In the discussion (12)
Approx. transcript time · 00:32:21Read transcript
- Cleon, the original warlord who is killed after the Rogue in the leopard-print headpiece blames the Warriors, has more scenes in the uncut version; he dies under a pile of elbows from 25 guys, flicks Luther off him with an amazing move, and a Cleon prequel about the rise of the Warriors is wished for; the jackets and shirtless vests also hold up.
- A vest with no shirt is never a win unless you are a professional wrestler. — Sean Fennessey
- Others disagree about the vest, one joking about wearing a leather vest with sunscreen and phone pockets to the beach before admitting it is not serious; the vest is the part connected to most because of the Orphans scene, where Mercy goads the Orphans into demanding the Warriors remove their colors, which recalls the cuts in Sons of Anarchy that you die before taking off.
- Central Park in seventies movies is creepy, empty and dangerous; Luther, the leader of the Rogues, is an over-the-top villain going for it, loved for having no reason for anything he does beyond 'because we can', and one host's son loves how over the top he is.
- Whether villains need motivation splits the room: one says explaining a villain is a waste of time, citing the Joker, and two disagree and need a reason; Luther was one of only two actors one host recognized, from Commando, with Remar recognized as Raiden from Mortal Kombat 2.
- The actor who plays Luther was purposefully recast by Walter Hill as Luther in 48 Hours, turning on Eddie Murphy's crew, and has been on Twin Peaks and in Spike Lee movies; Walter Hill hit a zone with this film and 48 Hours in how an action movie moves with music.
- Barry DeVorzen's weird-guitar soundtrack has aged well, but ending on a big Joe Walsh song creates cognitive dissonance after a black gang beats the Rogues; in the movie's defense there is no hip hop yet in 1979, though Sugarhill Gang existed, and a hard funk record or Across 110th Street would make more sense.
- The Orphans scene is too long but the one Orphan asleep who missed the meeting is pitied; the gang DJ is a great device for spreading information in coded language before texting and Twitter.
- The seventies prom couple scene is weirdly effective because the film is about guys with no hope fighting all night to get back to the Wonder Wheel, the action-movie version of the end of The Graduate, with the couple looking at Mercy's dirty feet and Swan stopping her from fixing her hair.
- 'You guys are real good, the best' is a precursor to intentionally hokey, iconic moments like Carl Weathers and Schwarzenegger in Predator; the stilted dialogue is a purposeful comic-book, stentorian, Greek-tragedy theatricality, and nobody talks the way people actually talk. — Sean Fennessey
- The world building has aged best for another host: an elaborate gang network with rules and systems that later films such as John Wick's assassin network build on, which is undeniably cool even for a viewer who does not get the Greek-tragedy part.
- Cyrus has aged best: a charismatic figure offering hope whose plan makes no sense if you listen carefully, likened to how Trump got elected and to Obama's 2008 'yes we can', and his death four and a half minutes after meeting him is devastating. — Bill Simmons