THE WARRIORS . . . bad street gang movie

[The Burgomaster]

Deej:

Yes . . . THE LORDS OF FLATBUSH.  There are actually some very well written and well directed scenes in that movie.  The pool hall scene with Stallone is great,  and the jewelry store scene where Stallone is buying his girlfriend an engagement ring is priceless.

[Eirik]

I got the whole Times a'changin idea, it's just that dropping Bob Dylan into the middle of the movie seemed kind of jarring and out of place.

The Ducky Boys (thanks for the name - I'd forgotten it) were truly bizarre.  They were this ultra violent street gang but some wore jacket and ties, none of them ever talked really, and they were just hell bent on destroying everything.  That scene where they chased Ken Wahl in the car looked like a zombie or post-holocaust movie.  What did they represent?  Drugs?

[The Burgomaster]

I still can't figure out WHAT the Ducky Boys represent.

[yaddo42]

Classic action flick with little relation to reality, which is what makes it fun. Whenever they repackage this film yet again for another DVD release, I wish there were some way to include the Monstervision episode with it, JOe Bob had so much fun with the lapses in logic and geography. I like how he pointed out that they must not be too tough a gang if they can't hijack a cab or steal a car to get back home.

The gang members' names may seem silly as mentioned earlier, but I think they are taken from the Sol Yorrick novel the movie was based on. The connections between the novel and the historic incident it is based on are supposed to be even more obvious. I'd love to read it someday

[Herodotus]

I saw an article in the Sunday New York Times about Rock Star's new game which will be based on The Warriors.  
    Here is a trailer for it: http://www.game-reviews.ca/news.php?id=775
 
   Ahhhh, looks good so good. Homer must have!

[Shadowphile]

I just saw a cardboard stand-up ad (It was a Baseball Fury) for the game.  The first words out of my mouth were

"They made a game out of THAT movie?"

And could somebody explain the reference to Persian History?  What the hell does Persian History have to do with a movie about New york gangs.

And remind me how exactly were they supposed to safe once they got to their home turf?  Were they going to hide under their beds?

(It's been a long time since I saw it.........)



Post Edited (10-18-05 22:27)

[Herodotus]

Sol Yurick used Xenophon's Anabasis as the framework for his novel. In 401 BC Xenophon joined an army of 10,000 Greek mercenaries hired by the Persian prince Cyrus, ostensible to put down rebellions. Cyrus real purpose was to use the troops to overthrow his brother the king. Cyrus won the battle, but was killed. The Persians then held talks with them where they killed the Greek generals. That left the Greeks 1,000 miles from home, outnumbered 10 to 1 and with no leaders. Xenophon was picked to be one of the new leaders and then they fought their way through the Persian army and back home to safety. Later on Xenophon wrote about the Persian campaign in the Anabasis.


And remind me how exactly were they supposed to safe once they got to their home turf? Were they going to hide under their beds?

  That was something out of Xenophon, in the Anabasis the moment they know they are safe is when they reach the Black Sea they know they are out of reach of the Persians and under the protection of Greek ships. In the movie the leader says at the end when he sees the ocean he knows they are safe.  The Warriors are unbeatable on their own territory like the Greeks, the Persians twice tried to invade with massive armies and were twice trounced by the Greeks. So I think it is a reference to Greek history.

[LH-C]

Personally, I absolutely love this movie. It's absolutely surreal! I've come to the conclusion that if it had actually been based on a comic/graphic novel that people would take it more seriously (say like 'The Crow'). The characterizations, dialog, and costumes (I love Cochise's costume the most!) come straight out of a comic book, but the actions, feelings, and motivations are the things in the movie that feel very real. For me, this movie, despite all of it's comic book/surrealist cult movie trappings, is about the individual personal circumstances that make us the people we are. It's something I've been thinking about since I watched it last week on Spike. You can really see this when those other kids coming home from being out all night get on the train. IMHO, those kids aren't rich at all; just kids rewarding themselves with one night of fun (the prom) after a hard school year. They are probably just as poor as the gang members or maybe nearly as poor. They probably worked hard to buy those dresses (or had their moms make them - more plausable) and rent those cheesy tuxedos. But they are probably good kids who try (more or less) to make good decisions. The point is sometimes it's our personal circumstances that can divide us more than race, class, or location.

[Just Plain Horse]

Warriors, come out and play-ay! *chuckles*

[Just Plain Horse]

LH-C wrote:
>The point is sometimes it's our
> personal circumstances that can divide us more than race,
> class, or location.
>

Well said.

[LH-C]

Thanks! I really appreciate it!

[Just Plain Horse]

I happen to agree, but even if I didn't, I admire anyone who can extrapilate a message from a "B-movie"; that takes creative thinking and a willingness to postulate theories. They may damn you but I say BRAVO!!!

[Shadowphile]

Thanks for the history lesson.....

[BeyondTheGrave]

I always enjoyed this movie cause its a childhood favorite of mine. Plus it takes place in my NYC were I live. I the gangs are fake but at that time in the 70s gangs were really bad here in NYC.

-------------------------------------------------
Most of all I hate dancing then work, exercise, people,stupid people

[Ash]

I had never even heard of this movie until I saw the TV commercials for the new game.
I'll have to rent it.