Editing Analysis

In Walter Hill's 1979 cult classic, The Warriors, editing played a huge roll in its success. A movie with such a small budget, needs great writing, soundtracking, and editing to compensate for its lack of resources, and The Warriors has all of the above.

The scene I decided to analyze was "The Bathroom Brawl," which is one of the most memorable scenes in the movie (other than The Baseball Furies). What makes this scene work so well is the anticipation that builds. A rival gang enters the bathroom where The Warriors are hiding, and you all of the cuts show the hatred in their eyes, and the violence they intend on giving out. The background music is the same eerie soundtrack that followed them around throughout the entire movie.

Eventually, one of the warriors feet are seen under the bathroom stall, and we know they are caught, and the anticipation explodes, as The Warriors attack. The music increases in tempo, and the entire brawl is shot with quick transitions. Every cut, shows a hard hit, or body slam, and it all gets capped off when Swan flips a rival gang member through a stall.

This worked so well, because all the camera angles and music building up the fight, had the viewer at the edge of their seat, and once the action began, the long dramatically dragged out clips, turned into fast paced, hard hitting action.