{"id":27664,"date":"2023-12-19T02:55:56","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T10:55:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=27664"},"modified":"2023-12-19T02:55:56","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T10:55:56","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-the-warriors-1979","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=27664","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! Blu-ray Review: THE WARRIORS (1979)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Arrow Video is releasing a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 2-disc 4K\nUltra HD set and a 2-disc \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray on December 19th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Warriors<\/em> has had a long and storied history. This\naction film follows the members of a Coney Island-based street gang trying to\nmake their way home from the Bronx through hostile territory. It came out of\nthe blue from a young director and created a huge stir upon its release. While\nexaggerated and stylized, there weren\u2019t a lot of stories being onscreen about\ngang life and the movie struck a chord with audiences. But after a few violent\nincidents at packed cinemas during the opening weekend, a nervous Paramount Pictures\nstarted removing advertising for the film and eventually removed some of the\nscreens it was playing on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many believe this act hampered the title\u2019s success. Yet it\nstill grossed nearly six times its production budget (which would make it a\nbox-office hit by just about any definition). The movie was also a major\nsuccess on video and DVD, developing a bigger and more devoted following. But\nthen it went out-of-print. In 2005, a \u201cDirector\u2019s Cut\u201d DVD was released. This\nedition didn\u2019t contain the original cut and instead presented the movie with\nmajor alterations. Those who loved the movie were frustrated that the beloved\ntheatrical cut wasn\u2019t being made available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, 17 years later, Arrow Video is finally debuting The\nWarriors<\/em> on 4K Ultra HD and on Blu-ray. Both editions include the altered\n\u201cDirector\u2019s Cut\u201d and the long missing \u201cTheatrical Cut.\u201d The results are\nwondrous, with an outstanding picture that is spotless, yet still retains the\ngritty look of New York in the late 1970s. The film itself is an action classic\nand the bonuses on the set are equally outstanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For those unfamiliar with the movie, it begins with all of\nNew York\u2019s gangs being called together for a meeting in the Bronx. The Warriors\nfrom Coney Island decide to attend and viewers are introduced to group leader\nCleon (Dorsey Wright) and his crew. They include second-in-command Swan\n(Michael Beck), scout Fox (Thomas G. Waites), graffiti artist Rembrandt\n(Marcelino Sanchez), as well as enforcer Ajax (James Remar) and fellow members\nSnow (Brian Tyler), Cowboy (Tom McKitterick), Cochise (David Harris) and Vermin\n(Terry Michos). Once there, all attendees are encouraged by esteemed leader\nCyrus (Roger Hill) to overcome personal differences, join forces and take\ncontrol of the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, rival Turnbull ACs gang leader Luther (David\nPartick Kelly) wants no part of the plan. He assassinates Cyrus and points the\nfinger at The Warriors. The protagonists must make their way more than 30 miles\nback home with all of the city\u2019s gangs in pursuit (as well as the police, who\nare portrayed as just another menacing organization). Along the way, they are\njoined by tough-talking Mercy (Deborah Van Valkenburg), who wants to trade-up\nin the gang world for a more promising outfit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The film\u2019s depictions of gangs are intentionally\nover-the-top and surreal. All are costumed, often with a unifying outfit and\ntheme in mind. Somehow, this is actually one of the movie’s charms, as\ndistinctive-looking threats come out of the darkness from borough to borough\nand try to wipe out the leads. Viewers are treated to gangs dressed as baseball\nplayers, or wearing roller skates and other get-ups. The filmmakers often use\nthese unique elements to create inspired fight scenes. Since the story is all\nset in over one evening with all of the characters in continuous danger, the\nexcitement never lets up. The beautiful photography, expert editing, slick pace\nand talented young cast (which includes many familiar faces making early screen\nappearances) deliver in spades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If that wasn\u2019t enough, the story even manages to insert\nsocial commentary into the mix. There\u2019s a wonderful, memorable scene towards\nthe end of the picture that takes place on a train car that doesn\u2019t feature a\nword of dialogue, yet brilliantly stresses the class divide in America. The\nmovie is a winner and one of the best action pictures of its era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The 4K Ultra HD and the Blu-ray sets are also winners,\ndelivering visuals that are incredible. The movie was shot at night with neon\nlights on wet streets and in train stations filled with character and\natmosphere. The photography has never looked more stunning than on this new\nrelease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also great extras. Those who picked up the 2005\n\u201cDirector\u2019s Cut\u201d DVD will note that all of the bonuses from the set have been\nported over. This includes a lengthy and insightful multi-part making-of\ndocumentary that chronicles the production, as well as the challenges faced by\nthe crew shooting through summer nights in New York. Most of the cast and crew\nparticipate and their stories are entertaining and insightful. Hill explains\nthat he was inspired to make a story about gangs that was styled like a comic\n(hence the \u201cDirector\u2019s Cut,\u201d which adds literal comic book elements that irked\nmany fans). He also explains that he didn\u2019t want to judge the characters or\ngang life, simply presenting them as is during a particularly difficult night.