This Documentary On The NYC Gangs That Inspired The Warriors Looks Awesome

An impressive number of hip-hop movies have come out recently: Dope opened last night with A$AP Rocky, Vince Staples, and Kap G; Fresh Dressed hits next week and includes interviews with Nas and Pharrell. Rubble Kings doesn’t have the same sort of star power, but that doesn’t make it less important—this documentary touches down in the Bronx during the 1970s to look at the environment that eventually spawned hip-hop. This gang-dominated landscape has inspired fictional films like The Warriors, but Saboteur Media sticks to a documentary approach, splicing together old footage and interviews with the men and women who were there on the streets. John Leguizamo serves as narrator, and Shan Nicholson directs.

Rubble Kings is out today in select theaters; it’s also available as a paygated BitTorrent bundle. Watch the trailer below.