Back in the fall of '85, LBHS had its annual Halloween Fest, allowing students to don a costume for the day. Because we'd just finished reading The Great Gatsby in junior English, and I was pretty lame, I donned a bathrobe, pajamas, and the ascot from my band uniform and attempted to pass myself off as Jay Gatsby. I spent the rest of the day greeting people, "How do you do, old sport?" Yep. Lame.
One of my best buds, Noel, showed up dressed in full face paint, baseball uniform, and wooden bat, looking like a cross between a Kiss groupie and a major league fanboy. He saw the confusion on my face and attempted to clue me in. Shaking his head at yet another of my pop culture failings, he said, "I'm one of the Furies from The Warriors." This was delivered in a deadpan, "it's as obvious as the sky is blue" tone, but I was still no closer to enlightenment. He shouldn't have been surprised. I wasn't a big moviegoer back then and am probably one of the few GenX'ers who never saw Star Wars in a movie theater, let alone The Warriors.
The Warriors, released in 1979, started with a nighttime conclave of all the gangs in New York City attempting to unite under a single leader and in essence control the city. Unfortunately, in the middle of the meeting, Cyrus, the charismatic leader who called for the assembly, was assassinated. The Warriors, a gang based out of Coney Island, was wrongfully accused of the hit. They spent the rest of the movie traversing the 30 miles from the Bronx to make it back to their home turf, dodging hostile gangs and NYPD all along their route.
What piqued my interest was the whole movie was based on one of the most famous military retreats in history with the possible exception of Dunkirk. In 401 BC a contingent of Greek soldiers allied themselves with Cyrus of Persia to take the Persian throne. In the ensuing Battle of Cunaxa, Cyrus was killed, leaving the band of Greeks deep in hostile Persian territory. Like the Warriors, they fought a constant rearguard action to get back to the relative safety of the Mediterranean shoreline.
Apart from sparking a few gang-related riots at some screenings, the movie did OK at the box office. Apparently, then-President Reagan was a fan, and he called the male lead personally to offer his congratulations on his portrayal. If you were a fan of PBS programming back in the day, you may remember a show called 3-2-1 Contact. One of the original hosts, Trini, had a cameo in The Warriors. Yep. Lame.
Back at LBHS, even with Noel's Cliff Notes version, his outfit still didn't make sense. I just shrugged, "Man, it kinda looks ridiculous." Without missing a beat, he clapped back, "Pfft. Have you seen yourself?" Fair point.
The Warriors recently showed up on one of our streaming services so I queued it up and watched it for just the 2nd time. Spoiler alert: The hero squad successfully battles their way to Coney Island, the real perpetrator of the hit on Cyrus got his comeuppance, and the fighting spirit and tenacity of the Warriors was acknowledged.
As the closing credits roll, a gem from Joe Walsh starts to play.
1 comment:
I remember that year....it was the year I came back from Puerto Rico and not a whole lot of people remembered me. I had everyone stopping me in the hallways, asking who I was under the makeup. Suddenly someone screamed out that I was Bobby Herbert (sp?). I just played along with them and didn't speak. Later on that afternoon, Bobby H caught up with me outside and we had an awkward stare down. Suddenly he started laughing and we both had a good laugh at everyone's expense. Wayne, I do love reading your posts. You bring back a lot of great memories of growing up with great friends. Keep on keeping on!
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