James-Remar Movie Reviews

What makes this movie work is the relationship of the patients. It is so much fun watching Keaton, Lloyd, and Boyle bicker all the time about the littlest things. Boyle has a really funny scene in which he leaves the van while Lloyd tries to block him. Boyle then muscles his way past Lloyd, tells him that He shall have no false gods before Him, and finally he tells Lloyd to get out his way before calling him a seven-letter word. There might only be so much you can do with a catatonic character, but Furst is quite memorable. Even though the doctor must have the patience of a saint when dealing with them, he probably has a harder time suppressing a laugh. Quite simply, this is a movie that gets better every time you watch it.

What makes this movie work is the relationship of the patients. It is so much fun watching Keaton, Lloyd, and Boyle bicker all the time about the littlest things. Boyle has a really funny scene in which he leaves the van while Lloyd tries to block him. Boyle then muscles his way past Lloyd, tells him that He shall have no false gods before Him, and finally he tells Lloyd to get out his way before calling him a seven-letter word. There might only be so much you can do with a catatonic character, but Furst is quite memorable. Even though the doctor must have the patience of a saint when dealing with them, he probably has a harder time suppressing a laugh. Quite simply, this is a movie that gets better every time you watch it.

Hill successfully adapted the moderately popular novel by author Sol Yurick who worked with the NYC Dept of Welfare in the 1950's. Yurick used the basis of ancient Greek history and the torturous trek home by Greek soldiers after their leader , Cyrus the Younger, was killed in the Persian Wars...and simply updated the setting to modern day NY and it's raging gang warfare embracing the five boroughs !

Set amongst a hostile, nocturnal world of neon lit train stations, baseball bat wielding gang members and lethal, gun toting women "The Warriors" moves along at a frenetic pace with a fine selection of young actors taking the lead. Michael Beck plays the cool headed, "war chief" Swan, seeking to get the other members back home to Coney Island alive and in one piece. James Remar is unforgettable as the woman chasing, hot headed Ajax...always out to prove his manhood with his fists. And David Patrick Kelly is perfect as the murderous, but ultimately cowardly leader of the Rogues.

Attending a combined gangs meeting deep in the South Bronx to hear the Gramercy Riffs plans to control the streets of New York, the Warriors are wrongly accused of the shooting death of their charismatic leader, Cyrus. The finger of blame pointed their way, they flee via any means they can and upon their way back to home base encounter violent opposition from the low life Orphans, the shaven headed Turnbull AC's, the face painted Baseball Furies, the seductive all female gang, the Lizzies and even rifts within their own ranks lead to trouble.

The film was roundly savaged by several sections of the community (mainly law enforcement & welfare groups) upon it's release for apparently inciting gang violence and it's poor depiction of inner city street kids, and yes, there were several nasty incidents at theatre's upon the film's release, but these have been blown well out of all proportion. Although, I must say when the film was released in my country (Australia) it was already riding a wave of notoriety, and attracted "bad boys" in their droves to watch this "infamous" gang flick. When viewed in the cold light of day, the film is actually fairly cartoon like in it;s depiction of urban violence and most anyone who cop's a hiding seems to be left just rubbing his head and moaning (a la Daffy Duck) in discomfort !

Interestingly, out of a on screen line up of strong young talent, very few of the cast went on to any sort of fame & fortune in Hollywood. James Remar has had the most success (with about 70 movies under his belt ) and has continued his motif of tough, aggressive leads in films like "48 Hrs", and plenty of "straight to video" action fare...plus he even crops up regularly on "Sex and the City" & "Third Watch" re-runs ! It's good to see that hard hitting Ajax never left New York ! Actor Marcellino Sanchez who played graffiti artist "Rembrandt" died from cancer only a few years after the films release, and David Patrick Kelly has continued in roles as evil, criminal types...see him in "Commando", "The Crow" & "Wild at Heart" !

I think "The Warriors" occupies quite a sentimental place in my film heart, as I was in my late teens, and hanging around with a group of testosterone filled guys when this film came out, and could somewhat identify with these on screen tough guys and their night time exploits...but I'm much more civilised now !

A colorful, exciting and fast paced film...albeit corny in places with that silly love story sub plot with bee stung lipped, Deborah Van Valkenbergh...it is one of the better made and better remembered teen gang movies !

The story of a group of four junkies who raid drugstores in their search for drugs, this film takes a gritty, unflinching look at drugabuse and the hell people go through while using and after they quit. Shifting tones between deeply dramatic and darkly comical, Van Sant never judges his characters, but just allows them to speak for themselves - literally, as Matt Dillon's character narrates the movie. Dillon has never been better than here, and is supported by an excellent Kelly Lynch (where did she go in the meantime, anyway?) and a very young Heather Graham.

There are moments in this film you'll remember forever: when Dillon and Lynch get stuck in a motel hosting a sheriff's convention with a dead body on their hands, you don't know whether to laugh, cry or shiver at the thought. And who ever suspected that a song like "The Israelites" could be made to sound so haunting? In the framework of this movie, it does. Above all, this movie comes across as very honest and heartfelt, emotional without being corny, effective without being preachy.

DVD-edition features a fine transfer of the film - its occasional graininess is likely due to either the low budget it was shot on in the first place, or an artistic choice. I've never seen it any better than here, and the rough edges of it do seem to add to its content and mood. Commentary by Van Sant and Dillon starts out entertaining, but towards the end they seem to be searching for new things to say. Very good "making of"-featurette.

The story of a group of four junkies who raid drugstores in their search for drugs, this film takes a gritty, unflinching look at drugabuse and the hell people go through while using and after they quit. Shifting tones between deeply dramatic and darkly comical, Van Sant never judges his characters, but just allows them to speak for themselves - literally, as Matt Dillon's character narrates the movie. Dillon has never been better than here, and is supported by an excellent Kelly Lynch (where did she go in the meantime, anyway?) and a very young Heather Graham.

There are moments in this film you'll remember forever: when Dillon and Lynch get stuck in a motel hosting a sheriff's convention with a dead body on their hands, you don't know whether to laugh, cry or shiver at the thought. And who ever suspected that a song like "The Israelites" could be made to sound so haunting? In the framework of this movie, it does. Above all, this movie comes across as very honest and heartfelt, emotional without being corny, effective without being preachy.

DVD-edition features a fine transfer of the film - its occasional graininess is likely due to either the low budget it was shot on in the first place, or an artistic choice. I've never seen it any better than here, and the rough edges of it do seem to add to its content and mood. Commentary by Van Sant and Dillon starts out entertaining, but towards the end they seem to be searching for new things to say. Very good "making of"-featurette.