The Warriors (1979)

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Vinyl Socks, Mar 6, 2018.

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  1. StuJM84

    StuJM84 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kent, UK
    I love this film. Its little known to many people I know myself and im always recommending it to people if I see its coming on TV.

    The original cut is my favourite, the Comicbook/Directors cut version is fine, but I didn't feel the added scenes added anything and I can do without the comic pages, I'd rather they just released the original on bluray too. Lucky I kept my original dvd.
     
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  2. eric777

    eric777 Astral Projectionist

    I love this film!!! One of my favorite lines from a film came from this film. When the main villain is asked at the end of the movie why he killed Cyrus, his answer is “no reason, I just like doing stuff like that”.

    It’s such a simple line but for some reason I always found it somewhat profound. Usually villains always have some extreme goal in mind. Not this guy. He just does stuff for no reason and has no issues admitting it.
     
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  3. wolfram

    wolfram Slave to the rhythm

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    No, that was actually the leader of the Warriors, Micheal Beck.

    [​IMG]
     
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  4. vince

    vince Stan Ricker's son-in-law

    True...but, NOBODY said it like that guy did!
     
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  5. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
  6. uncarvedbloke

    uncarvedbloke Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK - SOT
    I can remember going to see this one afternoon with a friend who was stoned, he slept and snored throughout it, then work up as the credits rolled...
     
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  7. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Not too difficult to get around. I bought a PBS mini series from Itunes but because of my set up I couldn't watch them on my TV and I wasn't about to sit in a chair for hours on end to view the series via Itunes on my computer. I did some googling and now I have a copy in my Itunes folder and one in another folder on my Media server.
     
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  8. xdawg

    xdawg in labyrinths of coral caves

    Location:
    Roswell, GA, USA
    Sorry, that's what I meant to type :hide:
     
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  9. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    True, but the way Cyrus says it is different and his delivery is often imitated CAN YOU DIG IT ?
     
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  10. I liked this movie and still enjoy watching it now and then. I can recommend to fans The Wanderers which also got a 1979 release.
    [​IMG]
     
  11. Grunge Master

    Grunge Master 8 Bit Enthusiast

    Location:
    Michigan
    The Baseball Furies were always my favorite.
    It was always obvious to me that Ajax grew up with a father that probably beat him up and told him that fighting and getting lucky with chicks was the only way to prove you were a man. Most of his lines revolve around being a tough guy (' I'll shove that bat up your *** and turn you into a popsicle'), or being with the ladies (' One thing we might get out of Cyrus’ little get together is meeting some strange wool. I wouldn’t mind laying a little something down on the way back'). I'd like for them to do like Disney has done with Star Wars, and make The Warriors' origin films.
     
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  12. Ignatius

    Ignatius Forum Resident

    I always thought it was strange that this movie didn't get a lot of TV rebroadcast despite its popularity. And let's hear it for "DJ" Lynne Thigpen:
     
  13. wolfram

    wolfram Slave to the rhythm

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    Actually, "Xanadu" might have been more intersting if you were right. I would love to see Olivia dance with this guy. :D

    [​IMG]
     
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  14. P(orF)

    P(orF) Forum Resident

    A great movie with a terrific backstory. Here are a few passages from a long story in Salon published in 2005:


    “Here's the short form: Cyrus got himself killed, and his Greek mercenaries -- the "Ten Thousand" of much classical lore -- fought through 1,000 miles of Persian soldiers and barbarian tribes, each with its own mode of dress and special weapons, to the sea and safety. One of their generals, Xenophon, went back to Athens and wrote a book about it, "The Anabasis," and from there it was pretty much a straight shot to pop culture immortality.”

    “Hill's movie was shot in about 60 days on various New York locations with virtually unknown actors and on a shoestring budget. (Only one scene, a spectacular fight in a subway station men's room, was shot on set.)”

    “The Warriors" was greeted by the critical establishment as if a cold, wet corpse had been dumped on its doorstep. The New York Times and the Village Voice, which supposedly represent both the establishment and alternative ends of the critical spectrum, were, on this occasion, in agreement: They hated it. A review from Desmond Ryan of the Philadelphia Inquirer was typical of responses from daily papers: "'The Warriors,' a sickening film that glorifies gang warfare and brutal violence ... has left a bloody trail of real-life mayhem and death in its wake ... In hundreds of cities across the U.S., the depraved violence shown in this movie has been blamed for inciting young people to fight, rampage and kill, in obvious imitation of the hoodlum gang members in 'The Warriors.'"

