Come Out To Play

Well, the past week was better than the one that came before. I got a bit more sleep, didn’t get too crazy drunk (as far as I know), and finally have a little bit of money in the bank, which means I’ve put in my order for the “new” Skinny Puppy album (actually it’s about two years old now, but I haven’t been able to afford it). So that’s exciting.

There’s been interesting news, as well. In the first place, an unknown Beethoven manuscript just turned up in Philadelphia, which to me is just about the coolest thing ever. It’s a piano transcription by the great man himself of his “Grosse Fugue,” originally a string quartet. Apparently he did the transcription as he was dying, afraid that the piece (which had opened to scathing reviews) would die when he did, and wanting a version to survive. I don’t know how excited everybody else is about this, but I think it’s super-cool.

Also, who out there remembers the late-70’s trash classic The Warriors? Come on, don’t be ashamed to admit it; I know a lot of you have seen and loved it. In fact, maybe too many people saw and loved it. It obviously had an impact completely out of proportion to the amount of money spent filming it, or skill spent writing the dialog. Marion Jones did some commercials based on the DJ character a few years back, Twisted Sister mocked its final confrontation scene at the beginning of one of their albums, and Shaq can’t ever speak in front of a crowd without mimicking Cyrus’ booming call to the gangland armies: “CAN YOU DIG IT?”

For those who suffered through deprived childhoods (or weren’t old enough to be watching B-movies twenty-five years ago), the plot of the movie was pretty simple. There’s a gangland rally somewhere in the Bronx, where each of 100 different gangs have sent 9 delegates each to form a gangland army under the leadership of the charismatic and legendary Cyrus, leader of the Grammercy Riffs, New York’s biggest and most feared gang. The idea is that, with well-coordinated army of street-tested kids 60,000 strong, Cyrus and his people can conquer Manhattan (which, as Cyrus points out, is protected by only 20,000 cops)

But, just as Cyrus is ready to lead the mighty and poorly-dressed army to the promised land, tragedy strikes. At the climax of his speech he’s murdered. The murder is committed by Luther, the psychotic leader of the Rogues, but for reasons that have never been clear to me, he is able to shift suspicion to the Warriors, one of the gangs in attendance. The other gangs are outraged and turn on the Warriors, whose leader is murdered right there. The rest of them, though, manage to escape the rally.

They start to head back to their home base at Coney Island, but by now word is out about what happened in the Park, and every gang in the city is after them for killing Cyrus; and no sooner do they escape the territory of one gang than they find themselves under attack from another. And they can’t hide, ‘cause there’s a DJ (we never see anything of her but her mouth) announcing their progress across the city, letting everyone know exactly where they are and dedicating songs to them such as “Nowhere To Run.” So, it’s kind of like the Odyssey, only without ships and, you know, rather than Greek heroes there’s a lot of Afros and denim jackets.

And the gangs they meet! What a bizarre and well-imagined bunch of hooligans! Everyone’s favorites, of course, were the Furies, a bunch that dressed in Yankee uniforms and garish face paint, and (as you would expect) assaulted their enemies with baseball bats. The scene where the Warriors beat the hell out of the Furies with their own stolen bats is a classic of the genre (if, in fact, there is a genre associated with this movie). Also memorable are the Lizzies, an all-girl gang who bring the boys into their hideout under the pretense of hiding (and seducing) them, only to turn on them once they’ve got them off the street. And, of course, the Orphans, the gang made up of kids no other gang wants, whose only uniform is matching pea-green T-shirts and who weren’t even invited to Cyrus’ rally. The main cool thing about them is that Mercy (Deborah Van Valkenburgh, who also just appeared as Casey in The Devil's Rejects), one of the gang's girls, leaves them and joins the Warriors. Doesn't seem like the best time to do that to me, but hey, what are you gonna do? Anyway, I always thought if I had a daughter I'd name her Mercy, in honor of this movie (I tried to talk Pancho into this with his older daughter, but he wouldn't do it).

Between encounters with these folks, the Warriors meet a host of spectacularly-dressed but screen-time-challenged gangs such as the Boppers (my favorite outfits, but I always have loved purple silk). The Boppers' name, actually, kinda screws up the plot, since the DJ calls all the gangs looking for the Warrior "boppers." Still, cool outfits. If I was in New York in 1979 (well, and if I was black), I'd have wanted to join them. Pancho digs the Punks, roller-skating freaks who ambush the Warriors in a subway restroom. They seem to like stripes and overalls; kinda geeky, but it's a damn good fight scene. Finally of course there are the Rogues, pursuing the Warriors across the city and looking like they came fresh from a Guns & Roses video audition. When the Warriors finally make it back to Coney Island, it’s the Rogues who first flush them out, with Luther banging glass bottles together on his fingers and chanting, “Warriors…come out to play…” in a wail that gets gradually higher more ear-splitting the longer he does it.

And then in the last scene, the Warriors emerge from combat with the Rogues to find themselves alone on the beach, staring down every gang in New York. I’m telling you, it’s a classic. As the New York Times said in the original 1979 film review: “The film is as handsome to watch as it is preposterous to listen to, full of gorgeous nocturnal city images that splash blaring neon colors against filthy, rain-slicked gray. (Director Walter Hill) uses subways, jukeboxes, spectacularly eerie costumes and deserted streets to create a stark yet extravagant visual style, and a grimy little world in which everything looks curiously brand-new.”

If you’ve managed to miss it this long, go rent it immediately. And if you’ve seen it before, wipe off the dust and watch it again, ‘cause I’ve got some crazy news for ya. Rockstar Games, the folks who did Grand Theft Auto, are coming out with a Warriors game for the PS2 and the Xbox. Now, I don’t have either of those game platforms, but I’m still getting that game, just to have it. If you’re a friend of mine and I find out you’ve got a PS2, be ready for me to start bugging you to invite me over for game night.

I’ve seen the previews at GameSpot, and it looks really good. The thing that makes me happiest, of course, is that the DJ is still sending out waves of evildoers after our heroes…the game wouldn’t work without her. In fact, all the characters from the movie are there, and they did a real good job with the meshes and the voices. Check out the game's website. Also, action figures are being released, if you can believe that. So, basically, this is the happiest day of my life, I’m gonna go bliss out for a while. Will write an actual post tomorrow or something.