In the near future, a gang leader summons the street gangs in a bid to unite them. When The Warriors are blamed for interrupting the unification they must fight their way home.
Based on Sol Yurick's The Warriors Walter Hill's cinematic skill, mannerist style helps you buy into the characters one night and earlier morning plight. Its set pieces are a ballet of stylised gang violence. David Shaber and Hill's larger than life dialogue helps sell the implausible gang story as it zips along at pace. The entire film is romanticised but it's an insightful, stylised portrayal of gang warfare.
The Warriors director's cut tweaks, which were intended for the original release (but dropped by the studio) an introduction paralleling Greek war themes, returning it to a future setting and comic-style book transition reinforce its outlandish efforts, rather than it be an unrealistic portrayal of 1979's New York.
The cast are first rate, many of which went on to have successful careers and appear in other Hill productions. Notable are James Remar, David Patrick Kelly and Thomas G. Waites to name a few. Michael Beck and Deborah Van Valkenburgh have screen presence. Beck's understated performance is memorable.
The Warriors influence is still alive and lends itself to even a speech in the third Matrix. Barry De Vorzon's fantastic theme remains iconic. Thanks to Hill's dynamism the The Warriors realism works within its own dark but hyperbolic visual scheme. The tension and atmospheric night visuals to carry the film from one encounter to the next .
Overall, it's a highly entertaining series of collective fantasies, re-enforced by the director's cut.
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