Warriors

Plot synopsis:
Cyrus, leader of the Gramercy Riffs, the most powerful gang in New York City, calls a midnight summit of all New York area gangs, requesting them to send nine unarmed delegates to Van Cortlandt Park. The Warriors, from Coney Island, attend the summit. Cyrus proposes to the assembled crowd a permanent citywide truce and alliance that would allow the gangs to control the city since they outnumber the police by five to one. Most of the gangs applaud his idea, but Luther, leader of the Rogues, shoots Cyrus dead. In the resulting chaos, Luther frames the Warriors' leader Cleon for the murder, and Cleon is beaten down and most likely killed by the Riffs. Meanwhile, the other Warriors have escaped, unaware that they've been implicated in Cyrus' murder. The Riffs put out a hit on the Warriors through a radio DJ. Swan, the Warriors' "war chief", takes charge of the group as they try to make it back home.
Almost immediately the Warriors are spotted by the Turnbull ACs who attempt to run them down with their bus, but the Warriors manage to escape and board the subway. On the ride to Coney Island, the train is stopped by a fire on the tracks, stranding the Warriors in Tremont, in the Bronx. Setting out on foot, they come across a group called the Orphans who were not invited to Cyrus' meeting and who are insecure and belligerent about their low status in the city gang hierarchy. Swan makes peace with the Orphans' leader, Sully, who agrees to let the Warriors pass through their territory unharmed. However, a young woman named Mercy mocks Sully as a "chicken" and instigates a confrontation. Mercy's goading convinces Sully to demand that the Warriors take off their colors and go as civilians before walking through their neighborhood. Swan and the Warriors flatly refuse Sully's demand, and the Orphans challenge them to a fight. Outnumbered and unarmed, Swan and the Warriors throw a Molotov cocktail at a car, blowing it up and using the opportunity to escape to the train station. Impressed, and desperate to escape her depressed neighborhood, Mercy follows the Warriors.
When they arrive at the 96th Street and Broadway station in Manhattan, they are chased by police and separated. Three of them, Vermin, Cochise, and Rembrandt, make the train to Union Square, while Fox, struggling with a police officer, falls onto the tracks and is run over by a train as Mercy escapes. Swan and the remaining three Warriors, Ajax, Snow, and Cowboy, are chased by the Baseball Furies into Riverside Park, where a brawl ensues in which the Warriors easily defeat the Baseball Furies. After the fight, Ajax notices a lone woman in the park, becomes sexually aggressive and is arrested when the woman turns out to be an undercover police officer. Arriving at Union Square, Vermin, Cochise, and Rembrandt are seduced by an all-female gang called the Lizzies and invited into their hideout. The trio manages to escape the Lizzies' subsequent attack, learning in the process that everyone believes they murdered Cyrus.
Having scouted ahead on his own, Swan returns to the 96th Street station and finds Mercy there. More police show up and Swan and Mercy flee into the tunnel. They have an argument and Swan continues to Union Square where he reunites with the other Warriors. A fistfight ensues with the Punks in a public restroom which the Warriors win. Meanwhile, the Riffs are visited by a gang member who attended the earlier gathering and saw Luther shoot Cyrus.
The Warriors finally arrive at Coney Island at dawn, only to find the Rogues are waiting for them. During the confrontation, Swan says "When we see the ocean, we figure we're home." When Swan asks why Luther shot Cyrus, Luther says it was for "no reason" and "I like doing things like that." Swan then challenges Luther to a one-on-one fight, but the Rogue leader pulls his gun instead. Swan throws a knife into Luther's wrist, disarming him. The Riffs then arrive in force and apprehend the Rogues, but not before acknowledging the Warriors' courage and skill. As the Warriors leave, Luther screams in anguish as the entire Riffs gang descends upon the Rogues.
The radio DJ then announces that the big alert has been called off and salutes the Warriors with a song, "In the City". Swan, Mercy, and the rest of the gang walk down the beach, illuminated by the rising sun.

Tags: violence

Review:
You see, I've spent the whole war in Sarajevo and I had the good luck needed to survive through the whole thing.
The war ended four years ago but this movie made me feel like it was still going on.
I just noticed that my whole comment was about my emotions and not about the movie so I world like to state that this is a great film with good cast but for a second I wished that I hadn't seen it in the first place.
I hope that people from outside of Bosnia will see it and will not accept it as a piece of fiction; they should be aware of the fact that these things still really happen at the and of 20th century.
great drama depicting the british soldiers in Bosnia..
