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The Wanderers

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7.0/10 • 201

1979-07-131h 57m

Drama

It was The Wanderers against the world ... and the world never had a chance!

The streets of the Bronx are owned by '60s youth gangs where the joy and pain of adolescence is lived. Philip Kaufman tells his take on the novel by Richard Price about the history of the Italian-American gang ‘The Wanderers.’

Directors
Philip Kaufman
Editors
Ronald Roose

Top Billed Cast

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  1. Ken Wahl

    Ken Wahl

    Richie

  2. John Friedrich

    John Friedrich

    Joey

  3. Karen Allen

    Karen Allen

    Nina

  4. Toni Kalem

    Toni Kalem

    Despie Galasso

  5. Alan Rosenberg

    Alan Rosenberg

    Turkey

  6. Jim Youngs

    Jim Youngs

    Buddy

  7. Tony Ganios

    Tony Ganios

    Perry

  8. Linda Manz

    Linda Manz

    Peewee

  9. William Andrews

    William Andrews

    Emilio

Reviews2

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John Chard Avatar

John Chard

Jul 10, 2016

8/10

Rumble in the Bronx. The Wanderers, an Italian street gang in the Bronx 1963, preparing for a rumble with rival gang the Del-Bombers, try to enlist other gangs to help their cause. However, as the times are a changing, The Wanderers and all the other gangs of the city must come to terms with pending adulthood, and, the ending of an era. Directed by Phillip Kaufman, this adaptation of Richard Price's novel stands up as one of the best pictures to deal with gang culture. Laced with crackling adolescent humour, and sublimely sound tracked, The Wanderers triumphs better than most because it captures the time frame perfectly. Encompassing the killing of JFK, and subtly showing (during an hilarious sequence) the enlisting of ignorant youths into the Marines, to be carted off to Vietnam no doubt, The Wanderers has far more to offer than merely angst and high school jinx. The cast are surprisingly strong, Ken Wahl, Karen Allen, Tony Ganios and Erland van Lidth all shine in their respective roles, whilst Kaufman directs with a knowing sense of purpose of the thematics to hand. All of which culminates in a quite eerie final third as the deadly Ducky Boys enter the fray. Not quite as serious as The Warriors, which was released the same year, it's a film that much like this one now feels part of my teen education. The Wanderers is however the smarter picture of the two in terms of substance. The coming together at the finale, the racial harmony bursting out from the screen, is and always should be eternally embraced. All together now, "I'm the type of guy who will never settle down" 8/10

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Status
Released
Original Language
English
Budget
--
Revenue
$23,000,000.00
Keywords
new york cityadolescencerock 'n' rollstreet gangamerican footballcoming of age1960s