Barnes & Noble

Raw, brutal, even nihilistic, The Warriors reflected the savagery of New York's gang culture with a vibrancy that no similarly themed movie had achieved up to that time. So much so, in fact, that during its 1979 theatrical run the film's exhibition actually provoked riots in urban movie houses. As the story gets under way, the titular toughs, led by ruggedly handsome Michael Beck, leave their Coney Island turf to attend a gang summit in the Bronx, where a charismatic crew leader is shot, his killing attributed to the Warriors. The bulk of the movie follows them on the long, dangerous journey home via streets and subways, facing rival street thugs in a series of brutal confrontations. Then-unknown actors James Remar, Thomas Waites, Brian Tyler, Tom McKitterick, and Deborah Van Valkenburg were recruited to play the youthful Warriors by director Walter Hill (48 Hrs.), whose insistence on realism extended not only to character, situation, and setting but also to Andrew Laszlo's vivid cinematography. Arguably the best and most personal of Hill's gritty action films, The Warriors has dated very little in the two decades since its initial release; it's just as compelling today as it was back in 1979. The DVD release includes the film's original theatrical trailer.

All Movie Guide

Walter Hill's hip, super-stylized action film unfurls in a dystopian near-future, when various gangs control New York City. Each gang sports a unique moniker ('The Warriors,' 'The Baseball Furies,' 'The Rogues'), with a costume underscoring its "theme"; each, in turn, is also responsible for one geographic area. Hill sets up the landscape as a massive, violent playground - replete with bridges, vacant subway tunnels, parks, abandoned buildings and the like, all ripe for exploration and adventure. As the tale opens, the titular Coney Island has traveled to the Bronx to attend a city-wide meeting of all gangs; at that event, however, the psychotic leader of a rival gang, The Rogues (David Patrick Kelly of Dreamscape) assassinates the head of the city's foremost gang, but The Warriors are pegged as culpable. This sends the gang fleeing through the labyrinthine city. With every thug in Manhattan in vicious, homicidal pursuit, they must also overcome all obstacles in their way. Throughout, Hill keeps the onscreen violence absurd, exaggerated and unrealistic, downplaying death to an extreme degree; despite this fact, the film sparked a massive amount of controversy and an ugly backlash for allegedly inciting violence and destruction in several theaters where it initially played. James Remar, Michael Beck and Deborah Van Valkenburgh lead the ensemble cast. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Product Details

• UPC: 097360313840
• Source: PARAMOUNT
• Region Code: 1
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Editions: Director's Cut
• Time: 1:33:00
• Sales Rank: 7,125

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