As far as I´m concerned Warriors is a very realistic depiction of what it was like in Bosnia during the war.
This I mention because after reading two comments here, both from Bosnia oe most likely to be Serb (saying that the depictions in this film are "black and white" portrayed) and one Muslim (Finding the film to be very realistic, having lived through the whole war in Sarajevo.)Having been in bosnia myself I think I can appreciate this film more.
When we arrived(early 2000) the situation had turned to the opposite and it was mostly the Serbs who had to be kept safe of the Albanians, who had started returning to Kosovo.So I agree that there is no such thing as a "black and white" explanation of the tragedy.
There was surely bad deeds made by all "sides", as in every war.Film rates 10/10!.
The makers interviewed Infantry soldiers from UNPROFOR1 (The Cheshire Regiment) and UNPROFOR2 (The Prince Of Wales Own Yorkshire Regiment).The MoD gave the makers permission to approach soldiers who had been involved in incidents so that they could replicate them for the screen, along with what the soldier's were actually thinking and feeling at the time.A lot of incidents were rejected on the grounds that they would not be believed by the viewing public or were just to 'bloody'.In addition, soldiers helped the actors wear their equipment properly, act properly etc.How do I know this?
You only see it, you don't smell it.To this day (2007) most of us that were their in that first year still have a feeling that somehow we failed those poor people and our politicians were weak.It is very, very well made and very, very realistic as to what it was like..
A remarkable and authentic documentation of the humanitarian mission of the British UN peace force during the Bosnian war.You may think, due to its documentary character, the movie is awfully boring.
And while you are patrolling the area in white tanks in order to show UNPROFOR presence, the only thing you are allowed to do by higher orders of the UN command is to observe, unable to help, shield or evacuate the civilians from the atrocities committed by the soldiers and militia of each ethnical fraction.
It should be seen by many, many more people, especially when you consider that this historic example of ethnic cleansing took place right on our doorstep only a decade ago and nevertheless today is almost forgotten.
An impressive account of the tragic role of the UN during a bloody civil war.Highly recommended!
This two-part series which was shown on TV is a description of how a majority of British UN soldiers experienced the war in former Yougoslavia.Their task was mainly a humanitarian mission based on a policy of non-intervention.This policy may have worked in the minds of well-intentioned theoreticians but was impossible to execute in the real environment of war-torn Bosnia.These soldiers were subjected to constant stress resulting from their orders not to intervene, the hostility they experienced as foreign intruders,the language barriers and the bestiality they encountered without being able to offer any significant help.The traumas that these men experienced definitely had a devastating and lasting effect on their further lives "Warriors" draws the viewer into the ongoing drama in such a convincing way that one fully grasps the frustration these soldiers must have experienced.
This film shows the BBC at its best, with great acting, harrowing scenes and touching moments.I notice that some of the comments suggest that it is anti-Serb.
(The scene with the lorry-load of bodies near the end of the Bosnia scenes is a case in point.)Perhaps it's pro-Muslim, but I think anyone watching it will realize that it is not a "goodies" and "baddies" film.Does the film advocate military intervention on a grand scale?
You should watch it and remember that this all happened in a "civilized" European country, just a few years ago.The evil shown is not Serb or Croat or Muslim evil.
Kosovo is a different fall-out from Yugoslavia, but, having seen this film, I prayed long and hard for him.Don't miss it and be prepared to be upset..
But because we lived in the same state for a long time I can say that I have a good historical overview and a lot of informations from all sides involved in war in Bosnia.
On that basis I think the movie is good representation of real event.
It is also very good antiwar movie.I can imagine that Serbs wont like the movie, but they have to face the truth.
Just remember one French general.But like I said the people are good and bad.
I saw yesterday on Monte Negro TV a prewar speech from president of Bosnia,Alija Izetbegovic who said: " Bad negotations are better then a good war." Congratulations to Monte Negro TV for independent standpoint with presentations of former enemies and to mr.
This film, about a group of British soldiers helping out for the UN in Bosnia in the early 90s, is a disturbing, powerful and superb piece of film making.
Despite its long length, this film depicts the frustration and personal pain British troops faced while in Bosnia, witnessing mass deaths of civilians and being unable to give proper assistance because of war 'restrictions'.
The aftermath and the pain the soldiers continue to feel after they get back to Britian is unsympathetic and superbly acted, especially from 'Band Of Brothers' star Damian Lewis and Matthew MacFadyen, and the scene when a soldier befriends a Bosnian civilian wearing a Manchester United shirt and has to hand him over to officials to be shot is one of the most powerful humanitarian war scenes in any film I have ever witnessed, with the Liverpool born soldier sinking to breaking point and bursting into tears.
It's the first movie about the war in bosnia i have seen so far, and i don't think a movie can be much better.
The movie shows us in a very impressive way, why war is bad.
A movie shot like a documentary that helped made it feel very gritty and realistic.It examines the questions of how does being exposed to carnage, death and misery change a person, and how does that person cope afterwards?
Though our soldiers are equipped to kill, they are still ordinary humans like the rest of us.How can we expect them not to be affected by the things they see and have to do in the line of duty?
Warriors is one of the few movies that deal with the horrors of the 1990s war in what was once Yugoslavia.
The film helped me sort out the politics and ethnic nuances that led to the conflict and gave us a glimpse into the lives of everyday people caught up in the storm of events.
Warriors has to be one of the best dramas I have seen in a long time.
The subject matter - the UN Peacekeepers in Bosnia - admittedly makes Warriors difficult, even painful to watch in places but the story is told with such sensitivity as to make it bearable.Every single one of the actors and actresses involved should be praised but Ioan Gruffudd in particular gives a wrenching performance as Lt. John Feeley.Warriors made me think, as I never had before, about the gargantuan task these soldiers were set as strictly non-combatants in an environment where terrible atrocities were being committed.
I have never fully understood Bosnian war and UN peacekeepers role until I watched this movie.
I give it a 10 out of 10 since acting is excellent and scenes are real and it has very strong message as an anti war movie.
I would recommend this to anyone that wants to learn more about what war is like, what "ethnic cleansing" is like or what went on just 15 years ago in very central part of Europe.
On the other hand I tend to see the Serbs as too often involved in conflicts, which is not a good sign of their nature as a whole.This said, I couldn't finish watching this movie.
I have no patience for war movies depicting one of the belligerents as the bad guys and the other as the good people.
Well, ironically the British approached the Bosnian Muslim in this movie as the good ones.
This was by far the best made-for-TV movie I have ever seen.Totally politically (in)correct in its rightful criticism of the rules of engagement of the UN 'peacekeepers' mandate in the Bosnian war, this movie boldly goes on to depict the harsh reality of what the war was really like and what it was about.
For somebody who has intimate first-hand knowledge of the happenings, of the people involved and of the land where it transpired, I cannot but be awed by the realism and truthfulness of this film.
Honestly one of most realistic movies on the Bosnian conflict I have ever seen and it hit me like a rocket.
Its brilliant in its cinematography and characterization & poignant and intense in its portrayal of a real life situation which showed humanity's brutal face in the advent of the Civil War in Bosnia...
What makes this story so depressing yet so worthy of being watched is its authenticity in portraying events that happened only some years back right in front of our eyes.
Warriors is an excellent film concerning what we in the west would call the early stages of the ethnic cleansing....hold on, this sounds far too nice a term to describe what went on, let's be more accurate - Genocide - in the former Yugoslavia.Specifically it deals with a British detachment of observers whose sole function seems to be to convince the British people that "things were being taken care of."In reality, the Serb army and particularly the Serb paramilitaries were stepping up their campaign of murder - regardless of gender or age - which was to continue for another few years.
The British government knew about it, the American government knew about it as did others but nobody wished to become involved in something that quite definately would not be a quick or easy campaign, especially considering that the people being massacred had no oil reserves.And so the soldiers assigned to this pointless duty had no mandate to help those being murdered, and were left in a position of seeing the aftermath of men, women and children dead in the street or burnt to death in their homes, or simply gone.
A company of British soldiers are sent to Bosnia under the auspices of UNPROFOR , the United Nations Protection Force I`ve looked through this page and have been amazed to see the praise WARRIORS has received .
Yes Muslims were massacred and murdered in central Bosnia in 1993 as shown here , the only thing is that they weren`t murdered and massacred by Serbs , they were murdered and massacred by Croats !
WARRIORS would have you believe that the only people committing war crimes were Serbs.
Central Bosnia where the British  UNPROFOR were based in Travnik , Gornji Vakuf , and Vitez is a region with very few Serbs with the ethnic composition being almost entirely Croat and Bosnian Muslim .