\nThe cast share great stories too, including David Patrick Kelly, who explains\nhow he improvised the villain\u2019s iconic taunt near the close of the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The old extras have always been exceptional, but the new\nadditions add even more information. There\u2019s a film historian commentary from\nWalter Chaw (who wrote a book on director Walter Hill) that offers plenty of\nremarkable details. He comes to the same conclusion as most fans about the 2005\ncut, saying that the comic book panel additions were completely unnecessary and\nthat they serve only as a frustrating distraction to audiences who already love\nand admire the original movie. He is also thrilled to have the \u201cTheatrical Cut\u201d\navailable again.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is also a new interview with Hill himself, as well as\nthe editor and the costume designer. A series of drawings with costume designs\nfor the gangs are also presented and are impressive to look at. Additionally,\nthere\u2019s a new appreciation of the score, which marked early use of the\nsynthesizer. And the discs include a 75-minute discussion with filmmakers Josh\nOlson (A History of Violence<\/em>), Lexi Alexander (Green Street<\/em>), and\nRobert D. Kryzkowski (The Man Who Killed Hitler and then Bigfoot<\/em>) about\nthe movie and their admiration of Hill\u2019s other cinematic work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the course of all of these new bonuses, Hill and the\nothers open up more about what really happened behind the scenes and some of\nthe struggles they faced. He notes that the wild gang looks were the result of\na night of pizza and beer, with the filmmaker coming up with ideas so that the\ncostuming crew would be inspired to create some wild looks. Hill dislikes the\nNew York Yankees, and so he decided to make them bad guys and asked that the\nbat-toting Furies\u2019 outfits be inspired by the team\u2019s pinstripe uniforms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The character of Fox has always been a curious one, as many\nknow that he was originally intended to be the star of the story but had his\npart shaved down considerably. While in earlier documentaries the reason given\nis that co-star Beck and Valkenburg had better onscreen chemistry. But as it\nturns out, this was not the whole story. Hill and co-star Waites were not\ngetting along well. The script involved a large subplot with Fox spending time\nseparated from the gang with Mercy. The two were to fall in love and Fox was\ngoing to consider leaving The Warriors. Waites didn\u2019t appreciate the script’s\naction elements and was belligerent towards Hill for weeks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The director finally fired him, quickly improvising a manner\nto remove him from the story and insert Beck as the love interest. It\u2019s\nfascinating to listen to this tale and it\u2019s equally amazing that the final\nmovie manages to work so well with radical story changes that occurred in the\nmiddle of the shoot. Hill states he felt bad about having to fire his lead, but\nsays that it was the right decision and that he is happy he and Waites were\nrecently able to patch things up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Hill and the editor also talk about problems with the\nopening of the film and how they chopped a scene and crafted a slick and\nfast-paced opening that establishes mood, gives a general sense of location and\nwhere the characters are, as well as placing the leads into the action quickly.\nThe fight scenes are expertly put together and there\u2019s a lot of discussion of\nestablishing geography so that the actions of the entire ensemble are clear at\nany point. They note other new and original editing tricks that were used to\nmake the conflict as dynamic as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The set also comes with a ton of publicity materials\nincluding trailers, image galleries and more. And if that wasn\u2019t enough, these\n\u201cLimited Editions\u201d also come with a 100-page collector\u2019s book with writing on\nthe film and archival material. The packaging features a reversible sleeve with\noriginal and newly created art for the title (there\u2019s also a double-sided\nfold-out poster that includes these images). And it also comes with six\npostcard-sized art-cards and gang logo stickers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It’s late December, but Arrow Video\u2019s \u201cLimited Edition\u201d of The Warriors<\/em> might be one of, if not the best releases of the year. It\u2019s a major upgrade in terms of image quality, includes all archival bonus material and great new extras that give even more insight about the production. Of course, the movie is also an action classic of the highest order. This release is phenomenal and about as good as it gets. Those who \u201cdig\u201d this movie need to pick it up immediately!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Arrow Video is releasing a \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 2-disc 4K Ultra HD set and a 2-disc \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray on December 19th. The Warriors has had a long and storied history. This action film follows the members of a Coney Island-based street gang trying to make their way home from the Bronx through hostile territory. It […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":27666,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[110,300,697,704,1836,2933,2939,3067,3590,4724,8095,13758,22579,23946,23999],"class_list":["post-27664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-110","tag-4k-ultra-hd","tag-action","tag-action-movies","tag-arrow-video","tag-blasts-from-the-past-2","tag-blasts-from-the-past-blu-ray-review-2","tag-blu-ray","tag-bronx","tag-coney-island","tag-gang","tag-michael-beck","tag-the-warriors","tag-walter-hill","tag-warriors"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=27664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27664\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=27664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=27664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=27664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}