With just a simple plot, some action, a pumping soundtrack, and elaborate costuming, Walter Hill creates a classic film that might be considered a smooth form of art.  This film's main focus is on a journey home for a gang framed for the murder of an upstanding citizen.  With just that plot line, the film could have ended up being boring and dull, but Hill uses creative costuming along with a diverse cast to create a quick-paced action thriller similar to Mad Max: Fury Road.  "Can you dig it?"  Oh, I can dig it.

Throughout the film, the audience is guided through a gallery of figures in a gang controlled New York.  At the beginning, all of the gangs are displayed in a meeting.  This creates a full picture of the city's gangs, some of which will be seen more specifically later on in the film.  I must admit that while I enjoyed the gang of mimes, the baseball players with face-paint stood out as the coolest gang.  If I were cast in the movie, that would be my gang for sure. These different gangs create a diversity for the film, which is unique to a film from 1979.

Alongside the race diversity, Hill adds quite a few female characters.  But, these are not the average objectified female characters of many other films.  Rather, these actresses are given a lot of the power, often times antagonizing the Warriors when they cross paths.  Even today, many actresses are offered roles that objectify women, but in The Warriors the actresses become the real fighting forces of the film.

The Bottom Line:  This film breaks barriers of its time as diverse gangs of New York make for a quick-paced action thriller that most audiences can enjoy.

Score: 8.7/10

After watching this film, I was a bit underwhelmed but still able to see why there is hype around Rocky.  Going into the film I expected a stellar performance from Sylvester Stallone.  That would be something that I have yet to see from this actor.  While I am unsure of whether I believe Stallone was stellar in this role, he was certainly different from any other role I have seen him in. Rather than creating a solid character, it appeared that Stallone's own writing created a character that said everything that came to his mind.  To me, this type of acting based on stream of consciousness seems to get old after a while once.

Recently, I have come to enjoy sports films with newer films such as Rush, 42, and The Fighter.  So I figured I would go back to one of the most classic sports films, Rocky.  Unlike most other sports films, Rocky really only had two actual sporting events to keep the audiences attention.  I would have probably felt more into the film if there were a few more boxing events in the film.  My focus seemed to wain at times from Stallone's continuous dialogue.

Yet, I still enjoyed this movie mainly because of the camerawork involved.  A lot of the scenes in the film involved long tracking shots that made me feel like I was following the characters through the streets of Philly.  Furthermore, the cinematography created a beautiful atmosphere and setting.  Honestly, I would love to go to Philadelphia and retrace Rocky's steps to experience that setting.  

The Bottom Line:  The acting was certainly unique, but the camerawork and cinematography really create the classic feel of this film.

Score: 8.5/10