The Wanderers - I nuovi guerrieri

This film has been a personal favourite of mine for years and it has always amazed me how hardly any people know about it. This film is so fun and full of charm it feels so real and gritty at times. I can't really comment on whether this film is realistic or not however as I didn't grow up in the era the film is set in but the time period has always fascinated me. In my opinion I prefer this film over films like grease or American graffiti and even the warriors because I just find it so enjoyable. The reason people don't know about this is because the film is pretty hard to find , I had to import my Blu ray online because there isn't a UK release but in the USA more people need to pick it up and try it.

This movie is special. It has a great flow, a great story, and captures the essence of the early 60's in NY as the times change. The acting is spontaneous, and the music has to be one of the best soundtracks I have ever heard in a movie. Not just because the songs are good, but how they help tell the story. They come in at the right time, and give goosebumps throughout.

Two of the best scenes in the movie ---- absolute chills down the spine ---- when the women are crying on the street for Kennedy, and the song "Stand By Me" (Ben E. King), provides an indication that there is a shift at that moment in culture. The Wanderers days are numbered. The other scene is the poker game with the girls. Ken Wahl and Karen Allen are priceless, and the song "Baby it's you" is unbelievable.

If you like a little history, some classic songs, and a really good story, mixed with good writing and great acting, this movie is a absolute must see. A Classic. One of my favorite movies of all time.

One of the greatest scenes ever put on film is in this movie: Ken Wahl, about to get married, facing the transition between youth and responsibility, peers through a window at the action at Gerdes' Folk City in Greenwich Village, where, he dimly senses, there's a whole new world beyond his comprehension...it's pure gold, like most everything in this movie. I don't recall rock'n'roll songs ever being put to better or more appropriate use in a sound track. I don't recall a movie ever shifting more seamlessly, effortlessly, from gritty naturalism to bizarro impressionism and back. The cast is great! Whatever happened to some of these actors? There really was a Fordham Baldies, and I grew up not far from the old Alexander's in the Bronx, so I can't pretend to objectivity. For me, this is rather like a New York version of American Graffiti; it creates a world that I feel at home in, even if I never was a gang member and we left the Bronx when I was eight. By the way, the adaptation from Richard Price's book is, I think, remarkable. The book is a series of thematically linked stories that become a single organic story in the film. And I can't blame Ken Wahl--or his character--from being besotted by Karen Allen. Personally, I'd have gone right into Gerdes and flung myself at her feet. Oh yeah, the late Dolph Sweet is superb here.

This film has so much more to it than other 'gang' films of the era. I remember when it came out at the cinema and was unfairly compared to 'The Warriors' which is a very different film (although both have the gangs in New York setting). I love this film as it is witty, funny, sad, and has a dark and stylistic tone. PHILIP KAUFMAN is a great director and really proves it here. The acting is great, and it is interesting that only KAREN ALLEN 'made it' to Hollywood fame and went onto make films like 'Raiders of the Lost Ark', 'Starman', 'Scrooged' and 'Perfect Storm'. What happened to the other actors? This is a 'cult' epic if ever there was one and it seems to have grown in popularity over the years. Deservedly so in my opinion. Timeless and charming - THE WANDERERS are forever!

Philip Kaufman is a great director (true some of his films are not my cup of tea, so to speak, such as "Quills" & "the Unbearable Lightness of Being", but he's had his hand in "The Right Stuff", "Indiana Jones" & "the Outlaw Josey Wales", and that ALONE qualifies him for greatness) This film is one of my favorite coming-of-age movies, having never read the book it was based on didn't deter me from falling in love with this movie. The whole cast does spot-on performances and you grow to really feel for these characters and while it seems a bit episodic, it all ties together in the end. Many memorable scenes and an amazingly good soundtrack. Definately in my top 20 of all-time.

My Grade: A

DVD Extras: Commentary by Philip Kaufman; Theatrical Trailer