7.8 | / 10 |
Users | 4.5 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
A battle of gigantic proportions looms in the neon underground of New York City. The armies of the night number 100,000; they outnumber the police five to one; and tonight, they're all after the Warriors—a street gang blamed unfairly for a rival gang leader's death.
Starring: Michael Beck (I), James Remar, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, Marcelino Sánchez, David Harris (I)Crime | 100% |
Thriller | 74% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
Region free
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Walter Hill's "The Warriors" (1979) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Via Vision Entertainment. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new programs with stars James Remar, David Patrick Kelly, and Dorsey Wright; exclusive new program with composer Barry De Vorzon; new video essay produced by critic Chris O'Neill; extensive collection of production and promotional materials for the film; archival featurettes; and a lot more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.
It is a long way back to Coney Island. You coming?
Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Warriors arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Via Vision Entertainment.
I viewed the original Theatrical Cut and then did a few direct comparisons with the Director's Cut. As far as I can tell, both cuts of the film are sourced from the same master. As far as the actual visuals are concerned, the only notable differences occur during the comic transitions. Please note that the screencaptures in this article appear in the following order:
1. Screencaptures #1-24: Theatrical Cut.
2. Screencaptures #25-34: Director's Cut.
It is pretty obvious that the current master, which comes from Paramount's vaults, is old. It is even easier to tell that when it was finalized some digital work was done to manage the surface of the visuals. Why? I have a couple of good guesses, but the best one is that the work was done to make the comic transitions on the Director's Cut blend better with the native footage. Of course, I could be wrong, but on the Director's Cut the merging of the two looks pretty effortless. Without the adjustment, moving from a grainy visual to the comic transition and back to another grainy visual would have made the segment somewhat uneven. So, the obvious question here is this: how does this impact the overall quality of the visuals? Do they still have a decent organic appearance? On my system, the opening credits with the lush neon lights do not look very convincing -- decent, yes, but not too convincing. After that just about everything looks much, much better. Why is that? Because from the gang gathering all the way until the decisive clash at Coney Island the film is quite dark -- there are nighttime and indoor visuals, plus some visuals from the subway, and all of them feature minimal or seriously restricted lighting. Also, Andrew Laszlo's cinematography -- and specifically the manner in which it emphasizes the wet dark streets -- unintentionally hides many of the current master's shortcomings. As a result, delineation can range from decent to surprisingly good (see screencapture #3). Clarity is usually satisfying as well. The effects of the digital work can be spotted during still shots where depth isn't optimal, but even they can look acceptable, or at least as far as dated content is concerned (see screencapture #2). The other partially good news is that while there are areas with flattened delineation and depth, the visuals do not appear to be plagued by heavy smearing like the one that is often present on old masters that emerge from Universal's vaults. This is the reason why the daylight footage from Cony Island at the end of the film has some decent detail as well (see screencapture #20). However, this is also the footage where the age of the master begins to show (see screencapture #12). Image stability is good, but I did notice a few shaky areas. The current master's greatest strength is the overall very solid color balance. If you ignore some of the clipped highlights that pop up here and there, the existing ranges of primaries and nuances is very, very solid. In darker areas there is a bit of light crushing, but it is still very easy to tell that the primaries values are very good. Finally, I did not see any distracting large debris, cuts, warped or torn frames to report in our review.
So, what is the final verdict on the current presentation of The Warriors? It is imperfect. Now, if Paramount restores The Warriors in 4K as it has various older films that have appeared in the Paramount Presents line, the new presentation will have an all-around better organic appearance. However, I personally am not interested in owning a copy of Walter Hill's Director's Cut of the film, and I remain skeptical that Paramount will invest in a 4K makeover of his Theatrical Cut of the film in the near future. Of course, I could be wrong, but this is how I feel at the moment. More importantly, I think that the current presentation of the Theatrical Cut is decent, even surprisingly good at times. The darkness in it hides plenty, balances some areas pretty well, too. Yes, I could easily spot the digital edge during the prologue from the subway, but I had a fine time with the rest of the Theatrical Cut as it is. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your location).
There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for both cuts of The Warriors.
As noted elsewhere, I viewed the Theatrical Cut in its entirety and then tested some random sections of The Director's Cut. I started with the LPCM 2.0 track, quickly switched to the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, and then did a lot more switching along the way. In fact, I probably overdid my testing a bit. I usually go for the original audio, but in this case the 5.1 track was so good that I believe I viewed larger parts of the Theatrical Cut with it. My guess is that when the Director's Cut was prepared the 5.1 track was finalized under the supervision of someone that knew exactly what it was supposed to accomplish. (By the way, I am going to guess that this is the reason why the LPCM 2.0 track is Stereo, rather than Dual Mono). In other words, it is not just a random upmix that was quickly put together. Also, on the U.S. release of the Director's Cut there is only a 5.1 lossy track, so on this release the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track has superior basic dynamic range as well. I thought that the music sounded absolutely incredible on my system, and the rest was just as healthy and solid as I hoped it would be. Can Paramount deliver a superior audio track in the future? Anything is possible because now the technology to extract audio files and produce lossless tracks is superior, but I am completely satisfied with what this release offers in terms of audio quality.
BLU-RAY DISC ONE - THE THEATRICAL CUT
I am in full agreement with the popular consensus that Walter Hill's Director's Cut of The Warriors is a minor disaster. No, it is not an unwatchable film, but it is very clearly a mismanaged film that no one asked about. I am sorry, it is the truth. The Theatrical Cut has the right personality, the right narrative construction and definitely the perfect stylistic appearance, which is precisely why fans of The Warriors have always supported it as the only legit version of the film. I am one hundred percent in their camp -- it is the version to see and own. This new two-disc set from Via Vision Entertainment has the Theatrical Cut and Director's Cut of The Warriors, as well as the deleted and extended scenes that were used in the TV version of the film. It is great to have all this content in one place, but the Theatrical Cut is what I was waiting for. So, how does it look? Decent and in some areas surprisingly good, so even though it can look better if it is properly restored in 4K, I am happy to finally have it in my library. Last but certainly not least, the two-disc set has an outstanding selection of new and archival bonus features that I think make it pretty special. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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