Sorry for the short notice… just heard about this…
In February 1979, Manhattan was a different place. Don't even get us started on Brooklyn. New York City was cold, and it was dangerous. It was a time of colorful gangs, graffiti covered trains, and broken truces. It was a time, of… The Warriors.
New York City has cleaned up a lot since then, but to be honest, we kind of miss the sense of style and danger exemplified by Turnbull AC's, The Orphans, The Warriors, The Lizzies, The Punks, and The Gramercy Riffs.
35 years after it's debut screening, Celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the groundbreaking film that has captivated multiple generations with it's street smart characters, and violent action, in the city where it was all created! Eat, Drink, and get rowdy at (Le) Poisson Rouge - a multi-media art cabaret that offers impeccable acoustics, so those bottles clanking are guaranteed to give you chills!
We'll have DJ Small Change spinning the tunes from the epic film soundtrack before and after the movie and giving away Warriors Movie Soundtracks courtesy of LaLa Land records.
We'll also be giving out prizes and random free drinks to those who represent the best dressed members of the gangs from the film!
Plus: Q+A with Apache Ramos from The Orphans and other stars of the film!
Hosted by NYC Punk Rock Icon John Joseph!
(Le) Poisson Rouge is at 158 Bleecker St. Show starts at tonight 7. (Doors, 6) Tix are $10 at the door. Find more details here.
"The Warriors" debuted on Feb. 9, 1979…
AND BEWARE THESE BAD
P.S.
Luther needs more beer!
I was in my first year of college when this movie premiered and believe it or not the "violence" in Warriors was very controversial. Although it appeared then as it does now to be quite stylized and choreographed I think the dingy New York night scenes along with the whole idea of roaming gangs upset people more the violence displayed in the movie. Of course the whole Odyssey and Homer reference gave the movie more cred with the academics.
ReplyDeleteNYC was so much more interesting then...
ReplyDeleteI am so going to this; thanks EV Grieve for posting, or I would have missed it.
ReplyDeleteOooh yeah, the Gramercy Riffs -- they'd stare at you mercilessly for parking your Honda in front of the National Arts Club or wearing red cotton khaki trousers or club ties with little golf clubs with your blazer to events in the Park. That was one tough neighborhood back then.
ReplyDelete@ Ken from Ken's Kitchen
ReplyDeleteHaha! Like! Like! Like!
"Luther needs more beer!"
ReplyDeleteThose beers are (?) nips (7 oz.), one being (the clear one), I think, a Miller. The other two, Rheingolds? David Patrick Kelly’s character in “48 Hours” was also Luther. He seemed like he always played a little A-Hole thug (Commando, etc.). I like watching the Warriors with the sound off, my own music playing instead to dig the visuals. As per any link, the Union Square bathroom scene was a set.
Is that Leo Sayre?
ReplyDeleteFrom what I remember, they cut the distribution short because of gang violence in the theaters. There was at least one knifing.
ReplyDeleteI remember the weird pinball scene was the northern part of the Union Square subway station before they rebuilt it. A discussion about this movie with some high school alums a few years ago brought up tales of local NYC/Brooklyn gangs, that were maybe less colorful, but otherwise similar to the flick.
It's not the Oddysey and Homer, it's the Anabasis and Xenophon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabasis_(Xenophon)
ReplyDelete"West Side Story" was both more realistic and a better movie.
ReplyDeleteWest Side Story was so much more realistic, except for the parts where the gang members become expert jazz and ballet dancers, and sing in harmony in perfect stage voices. Other than that it was soooo much more realistic.
ReplyDeleteWhat made The Warriors much more frightenting than the Oscar winning West Side Story was the silent relentlessness of some of the gangs. Since the producers probably didn't want to pay that many actors to speak, several of the gangs that chase the Warriors never say a single word, they just silently chase the Warriors with baseball bats and on roller skates all,dressed up in bizarre outfits. This has the odd effect of turning the mute gang members into characters more like zombies, which makes them even more terrifying.
West Side Story will always be one of my favorites, but The Warriors was much more violent, unpredictable and scary, so in that respect it is a more realistic depiction of gang violence. Also lots of the kids who saw it at the time were suddenly inspired to start acting like gang members and started fighting in the aisles and outside the theatres, and someone got stabbed, leading the movie to be pulled from some theatres, and that made the movie seem even more real.
At the time this silly but so over-the-top that it could from time to time be funny movie was being filmed, I was about 15 and living in the projects in ConeyIsland. I was on the way to the liquor store that was the easiest for us underage guys to get a served at, with a couple of pals. The liquor store was right across the street from the elevated Stillwell Avenue train station, where they were filming a major scene. There was a bunch of heavy cables tied together dangling down from the elevated train station down to the street, where they ran into some equipment truck. So of course my half-drunk buddy Paulie decides to grab the cables and starts climbing up them. He gets maybe 10 feet up when whatever is anchoring them up on the station gives way, and down comes Paulie followed by a HUGE heavy movie camera and some giant movie lights from up on the platform CRASH. By God's well known mercy upon drunks and children, us being both, no one was hit by anything heavy and we scrambled away, another night in ConeyIsland.
ReplyDeleteI assume the statute of limitations makes it OK for this confession after all these years. My Warriors story.
Oh, and BTW, those guys in overalls were on skates, with baseball bats. But you knew that.
ReplyDeleteThe Hi Hats (mime gang) from SOHO really embodies the grittiness of downtown in the 70's.
ReplyDeleteIzf,
ReplyDeleteI know you are joshing, frankly the folks posting about what a frightening and realistic portrayal this fun, broadwayish costume farce was are way out there, at least from my perspective as a kid from the projects who actually knew the streets and subways of 1970s NYC. That being said, it is interesting that you mention the mimes, as one of the most volatile groups out there at the time, mostly in the subways, was a gang of deaf-mutes that had affiliation with the SavageSkulls out of the Bronx off and on. They were also unusual in that both males and females were fully affiliated, maybe out of necessity since their pool of potentials was obviously smaller. I know that the deaf and mimes are two entirely different things, but I can't help wondering if the idea didn't originate with this reality.
As someone who grew up around a lot of gangs I remember how every kid who saw it including gang members started imitating characters from the movie. Every time someone wanted to taunt or fight another group they'd start saying the famous line "Warriors, come out and play-yay" so if the movie wasn't "realistic" before it came out it sure became realistic after kids saw it and started imitating the various gangs after they saw it. Many fights broke out during and after the movie so something was connecting with all those kids who were going wild.
ReplyDelete@ Scuba Diva
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure only 1 of the overalls guys was on skates.