Chaos in the City
The gangs of New York City have been ordered to send nine unarmed each to attend a gathering of all the gangs by Cyrus, the leader of the city's biggest gang. As Cyrus is speaking and trying to bring unity amongst the gangs he is shot dead and the group from The Warriors are accused of doing it. Now miles away from their territory they must make it across the city with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide as the police and rival gangs hunt them down.
As I write this review of "The Warriors" it is 37 years since it was released and probably 30 years since I first watched it. The thing is that even when I first watched "The Warriors" it has never blown me away like it has others who in fairness watched back at the end of the 70s. You see for me what "The Warriors" came across as is like a variation on the common place adventures of being stranded in a city at night, such as the later "Judgement Night" with an almost "A Clockwork Orange" vibe with the over the top and distinct styling of the various gangs and that didn't blow me away.
Now for this review I watched "The Warriors" again, probably the fourth time I have watched it and in 2016 I have to say that this movie did even less for me, not that it surprised me. But in a strange way I can appreciate more what director Walter Hill achieved with not only this almost apocalyptic styling when it comes to the gangs and their clothes but also when it comes to the violence. I can imagine that anyone who watched this back in the late 70s might have ended up afraid of heading in to NYC believing that maybe gangs similar to this ruled the place, making it a no go area after dark.
What this all boils down to is that "The Warriors" is one of those movies which marked an era and if you watched it at the right time it would have left its mark. But watched for the first time later it fails to have the same impact which is which is why it has never blown me away.
