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’Net Junkie Shawn "Speedy" Lopes |
‘The Warriors’ is a classic
"Casablanca," "Gone With the Wind," "The Grapes of Wrath" -- all fine movies, though I do not own them on home video, nor do I have plans to purchase them any time soon. It's not that I'm unaware or unappreciative of these films; I simply feel I must complete my personal DVD shopping list before I get to these celluloid classics.
I'll admit, many of my top choices aren't exactly Academy Award-caliber movies, but everyone's got a few borderline-bad favorites whose scripts one can recite line for line, scene by scene. Ever since I caught my first glimpse of R-rated cable TV more than 20 years ago at a relative's house, I have been captivated by "The Warriors," the 1979 cult classic based on the Sol Yurick novel. It is a movie with little redeeming social merit, few great (or even serviceable) acting performances and the simplest of plots. But as an action flick, it is unforgettable.
For the uninitiated, "The Warriors" follows a New York street gang in their quest to make it back home to their Coney Island 'hood following an incident in which they are wrongfully accused of murdering a respected gang leader. It has given rise to several memorable lines such as "Warriors ... come out to play-ay!" "Can you dig it?" and a few others I can't repeat in print.
A quick check of the World Wide Web shows I'm not alone in my fascination for this film. There are several Internet sites dedicated to this inner-city thriller, including the Warriors fan site at members.aol.com/elasdray, which features a subway map that traces the Warriors' perilous journey across New York City, plus photos, film facts and reprinted reviews of the controversial film which appeared in newspapers 25 years ago ("A sickening film that glorifies gang warfare and brutal violence," wrote one reviewer). According to this site, "The Warriors" earned the 16th spot in Entertainment Weekly's Top 50 cult movies.
You might also try the Warriors Movie Site at www.bebamag.com/movies/warriors, which offers sound clips, scene transcripts, unintentional goofs, links to Warriors merchandise, news of an upcoming remake by MTV Productions and Paramount Pictures, and a fan forum for Warriors fanatics and theorists to comb through every minute detail of the film.
Best of all, this site includes several challenging quizzes for devotees of this cult classic. For the record, I recorded 28 correct out of 30 questions. Can you dig it?
Note: Web sites mentioned in this column were active at time of publication. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin neither endorses nor is responsible for their contents.
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’Net Junkie drops every Monday.
Contact Shawn "Speedy" Lopes at slopes@starbulletin.com.
