Hello all, this is the final exam for my class, American Experience Through Music and Film. For our final, we must leave a detailed review on a piece of media we watched this year. I will be leaving my thoughts on the movie The Warriors (1979).
The Warriors was by far my favorite movie we watched throughout the year in this class, surpassing other classics such as Blade Runner (1982) and The Big Lebowski (1998). But why was this movie my favorite? On the surface of the film, I believe the pieces that drew me to it were the action, complex characters, and the unique individualism of the city of New York as portrayed in this movie, as well as the gangs that inhabited the streets.
The characters in this movie are all very interesting to me. Starting with Swan having to take over his gang after their leader is falsely accused of a murder and killed by the assaulting gangs. I was invested from this story as of this point onwards, as a leader (though less experienced than his predecessor) is thrust into a position and situation that is startlingly unexpected. Not only must Swan keep his gang in check, he must also deal with a member of their clan who thinks he should be leader, Ajax. Along with all of these obstacles, there is a price on the heads of the Warriors as they attempt to reach their home on the other side of New York City, with multiple angry gangs chasing after them. For a movie seemingly about fighting and gang brawls, I would argue that this is really a story about people. Furthermore, whenever Mercy, a young woman who wants to escape her own gang’s deteriorating band of misfits. After joining (and sticking with for a surprisingly long time) the Warriors, Mercy proves herself to be an ally against the forces bearing down on the gang whenever she helps defeat the Roller Skater Gang. Through immense amounts of character development portrayed throughout this film, which shows the characters learning and growing right before the viewers eyes, we are privy to their innermost thoughts and fears as they try to make it home through the darkness.
The setting, as well as costumes, were all very interesting to me as well. Everyone loves an underdog story, and this film is about as underdog as they come. I write scripts myself, and while the basic plot could have been done before, and has definitely been done since, the story of a family facing the odds to make it home despite the lies of others is incredibly compelling to watch unfold. In this film, New York is portrayed as a dark and frightening community, and we rarely see outsiders from the world of gangs and thugs. However, one scene that initially seems out of place, and perhaps the most interesting scene in the movie, is whenever the Warriors enter a subway train and come into contact with what the audience would think of as the ordinary youth. Perhaps they’re going to prom, or just a party in general, the two sides of the subway car could not stand apart in such greater contrast. The boy, who seems to be about Swan’s age, makes eye contact, and the two groups stare unfamiliar at the sight before them. Is this real? Do these people before us actually exist? As the ride ends, and the prom teenagers step off to enjoy their night, both sides are left wondering if their view of the opposite lifestyle is much more than they originally thought, which I believe is a major construct of this movie.
To complete my review, I believe that this is a movie set against a darker (and possibly romanticized in some ways) version of our world, however, it does not fail to make its audience think about other ways of life that could be completely different from their own. Just like the viewers of this film, the fictional characters will change just like a real person would in any such situation. In the end, this movie challenges the idea that those different from us don’t have to be different, if we were only to realize that anyone we had a preconceived idea of are ordinary people in different circumstances.
Thank you for reading, and feel free to comment!
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/uxj086/the_warriors_1979_final_exam_post/
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