    “Ryan's near-hysteria wasn't entirely based on urban legend. There were numerous reports of violence around the country where the film was showing, though the most publicized incident was the murder of a 16-year-old boy in Dorchester, Mass.; the accused killer, a gang member, was later proved to have been drunk and asleep while the movie was showing. Paramount, perhaps in reaction to the negative publicity, quickly yanked the original posters, which featured a hoard of gang members from the movie with the legend, "These are the armies of the night" -- take that, Norman Mailer. "They are 100,000 strong. They outnumber the cops five to one. They could run New York City." Some theater owners refused to display the poster; the fantasy hit too close to home.

    Pauline Kael's review in the March 5, 1979, New Yorker surprised serious moviegoers by turning the principal argument against the film on its head. Essentially she admitted that the primary criticism of the film was true: "The Warriors" does glorify violence, and aren't we lucky that it does? And isn't the glorification of ugly reality what movies are all about?

    "The Warriors," she wrote, "is a real moviemaker's movie: it has in visual terms [emphasis Kael's] the kind of impact that 'Rock Around the Clock' did behind the titles of 'Blackboard Jungle.' 'The Warriors' is like visual rock ... The physical action is so stylized that it has a wild cartoon kick to it, like 'Yojimbo' and the best Kung-Fu movies. The fighting is so exhilaratingly visceral, and so contrapuntal in the Oriental-martial-art-dancing manner that you have no thought of pain or gore."”

    My memory tells me that after Kael’s review they sent out new theater posters with the entire review included. And unlike almost everything, the original movie is just as fresh now. No remake necessary.
     
  15. Vinyl Socks

    Vinyl Socks The Buzz Driver Thread Starter

    Location:
    DuBois, PA
    If you look at the Wikipedia entry, budget vs box office sales show an $18,000,000 profit -- it was no Star Wars, but in 1979 dollars, it would have generated a profit of $61,000,000 today.
    Sadly...you're right...that still isn't a box-office smash even after converting the money!
    The Warriors (film) - Wikipedia
     
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  16. Vinyl Socks

    Vinyl Socks The Buzz Driver Thread Starter

    Location:
    DuBois, PA
    Admit it...you were stoned, too ;)

    It's a movie that should be watched in the dark, at night. Not in the afternoon -- that's what really put him to sleep!
     
  17. Vinyl Socks

    Vinyl Socks The Buzz Driver Thread Starter

    Location:
    DuBois, PA
    Always reminds me of this guy, from WMMS in Cleveland:
     
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  18. Awesome cult classic, for sure. I owned it on VHS.
    I wonder if it's still in a box in the garage. hmm

    Another movie I hope Hollywood doesn't taint with a remake.
     
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  19. Leepal

    Leepal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Swindon, UK
    Weird. I thought about this film the other day and tried to find it on Netflix to no avail, think I watched it on there a couple of years ago. Probably triggered by listening to a Joe Walsh album, I don't actually own the In The City track though.
     
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  20. sami

    sami Mono still rules

    Location:
    Down The Shore
    Always was, and always will be my favorite scene in the film. I know it's the closing theme, but I never fail to get chills when the needle hits the vinyl and then Walsh with his iconic guitar riff. Definitely the best version of the song as well.

     
  21. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    All of the Baseball Furies were over 30 years old. They always reminded me of Alex and his Droogs from A Clockwork Orange. Coolest gang in the movie, by far, but pretty lame fighters :(
     
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  22. The Warriors is streaming now on Amazon Prime.
     
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  23. Greg Z

    Greg Z Forum Resident

    Location:
    MINNESOTA
    This movie has always been one of my guilty pleasures. I too was extremely disappointed when it finally came out on Blu-ray. The video was excellent, the audio was now 5.1 channels, but the comic book scene transitions
    and the final scene ruined it. I downloaded the Itunes HD version but the video was a little softer and the audio wasn't 5.1.
    I ended up taking the Blu-ray and using bits of video from Itunes to replace the offending video and created my own Blu-ray "original" version.
     
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  24. Neil Anderson

    Neil Anderson Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    one of my all time favorites. i don't see very many movies more than once, but i never get tired of watching the Warriors.
     
  25. Yup. To me, The Warriors, The Long Writers & Southern Comfort are Walter Hill's holy trinity.

    As for The Warriors, the blu ray's PQ is fantastic, while the DVD sucks ass. Even with the comic book bits, it's like I can't go back to the DVD after seeing how awesome in looks on blu ray. So, I just stick with it. That said, I would re-buy the film on blu ray if they came out with the original theatrical cut.

    One time in NYC, my wife and I visited all of the places The Warriors was filmed, even taking an underground (illegal?) excursion through some of the closed subway tunnels and platforms, with a hired MTA worker who conducts tours on the sly. Most of the places are all still there, only changed a bit over time.
     
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