Film review/analysis

Film review/analysis: The Warriors

The 1979 cult classic film based on the on the novel by the famous novelist Sol Yurick. The film consists of a New York street gang who embark on a journey from the north end of the Bronx to their turf in Coney island as every other gang is on a man hunt for each member of The Warriors as they have been framed for the murder of Cyrus who is the leader of The Riffs which are the most powerful and influential gang out of all of them, the Warriors were framed by Luther who is the leader of the Rouges. Cyrus was attempting to create a truce between every one and build an alliance against the police to take over the streets as with their alliance they outnumber the police three to one but as Cyrus is killed chaos ensues and the Warriors become the number one most wanted by every gang and the police.

 This film can be placed into many different genres such as action with its adrenaline fuelled fight scenes to thriller as suspense gradually grows throughout the film as scenes like when a rival gang called The Punks slowly attempts to surround each member, no dialogue is present and the ominous soundtrack and actors facial expressions reinforces this feeling of suspense. Throughout the film each gang which is seen is iconic and allusive in look and style including the eponymous heroes who's vest take inspiration from war garments by various Native American Nations, another iconic gang which appears in the film are The Lizzies are a seductive but tough lesbian gang who represent the alluring but deadly sirens of Greek mythology as they trick our protagonists and almost kill them.

                                                                                                                                                                                  

In this scene excellent use of camera movement is used as at the beginning the camera is mostly static and quickly cuts between the protagonists and The Baseball Furies also the camera slowly pans to show them with a menacing soundtrack. As they begin to run wide angle camera shots appear multiple times which takes away some of the intense feeling from the chase however some wide angle scenes work as it shows every character in the scene also as it shows the chase from a third person view from how far away the audience is until they are in the park which is when the camera usually tracks both sides of the chase much closer and when they start to fight the scene gradually becomes more action filled and it begins to have much more cuts to connote a more intense atmosphere and usually stay at a medium shot and sometimes change to a low angle shot and full body shot. This scene perfectly reinforces the atmosphere of the entire film as it begins with a sinister feeling as the Baseball Furies stalking the protagonists and ends with a vigorous fight. Also the non-diegetic music which plays throughout the scene helps to strengthen both atmospheres of sinister and energetic through its quick tempo and droning sounds.

This scene is around the beginning of the film where Cyrus has finished his speech on the alliance between the gangs the Luther shoots Cyrus, the mise-en-scene is Luther holding a gun aiming at the camera with a medium shot. As he shoots Cyrus all sound is cut out except for the echo of the gun shot as it conveys the shock each character experiences within that moment with a low angle shot of Cyrus falling from his pedestal and everyone's shock is shown as two cuts show a multitude of people with  confused/ surprised facial expressions, after this all sound returns and everything turns into a mass panic as constant diegetic shouting and footsteps are heard followed by police sirens as a wide angle shot elevates the hysteria everyone is in as everyone is running around trying to escape from the police. The camera quickly moves around to transition from the gang to the police. When one of The Warriors is accused of killing Cyrus and begins being attacked by The Riffs it shows an over the shoulder shot as he is being beaten up which then cuts to a birds eye view of him being surrounded and presumably killed. In this scene no music is present to convey the shock the protagonists feel as they desperately attempt to escape the meeting.

The atmosphere which this film attempts to create is tremendously shown throughout the  film and remains a somewhat uncompromising view of gang life with its bleakness which permeates throughout the narrative in such a way which mainstream films have yet to do, However certain times the atmosphere can be weakened through things like its cinematography for example the Baseball Furies chase scene is mostly seen further away which takes the audience out of the experience and doesn't have a feeling of intensity but due to its low budget of 360,000 USD it seems reasonable that the cinematography may be lacking sometimes. Also sometimes the acting can be lacklustre but is usually just what you expect from a film in the late 70s and certain lines from our protagonists can maybe come off as a little bit cheesy and forced which ultimately ruins certain parts of the film.