The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

The independent newspaper of the University of Iowa community since 1868

The Daily Iowan

DVD Vault: The Warriors

A place for us to reminisce about the movies we loved, lost, and still live for to this day.

The Warriors

Movies get blamed for all kinds of things — from teenage promiscuity to violence desensitization. Few movies have ever been directly accused of inciting specific crimes, though, and those that have are typically noteworthy.

Enter The Warriors. This late ’70s action flick about street gangs in New York was accused of inciting three different homicides. A movie either has to be incredibly bad or insanely awesome to motivate people to kill.

In the case of The Warriors, it was ludicrously awesome. The comic book-influenced film was definitely ahead of its time. It looks and feels almost exactly like one of graphic novel-based films released in recent years except wrapped in a ’70s B-film package.

The plot was based on an ancient Greek story in which a group of Spartan mercenaries had to fight their way from Persia back to Greece. In the case of The Warriors, this means the group fought its way from the Bronx all the way to Coney Island. The warriors go toe to toe with enemies ranging from the bazaar Baseball Furies (complete with bats, cleats, and creepy face paint) to the Black Panther inspired Gramercy Riffs and the truly sociopathic Rogues.

With badass fight scenes, a gritty ’70s New York backdrop, and an awesome theme song by Joe Walsh, The Warriors is an intensely memorable movie experience that has been inspiring anarchy for 30 years.

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