The Warriors are ready to come out and play at the IFC Center this weekend
WAVERLY MIDNIGHTS: THE WARRIORS (Walter Hill, 1979)
IFC Center
323 Sixth Ave. at Third St.
May 25-27, 12 midnight
212-924-7771
www.ifccenter.com
At a huge gang meeting in the Bronx (actually shot in Riverside Park), the Warriors are wrongly accused of having killed Cyrus (Roger Hill), an outspoken leader trying to band all the warring factions together to form one huge force that can take over the New York City borough by borough. The Warriors then must make it back to their home turf, Coney Island, with every gang in New York lying in wait for them to pass through their territory. This iconic New York City gang movie is based on Sol Yurick’s novel, which in turn is loosely based on Xenophon’s Anabasis, which told of the ancient Greeks’ retreat from Persia. Michael Beck stars as Swan, who becomes the de-facto leader of the Warriors after Cleon (Dorsey Wright) gets taken down early. Battling Swan for control is Ajax (Dexter’s James Remar) and tough-talking Mercy (Too Close for Comfort’s Deborah Van Valkenburgh). Serving as a Greek chorus is Lynne (Law & Order) Thigpen as a radio DJ, and, yes, that young woman out too late in Central Park is eventual Oscar winner Mercedes Ruehl. Among the cartoony gangs of New York who try to stop the Warriors are the roller-skating Punks, the pathetic Orphans, the militaristic Gramercy Riffs, the all-girl Lizzies, the ragtag Rogues, and the inimitable Baseball Furies. Another main character is the New York City subway system. The Warriors is a gritty, tense, violent, funny, romantic, wholly absorbing movie, a brutal yet tender tale that will quickly work its way into your heart. The Warriors is screening May 25-27 as part of the IFC Center’s Wild Hill: Walter Hill at Midnight series, celebrating the career of the director of such films as 48 Hrs., Streets of Fire, and The Long Riders. The IFC Center will also be showing Hill’s underrated bare-knuckle drama Hard Times, with James Coburn and Charles Bronson, on June 1-2, followed on June 8-9 by the Hill-scripted Hickey & Boggs, starring Bill Cosby and Robert Culp (who directed the film), and June 15-16 by Sam Peckinpah’s The Getaway, which Hill wrote and stars Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw.