Walter Hill's unrealistic, or anti-realistic, street-gang movie has an obvious kinship with the hostile-territory branch of action films, including both the Stagecoach-type Western and the Objective Burma-type war story. It also owes a special debt to the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa for its conception of the feudal clannishness of New York youth gangs and the strict martial-arts hierarchy that sets apart the true "soldiers" and "boppers" from the mere "wimps" and "faggots." A simple problem in logistics (how to get from here to there), it offers no more character or plot development -- but then again, no less drama and color and precociousness -- than the annual Golden Gloves tournament. The otherworldly feeling is established immediately by the magical opening shot of Coney Island's "Wonder Wheel," a minimalist tracing of neon dots and dashes against a black sky, and is maintained throughout by the continuous fashion parade of peacock-proud gang costumes (magenta vests, New York Yankee pinstripes, Marcel Marceau flour faces, etc.), which, for people-watching purposes, makes this movie as much fun as a punk-rock or glitter-rock concert. With Michael Beck, James Remar, Dorsey Wright, and Deborah Van Valkenburgh. (1979) — Duncan Shepherd
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