The LA Beat

* indicates that this title is also available to stream, rent, or purchase on various platforms. Please note that streaming presentations may differ from these home video releases.

“The Warriors” * (1979, Arrow Video) Thrilling, audacious, and frequently bizarre action-thriller from director Walter Hill (“Streets of Fire”), who takes a relatively simple premise – a street gang must flee New York City, with hordes of rival gangs in pursuit – and bends it into a quasi-Western that, at various times, apes classical Greek drama, overheated juvenile delinquent pictures, elements of “Hair,” and the most overripe Marvel Comics titles. It shouldn’t work, but “The Warriors” is delivered with a straight face and considerable technical bravado, which overcomes its occasional dips into weird fantasy; Arrow Video’s Limited Edition Blu-ray is the Compleat Warriors, bundling crisp 4K UHD presentations of the theatrical cut and much-deliberated Director’s Cut (which drives home the comic book influences, often to distraction) and adding commentary by critic Walter Chaw (on the theatrical cuts) and interviews with Hill, co-writer David Shaber, editor Billy Weber and (best of all) costume designer Bobbie Mannix, whose production sketches are also included. A roundtable discussions brings together several fillmmakers, including Lexi Alexander (“Green Street”) and Josh Olson (“A History of Violence”), to pay homage to the film, while archival featurettes detail the very difficult production history. Liner notes include another interview with Hill and a very insightful essay by my friend, critic and historian Dennis Cozzalio.

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