The Warriors: Underground Movie Review

"These are the armies of the night. They are one hundred thousand strong. They outnumber the police five to one. They could run New York City. Tonight they are out to get the Warriors." This is the tag line for the "The Warriors", a 1979 cult classic that was controversial when it was first released due to its mature, sexual and violent content. Jed watched this around two-three years ago and found it utterly amazing. Moving two-three years forward and as a sort of tribute to the thirtieth anniversary of the film, we would like to take a rehash, a second-look on the film called, "The Warriors". Can it still give the same wonderment and controversy it gave people thirty years ago?




"The Warriors" is all about the struggle and the survival of the group with the movie's namesake. All of New York's gangs have been invited to a meeting of some sort led by a guy named Cyrus, the leader of the Gramercy Riffs, the biggest and strongest gang in New York. Cyrus proposes that all gangs should team-up instead of fighting against each other. As Cyrus is in the middle of his speech, he is shot by Luther, the leader of the Rogues. Luther then blames the Warriors as the perpetrators of the assassination. Now, the Warriors must find a way to go back to Coney Island safely, their home turf, while they pass through miles upon miles of the littered gangs New York who are all out to get them, dead or alive.
For us, the experience of watching "The Warriors" became a disappointing experience. Maybe it just lost its magic through the years. The story became too simple, almost with no exciting twists. The characters became a forgettable lot. Heck, even the different gangs looked weird wearing their "get-ups". If you like machismo driven films, maybe this would work but the fight scenes were somewhat mediocre. It is sad for us to say this but having a rehash of "The Warriors" was not a pleasant experience for us. It hurts us even more to bash it but we are just saying the plain truth. "Can you dig it? Can you dig it?" No Cyrus, sorry, we just cannot dig it no more!

Rating: 1 reel

Why you should watch it:

- machismo driven story

- if you really like the nostalgic feel of old action films

Why you shouldn't watch it:
- the characters are forgettable

- most of the acting and fight scenes are amateurish

- it simply lost its magic the second time around