In 1979, I accompanied my family to our local movie theater. Would we like to see the newest Disney offering or perhaps Star Wars again? I had other ideas. Seeing an unusual poster as we came in, I dragged my mother back in front of the Now Playing sign and told her The Warriors was the film I wanted to see. Shock was the first emotion that registered on her face, then anger, as she yanked me away to see The Muppet Movie (which had just as much violence), my feet hardly touching the ground.
Some might say she did me a favor. On the surface there seems little to recommend this violent film (showing on TCM in the early morning hours of Jan 2) about a Coney Island street gang who find themselves isolated in the Bronx and have to make their way home through enemy territory. Bad acting abounds, edits are poor in some places, and you get the feeling Barry De Vorzon scored the whole film in a single night with a synthesizer and a couple of tabs of acid. Finally, has there ever been any gang that wore baseball uniforms and clown makeup? Although these would be detriments in another movie, they somehow create a unique picture, which has since become a cult classic.
When Cyrus, president of New York’s largest gang The Gramercy Riffs calls for a meeting, gangs send delegates from all over the city: “We’re going in there like everybody else—nine guys and no weapons.” Cyrus plans to create one large gang to control the streets and tax the crime syndicate, but is assassinated by a rival gang leader who places blame on the Warriors, a little known gang from rundown Coney Island. When Cleon their leader is killed in retaliation, the fracturing gang soon finds itself on the run with a price on their heads.
Saul Yurick, who wrote the original novel in 1965, took Xenophon’s Anabasis out of Greek history and relocated the setting to New York City, using a single street gang to represent the famed “Ten Thousand” Greek mercenaries, and opposing gangs for Persian provinces. Director Walter Hill built on this theme. Many names (Cyrus was the leader in the original Greek account and was indeed killed) such as Cleon, and Ajax the most bloodthirsty of the gang, came from famous Greek figures.
Where the film and book differ is the attitudes and relations of the gang members themselves. Yurick’s gang (The Coney Island Dominators) is a group that is more childish and avoids rival gangs whereas in the film version, violence is the uniting factor of the Warriors, who protect one another and are clearly patterned after the Greek soldier. It’s also interesting to note that while many of the gangs are built around race and ethnicity, The Warriors representatives are equally mixed (3 black, 3 white, 1 Puerto Rican). They are a brotherhood of survival—not skin.
The film’s greatest strength is the actual location shooting in New York. From the beautiful opening shots of the Coney Island Wonder Wheel to the subway stations and dead end streets, New York City has rarely looked so lonely. Under this backdrop of disrepair we see few bystanders. Gangs and police are the only inhabitants, each fighting for control of their turf or district.
Hill does an amazing job of mixing reality with surrealism here. The garish clown-faced Furies gang, chasing the Warriors through Central Park is one of the most unnerving moments in the film. The opening montage shows all the gangs, converging on the city, cleverly inter-cutting with the Warriors subway ride. The bathroom brawl with the Night Owls is very stylized with quick cuts and slow motion that look like ballet at ninety miles an hour. We also have an unseen DJ who gives a running voice-over commentary, much like 1950’s crime films. Finally, the large gang meeting scene is completely stolen by Roger Hill as Cyrus who is electric in his few minutes of screen time. His charismatic performance is in many ways the high point of this film.
This brings us to The Warriors major weakness—acting. While many of these players would later move on to better roles, much of the performances here are uneven at best. Thomas G. Waites who played Fox demanded that his name be taken off the credits. Good thing. His body language and delivery of lines are laughable and eagerly awaited by hardcore fans. There is much humor in this film—most of it unintentional. Escape From New York (1981) played with similar themes, but John Carpenter had great actors to work with, whereas the actors here were virtual unknowns. Look for a pre Too Close For Comfort Deborah Van Valkenburgh spitting out profanities like peach pits. You’ll also see Mercedes Ruehl as an undercover policewoman. No—she didn’t win that Oscar for this role. David Patrick Kelly would make a career out of playing twisted characters, and James Remar (Ajax) would later guest as Richard Wright on Sex and the City. Sentimentality and romance, which never fit the script, further dilute the movie. Many films add a romantic theme trying to get a broader cross section of fans—it doesn’t work here.
Destined never be in a top 100 (or 500!) films list, The Warriors instead defines cult cinema, by giving entertainment value, memorable lines (many I cannot quote here), and unforgettable characters. This is not a realistic view of gang life. If that’s what you want—see something else. Instead, it’s what these characters represent through Greek myth that is the true thread running through the film. The word “soldier” is used as a noun and a verb several times here. These young men fight to protect what they have and gain what they do not have. Although reviled by society, they are not that different from the corporations and politicians that use paper instead of physicality to achieve their aims. Cyrus’ dream was to bring credibility to their existence and allow them to become players in a city where corruption and greed had created one of the widest divisions between poverty and the affluent. In that light, perhaps theirs is the more honest profession when it comes to making the rent.
