The Warriors (1979)

In the near future, a charismatic leader summons the street gangs of New York City in a bid to take it over. When he is killed, The Warriors are falsely blamed and now must fight their way home while every other gang is hunting them down.

Director:

Walter Hill

Writers:

Sol Yurick (novel), David Shaber (screenplay)

Stars:

Michael Beck, James Remar, Dorsey Wright

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Beck	...	Swan
James Remar	...	Ajax
Dorsey Wright	...	Cleon
Brian Tyler	...	Snow
David Harris	...	Cochise
Tom McKitterick	...	Cowboy
Marcelino Sánchez	...	Rembrandt (as Marcelino Sanchez)
Terry Michos	...	Vermin
Deborah Van Valkenburgh	...	Mercy
Roger Hill	...	Cyrus
David Patrick Kelly	...	Luther
Lynne Thigpen	...	D.J.
Ginny Ortiz	...	Candy Store Girl
Mercedes Ruehl	...	Policewoman
John Snyder	...	Gas Station Man

Storyline

Cyrus, the leader of the most powerful gang in New York City, the Gramercy Riffs, calls a midnight summit for all the area gangs, with all asked to send nine unarmed representatives for the conclave. A gang called The Warriors are blamed for killing Cyrus as he gives his speech. They now have to cross the territory of rivals in order to get to their own 'hood. The Warriors slowly cross the dangerous Bronx and Manhattan territories, narrowly escaping police and other gangs every step of the way.

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Plot Keywords:

new york city | street gang | disc jockey | warrior | one night | 

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Taglines:

Tonight they're all out to get the Warriors.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 February 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

Les guerriers de la nuit

Filming Locations:

Breezy Point, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,529,675, 11 February 1979, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$22,490,039

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Walter Hill originally wanted the Warriors to be an all-black gang. Producers disagreed. He also wanted an initial subtitle which read "Sometime in the future" but Paramount thought it sounded too much like Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977).

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Goofs

The song Nowhere to Run in the end credits is misspelled, with Nowhere spelled as 2 words (No Where.) (Director's Cut home video version.)

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Quotes

[first lines]
Cleon: It's still on and we're goin'. Cyrus sent an emissary this afternoon to make sure. Now, Cyrus don't want anybody packed and he don't want anybody flexing any muscle. So, I gave him my word that the Warriors would uphold the truce.
[pause]
Cleon: Now everybody says that Cyrus is the one and only.
[pause]
Cleon: I think we better go have a look for ourself.

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Crazy Credits

In the original version, the end credits are followed by 3 minutes of black screen as the Joe Walsh song "In the City" plays.

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Connections

Referenced in The Raid 2 (2014)

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Soundtracks

Love Is A Fire
Composed by Vini Poncia (as Vinnie Poncia), Johnny Vastano
Performed by Genya Ravan (as Genya Raven)

User Reviews

The gangs of New York

New York City is at its grimiest in Walter Hill's 1970s film, 'The Warriors'; but the film is more entertainment than social commentary. In fact, it feels more like the set-up for a computer game than a movie. A number of implausibly mixed-race youth gangs gather in the Bronx to hear a proposal from the leader one of them that they should unify; the gangs are also strangely clean in a certain sense, interesting in clothes, women and fighting but apparently not involved in drug-dealing or other serious crime. Anyway, someone shoots the leader and a gang from Coney Island are (wrongly) suspected; they have travel home by subway right across the city at night, with the resident gang of each neighbourhood they pass through out to stop them from doing so. A lot of this film is frankly ridiculous; yet it is a great B-movie premise, and director Walter Hill was an expert at this sort of tough no-nonsense nonsense. It's certainly not 'The Wire'; but it is surprisingly fun, even from a distance of 30 years.