has only grown. I had seen bits and pieces, could recite lines, and spent two days in a seminar at school with the esteemed DP, Andy Lazlo, but it wasn't until last week that I saw the movie in its entirety. I had considerably high expectations and at first, while I wasn't disappointed exactly, I felt mildly dissatisfied… but the movie stayed with me and after a couple of days I've become more and more enamoured. I think about it often and, as you can tell from this week's hunk and style picks, I've found more and more to rave about.
The movie presents a dated view of the streets where the cops are hated enemies fought on site and even killed if necessary, and its vision of gangs is beyond dated — it's just wild and weird, to be honest, I can't imagine that anyone would be afraid of many of the gangs. But it's not a movie about believability, it's a fun, no reservations action movie with a simple plot: Coney Island-based gang, the Warriors find themselves hunted by every gang on the street when they are mistaken as murderers. A Bronx to Brooklyn chase ensues and lesbians, skin heads, baseball wielding maniacs, and rollerskating big boys are tangled with along the way.
Of course, the gang is innocent of the murder, it's lunatic Luther, leader of the Rogues, who was responsible (he's played with wild-eyed intensity by the utterly hot David Patrick Kelly, you may recognize him as Jerry Horne from Twin Peaks). But he's not the only babe in town: brand new war chief Michael Beck (see this weeks hunk, below), James Remar (now best known as Samantha's boyfriend Richard on SatC and Dexter's adoptive father Harry on Dexter), Cochise, and street walking babe Mercy, played by Deborah Van Valkenburgh, all turn in surprisingly good performances.
It may have taken a few days for me to realize it, but this is a pretty dynamite movie — and one that deserves its status as a classic. I wish more B-movies were produced today that were nearly as fun and original.
But what do you think?