Sure, it's wildly politically incorrect and its leading man is a monosyllabic misogynist, but the movie somehow transcends its trappings to go down as one of great camp adventure films of its era.
It's also an amazing time capsule of a time where New York City was portrayed on film as little more than a cesspool of ceaseless violence and danger.
Hollywood really reveled in this type of film in the 1970s and early-'80s and in a sense it was an honest portrayal.
New York and the outer boroughs were riddled with crime during that period, and the city even went bankrupt in the middle of the '70s. So when the industry was looking for "gritty realism" they looked no further than the Big Apple.
The Warriors, with their elaborate costumes and over-pronounced attitudes, are emblematic of this kind of heightened "reality." When you watch these films you feel like at any moment a character can be mugged and/or accidentally stabbed by a syringe.
As a native and proud New Yorker, I cherish these films although I'd never want to live in them.
Midnight Cowboy (1969) - Perhaps one of the first films to be preoccupied with the underbelly of NYC and not its more glamorous side. In retrospect it's remarkable that the movie even got made, let alone won best picture. It's a buddy picture about a cripple named Ratso and a male prostitute who looks like he just walked out of a rodeo. And yet, it's an emotional tour de force that really takes advantage of the city's landscape.
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| John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever |
Serpico (1973) - Probably the second ultimate NYC cop movie. Al Pacino's earnest cop encounters seedy corruption almost everywhere he goes. As the film progresses, he becomes increasingly bohemian -- but the movie never loses its violent edge. The finale features some of Pacino's most subtle acting ever.
Taxi Driver (1976) - One of my favorite movies of all time by my favorite director -- Martin Scorsese. Although heavily stylized, the film does evoke a certain bitter malaise that was setting in during this period. You see a clash of the underworld with the upper class in this movie and straddling both world's is Robert De Niro's fascinating and disturbing performance as Travis Bickle, easily one of the greatest roles of all time.
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) - Walter Matthau as an action hero? Only in New York. This subway-based thriller is genuinely exciting but also full of colorful, foul-mouthed city folk who make this film feel richly textured and believable. The characters are mostly working stiffs trying to do their job whether it be crime or punishment.
Saturday Night Fever (1977) - Sure, most people remember John Travolta's slick dance moves, but if you actually watch this movie in its entirety its one of the most relentlessly bleak hit dramas ever made. Gang rape, race-based violence and suicide all factor into this story of Brooklyn youths with little to love but the disco beat. The iconic shot of Travolta, despondent, riding the subways, is more compelling to me than the gleeful image on the poster.
Death Wish (1974) - Charles Bronson goes from sensitive liberal to cold-blooded vigilante after a bunch of street punks (led by a young Jeff Goldblum, go figure) attack his wife and daughter in their home while he's away at work. Is it exploitation? Absolutely. It's also incredibly entertaining and fun if you watch it with the right amount of skepticism and awareness of the NYC climate in which it was released.
After Hours (1985) - By the '80s a sleeker, more sophisticated New York City started to take hold (think Fatal Attraction or 9 1/2 Weeks) but thank God for Martin Scorsese -- he had a little more scum to show off with this underrated, offbeat dark comedy. It's about a guy who takes a chance on a random encounter in the hopes of getting "laid" and then spends a nightmare of a night trying to get back home.
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