If you think I`m apologising for the Serbs I`m not , try and track down news reports at the time , go into a libary with a large archive and look through newspaper reports from 1992 to 1994 , read accounts like The Fall Of Yugoslavia by Mish Glenny , talk to British soldiers who were there and you`ll find out little of the crimes ( And they were crimes ) were done by Serbs though they were guilty of terrible crimes elsewhere in the region  This annoyance is not only down to ignoring facts , it`s also down to director Peter Kosminsky trying to set some hidden agenda .
It should also be remembered Kosminsky made the anti war documentary THE FALKLANDS - THE UNTOLD STORY about a black and white conflict , so for him to make a pro interventionist drama about a deeply complex war is very hypocritical WARRIORS is only worth watching to see Damien Lewis and Ioan Gruffodd when they were both unknown actors.
Yes, the Serbs should face what they have done there, and this movie doesn't give a fawning account of them.
RE: Can't win either way.This is a good movie and it should be seen by everyone, but I do wish the people on this board would grow a brain.
Don't get me wrong, it's about as good as a movie from Body Chemistry series, but it was really interesting discovering how far would author go in "explaining" things he obviously knows nothing about.
Basically, this is yet another black-white portrayal of Bosnian war, where all Muslims are good and all Serbs dirty, ugly and mean.
People (like myself) who have been in Bosnia during the war will probably find this flick laughable, while others may be disturbed.
Gritty realism from the best war film ever made..
The good men in this film were hampered by the impossible UN mandate which allowed them to deliver humanitarian aid, but not to directly intervene to prevent the deaths of those they were sent to protect.
Gritty realism and excellent acting performances make this one of the most accurate war films ever made.
It's particularly good in it's depiction of how the soldiers coped with their experiences on returning to the UK - something I don't recall being done in any other war film.What is interesting is the profound effect this film has on anyone who sees it.
In my case, as an ex British military officer, I was involved in several conflicts including the second major round of the breakup of Yugoslavia - the Kosovo war.
I found myself watching the playback videos of our bombs exploding in Serbia and thinking "Good - the b#######s deserved that!" But this film, which was first shown on BBC at about that time, made me re-examine my feelings.
There is no black and white in any war and this film demonstrates that perfectly.
Combined with a somewhat documentary-style direction, the overall feel is more like a news crew travelled with the unit and cut together a bit of everything that happened.I love the Brits acting in this; there is a gritty realism and subtlety from the lead soldiers as they become increasingly frustrated that they can only watch terrible acts of ethnic cleansing and human cruelty, without being allowed to intervene.One of the most interesting parts of this piece is that it doesn't cut at the moment of relief, when the soldiers leave to fly into the sunset and return home.
[Warning:  May Contain Spoilers.]  This film depicts the lives of a few soldiers, both officers and enlisted men into the dissolution of Yugoslavia.The tale is told from the perspective of British soldiers trained in the art of warfare, yet unfamiliar in the art of diplomatic do-nothing.
After witnessing so much carnage, they go back to England suffering from P.T.S.D. They are patted on the back for a job well done by a populace uninformed on just how bad the situation  is back in the republics formerly known as Yugoslavia.This movie left me with a feeling of disgust.
This film dramatisation tells a story about the lives of some British soldiers serving on a United Nations "peace-keeping" mission at the time of the dissolution of Yugoslavia.The tale is told from the perspective of British army officers and enlisted men who are well trained in the art of warfare, but are unfamiliar with, and frustrated by their "observer" role in the troubled region.
The British soldiers are are forced to stand by and witness the murder of innocents at the hands of Serb and Croat militias while they themselves are constantly intimidated by these armed gangs who exploit the weakness and inertia of the United Nations to bully and hamper the British peace-keeping mission at every turn.This film leaves the viewer with a feeling of total disgust at the weakness of the United Nations and the British government for sending troops as peace-keeping observers who are forbidden to "shoot back" unless they consider their own lives are at risk.
The Serb and Croat militias who are only too aware of the United Nations mandate, for the most part, only target and murder the innocent "ethnic minority" civilian population, thereby perpetuating the carnage.The good consciences of the soldiers are not left unaffected.
They are patted on the back for a "job well done" and expected to simply integrate back into normal home life - with dire consequences for some of these men.This is a remarkable British film which has been shot in typical BBC documentary style.
Set during 1992 in the war in Bosnia and how the British Army were sent over to the war in the now former Yugoslavia as UN Peacekeepers.
The film portrayed Serbian soldiers taking Bosnian Muslims (young and old) away and shooting them or burning them alive in their homes.