To understand what I love so much about The Warriors is to understand what I love best about movies, TV shows and comic books. I think I was at my local double feature cinema sometime in the 90s when I first saw the trailer and I remember saying “Finally!” out loud to myself. At last I’d found a movie that does what I’ve been waiting to see for so long: A classic mythical quest tale told in a modern urban context, a sword & sorcery tale with neither swords nor sorcery. That’s what I like, and if Hollywood made more stuff like this I wouldn’t feel the need to aspire to be a screenwriter, just so there’d be more stories like this out there. It’s what I love about Terry Gilliam, it’s what I love about The Matrix, and it’s what I love about just about every superhero movie I’ve ever seen.
“…they have to make it through 25 miles of hostile territory from the Bronx to their turf on Coney Island, bare knuckling it the whole way.”
The Warriors unfolds in what is apparently a quasi-dystopian New York City where the street gangs in their spectacular outfits, war paint, and accessories (why don’t more people wear feathers these days?) outnumber the cops three to one. At a conclave involving all the toughest gangs in NYC, one visionary leader named Cyrus has a plan to unite all the factions and rule the city as a giant supergang. Can you dig it? When Cyrus is gunned down in front of the entire gathering and the Warriors are unwittingly framed for it, they have to make it through 25 miles of hostile territory from the Bronx to their turf on Coney Island, bare knuckling it the whole way. It’s loosely adapted from an ancient Greek story called “Anabasis” where an army of 10,000 Greek mercenaries find themselves stranded deep in Persian territory and their struggle to journey back to the safety of Greek soil. Walter Hill’s director’s cut plays up more of these classical roots, and as a retelling of an ancient Greek & Persian conflict, The Warriors is kind of the great grandpappy and grandson of 300.
With great characters, cool fights, one of the first rock/techno fusion soundtracks ever composed, and great location shooting, The Warriors is a king among cult films and the source of a number of classic lined quoted to this day. Can you dig it? I love the camaraderie and antipathy between the Warriors, I love all the different gangs on display and the variety of urban pitfalls laid out before our heroes, but most of all I love its enduring coolness more than 30 years later.
Man this was a fun movie. I had heard people rave about it (especially from Scott of the Frankly My Dear podcast) but never gave it a shot until a few weeks ago. I imagine this is to people who love it what I think of Big Trouble in Little China.
That bathroom brawl with the skaters was pure awesomeness!! On the whole The Warriors was pretty awesome, although I love the lack of resolution of the ending with all the guys who didn’t make it to the shore…I guess now that they’re safe they’re gonna need to find some replacement Warriors:P
You know, in the deleted scene off the top, they talk about how they’ve got plenty of members, but only 9 were invited to the meeting. They’ve got plenty of boppers waiting in reserve.
There is so much to like here, and there’s also a great video game prequel for the whole thing too. As much mystique as Coney Island might have in a historical sense, I would totally love to visit just for the sake of it being Warriors’ home turf.