The Warriors Is the Most Epic Journey You Can Take Without Leaving the Subway
Can you dig it?
“Warriors! Come out and play-ay!”
At this point, more people probably know that quote than have seen the movie that it comes from, thanks to the outsized influence The Warriors has had on pop culture. References to Walter Hill’s 1979 action hit can be found in everything from Spike Lee movies to anime to hip-hop, and the 2005 Rockstar Games adaptation is beloved in its own right.
The story is simple, but you gotta go with it a little: At the beginning of the film, nine members of The Warriors, a street gang from Coney Island who all wear matching leather vests, are called to a summit at Van Cortlandt park in the Bronx. There, the charismatic Cyrus calls for a citywide peace agreement among the brawlers, pushers, and street-level toughs of New York City, pointing out that they outnumber the cops three to one.
Then Cyrus is struck by an assassin’s bullet, and the Warriors are framed for the crime. From there, the film is a ticking time bomb as the gang tries to cross 30 miles of enemy territory, crossing nearly the entirety of New York by subway and by foot. Along the way, they encounter — and fight — gangs dressed in matching costumes, including the Lizzies (an all-female gang in sport coats and teased hair) the Baseball Furies (dressed in baseball uniforms and colored face paint), and the Hi-Hats (a gang of literal mimes).
How Was The Warriors Received Upon Its Release?
Kind of like this.
When The Warriors first hit theaters in February 1979, it was dismissed by many critics as shallow and overly stylized. (Roger Ebert described it as “a ballet of stylized male violence,” while The Washington Post’s review simply said it was “a ghastly folly.”) It did have its defenders, like The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael. But the reviews didn’t really matter for director Walter Hill, or for Paramount. They had real-life drama to draw from.
In a 2014 oral history of the movie for Esquire, Hill said that, “The movie was very popular with the street gangs, especially young men, a lot of whom had very strong feelings about each other. And suddenly they all went to the movies together! They looked across the aisle and there were the guys they didn't like, so there were a lot of incidents.” The studio even paused advertising for The Warriors for six days after its opening weekend, when three young men were killed — two in California, and one in Boston — in incidents surrounding screenings of the movie.
Paramount also offered to send extra publicity to theaters showing The Warriors, and news articles about “rowdy” screenings only increased young peoples’ interest in seeing the movie. It was a hit, making a total of $16.4 million (about $75 million today) in its initial box office run.
Why Is The Warriors Important to See Now?
The Baseball Furies are a perennial Halloween favorite or cinephiles.
The narrative around The Warriors has changed significantly. Once a dangerous movie hated by critics and beloved by juvenile delinquents, it’s since become a cult classic whose cultural reach is best demonstrated by the continued popularity of Halloween costumes based on the film. Even now, 47 years later, you still see Baseball Furies group costumes from time to time.
It’s also been re-evaluated by contemporary critics, who appreciate it for the same reasons that their forebears hated it. The Warriors is a masterclass in minimalist action storytelling, giving the characters — and the viewers — a straightforward mission that must be accomplished in a limited time frame and then throwing a series of colorful obstacles in their way.
It’s also a glimpse into “Fun City” era New York, a time when the city was far more dangerous than it is now. The movie was filmed on location in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens, and its famous gang summit — “Can you dig it?” — was shot with a combination of real street-gang members and off-duty cops in the crowd.
The visuals are gritty, yet flamboyant, and its vision of the city is pulpy and stylized, elevating our heroes’ journey to the status of myth. It’s not based on The Odyssey, but it was inspired in part by a memoir by the Greek soldier and philosopher Xenophon; as a result, the story is full of Greek character names and allusions to Greek mythology, which makes The Warriors fun counter-programming for when Christopher Nolan’s version of the ancient epic comes out in July.
What New Features Does Arrow’s New SteelBook Edition Have?
All that talk’s going to be extra smooth in 4K.
The Warriors was first released on 4K UHD by Arrow Films in 2023, at which time the company commissioned a new 4K restoration based on the original camera negative of the film. The most recent release of the film is also from Arrow, and features a SteelBook cover with the film’s original poster on the outside and original artwork from artist Laurie Greasley on the inside. It’s a Walmart exclusive, so you’ll have to either head to the company’s website or a store for a copy.
Beyond the cover, this new edition of The Warriors has the same special features as Arrow’s pre-existing The Warriors 4K UHD disc. Those are listed below.
4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
- 4K remaster of the Theatrical Cut from the original camera negative supervised by Arrow Films and approved by director Walter Hill
- 4K Ultra HD (2160p) Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
- Original uncompressed mono, plus stereo 2.0 and Dolby Atmos audio options
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Audio commentary by film critic Walter Chaw, author of A Walter Hill Film
- War Stories, an interview with director Walter Hill
- Whole Lotta Magic, a roundtable discussion in which filmmakers Josh Olson (A History of Violence), Lexi Alexander (Green Street Hooligans), and Robert D. Krzykowski (The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot) discuss their love of The Warriors and the work of director Walter Hill
- Battling Boundaries, an interview with editor Billy Weber
- Gang Style, an interview with costume designer Bobbie Mannix
- Armies of the Night, a look at costume designs and photographs from the archive of designer Bobbie Mannix
- Sound of the Streets, an appreciation of composer Barry De Vorzon and the music of The Warriors by film historian Neil Brand
- Isolated score option
- Come Out to Play, a look at the iconic locations of the Warriors' Coney Island home turf
- The Beginning, an archival extra looking back on how The Warriors came to be, featuring interviews with producer Lawrence Gordon, actor James Remar, editor David Holden, and writer/director Walter Hill
- Battleground, an archival extra in which director Walter Hill and assistant director David O. Sosna look back at the difficulties of shooting on location in New York City
- The Way Home, an archival extra focusing on the look of film with contributions from director of photography Andrew Laszlo
- The Phenomenon, an archival extra featuring director Walter Hill and the cast of The Warriors
