The Warriors

This is one of the great, underappreciated masterpieces of ’70s filmmaking. Walter Hill directs, based on Sol Yurick’s novel, a weird, dreamlike take on Xenophon’s Anabasis, transposed to New York City and featuring an assortment of oddball street gangs instead of ancient Persian warrior bands. Called to the Bronx by prophet and gang-leader Cyrus, the Warriors join a convention of thousands of hoodlums, but are framed for Cyrus’ murder and must fight their way back to Coney Island. The incomparable Lynne Thigpen, shown only as lips near a microphone, gives voiceover in the form of a malevolent midnight disk jockey who directs the city’s gangs to kill the fleeing Warriors. The unforgettable assortment of imaginary gangs include the strangely painted Baseball Furies, the seductive Lizzies, the rollerskating Punks, the zoot-suited Boppers and the mime-attired High Hats. Hypnotic weirdness and storybook violence create one of the strangest, and most compelling, midnight movies of all time.