In the late 70's gangs were prevalent in New York City, these gangs practically ruled the streets of the Big Apple. The leader of the of the most powerful gang at that time, Cyrus, tried to unite the different gangs to bring order among themselves and put aside petty differences. Hence, the gangs would have more power and could easily dominate their city.
Unfortunately, he was murdered by a rival gang. In this movie, the producers brought real-life gangs to act as bit actors to lend a more realistic scenery during the gangs' assembly called by Cyrus.
To give a realistic narrative to a circa 1970's New York scene, the movie showed two young couples on their way to a discotheque riding a subway. A particular scene director Walter Hill cynically played to satisfy Paramount Pictures insistence on giving the movie a Saturday Night Fever panoramic view. However, the movie still gained a touch of realism when the two disco couples, ecstatic in their upcoming adventure, displayed contempt instead fear or concern when they noticed the condition of Swan, Mercy and the few other warriors while they were riding the train. For the warriors just engaged in a running battle and was severely wounded.
While filming, an actor had to cover up their injury...
An all African-American cast was the plan of director Walter Hill to play the warrior gang heroes. However, Paramount declined such casting for fear that the movie might create a racial backlash.
The title "Sometime in the Future" suggested by Director Hill to give it a futuristic flavor was, likewise, declined by Paramount because they wanted to make the movie more contemporary.
Mercy's lover...who is he?
Modern day gang wars in New York is similar to gun battles in western gunfights. The movie Warriors, though a box office hit, is of the same genre.
The stand-off scene at the shores of Coney Island against the rival Rogues is reminiscent of that unforgettable stand-off just before the battle at the OK Corral, the most famous western gunfight movie.
Time truly has changed. The Warriors movie then seemed to be quite violent to the 70's viewers at that time, in fact, it was given a rated R by the US movie rating board. However, for present day viewers and rating board the content of this Warriors movie would have a PG movie at the most. Parental Guidance rating will only be a restriction with regards to the different movie dialogues among the actors and the inspiration of the plot itself. The shooting of Cyrus, the beating of Cleon and the train throwing of Fox is pretty benign compared to let's say the sex and violence of the "Schindler's List" which was rated PG back in the 1990's.
The actor Terry Michos played the part of Vermin in the movie. In the initial script he was supposed to die and be killed by an all-female gang called the Lizzies. But wishing to gain more screen exposure, he contended to have his part play a more comic role and he got his wish.
It turned out a plus for the script; aside from lessening another death scene in the movie, the character of Vermin was not murdered.
There were a lot of script changes in the movie. A cast shift of who shall play the lover of the heroine Mercy from the character of Fox, played by Thomas G. Waites, to the Swan character due to lack of chemistry. It turned out to be good karma for the movie since Waites was let go after eight weeks because artistic dispute with Walter Hill.
That is the reason why Fox was thrown into an oncoming train in a police brawl scene. The character have to die for Waites to resign from the movie. It must have been a serious dispute between Hill and Waites since the latter also insisted that his name be removed from the film credits.
Interesting to find out how the true-to-life gangsters performed in the movie.
The disruptive behavior of actor Thomas G. Waites was such that he was fired even before the last death scene of the character Fox was shot, which was already an altered script due to the Waites' intransigence. However, the consummate filmmakers knew that they only needed a similar built of the Fox character to use on the train throwing scene. They found one and a body double for Waites with face obscured was used in the train death scene of the Fox character.
As you observe the scenes leading to Fox death, you wont see the face of the character. A fact you wont even notice while watching the movie.
Good novels do not make an exactly realistic movie adaptation, they never do. The Warriors novel by Sol Yurick was no exception, movies are primarily for commercial purposes first and literary excellence a far second. Though Walter Hill tried to make it as realistic as possible, pragmatic industry considerations had to film it into a sort of contemporary fantasy.
Author Yurick found the film ominous and he felt the narrative he wish to convey was not properly depicted.
The chronicle of "Warriors" the novel was influenced by a 370 BC-old novel by Xenophon of Athens. It was entitled Anabasis, meaning The March of the Ten Thousand. It was about ten thousand mercenaries hired by Cyrus the younger of Persia to wrestle the Persian throne. The plot became interesting when Cyrus died suddenly and the ten thousand found themselves leaderless and short of logistics. Having to fight their way towards the sea a thousand miles behind enemy lines with much sacrifice, courage and faith became the inspiration Sol Yurick when he wrote his modern day novel.
Filming on location is very different from shooting on-set. It is more challenging not to mention much more expensive. It is the price to pay for a more realistic presentation and the filmmakers of Warriors wanted to depict the movie as authentic as possible in a New York City setting. New York City in the 70's was no walk in the park, real mean gangs roamed around its streets with careless abandon. The actors in their gang costumes were being intimated and mocked by the real ones. To keep everyone feel safe the filmmakers employed a real life gang leader to be a "consultant". The "consultant" gave his money's worth by providing information on the different gangs' affiliation and territory. He knew which gangs were the dangerous ones and which were friendlier and cooperative. In fact, they were even able to hire a real gang as security at $500/day in charge of the film trucks.
"Warriors come out and play, warriors come out and plaaay"...the most memorable scene in the movie. It was, however, an improvisation of the actor David Patrick Kelly who played the Luther character in the movie. A good actor, he wanted to internalize and depict a jeering and unnerving performance for the audience by recalling his own experience when he got exactly the same treatment from a neighborhood bully when he was only a child. Everyone who ever saw the film even years later will never forget this scene.
The gangster genre was fashionable during the 70's and 80's movie market. Godfather 1 and 2, Mean Streets and others piqued the interests of moviegoers. Filmmakers took advantage of this trend and at the time the Warriors movie was filming a separate outfit was also a filming similar gang film; The Wanderers. The race was on as to which film outfit will be able to release first, since an earlier release has more chance of success than the later one.
The Warriors outfit had to use 3 editing teams in 3 separate rooms in post-production working 24/7 until the team was finished.
Warriors: Debut February 1979
Wanderers: Debut July 1979
The beautiful Mercy and love interest of Swan was played by actress Deborah Van Valkenburgh. Mercy stayed with the Warriors on their dangerous journey home and not only did she stay through thick and thin, but also dished out as much as she took in their skirmishes.
Filming some scenes were so intense that Valkenburgh sustained a wrist injury. A wardrobe change had to be undertaken from flimsy clothing to a long-sleeved jacket to disguise the injury.
The actor Michael Beck who was the Swan character on the movie was not part of the original cast in the Warriors. Director Walter Hill was reviewing to cast Sigourney Weaver in another movie, Ridley Scott's Alien, when the actress was filming the Madman. While in the set, he observed Michael Beck who incidentally co-starred with the actress in the same film. Hill was impressed with what he saw and invited Beck to audition immediately after. Beck then played Swan in the movie.One
One of the fictional gang in the movie, named the Baseball Furies, was based on a notorious real-life New York gang in the 1970's called the Second Base Gang. The imaginary Baseball Furies ensemble were baseball uniforms with painted faces while brandishing baseball bats, while the real thing wore Letterman jackets with the name of Second Base at the back which is the only wardrobe identity they carry.
The Second Base Gang was so infamous that they were ascribed to a line in the movie when the New York Boppers got a report about the Warriors are "on Second Base", alluding to the the kind of peril the Warriors were in. Truly it would have been a precarious situation in real life for anybody who encounters the real gang in those times.
The hype on the Warriors movie was such that young people started carrying out violence against suddenly perceived enemies, both gang members and non affiliated teenagers. To mitigate the lawless atrocities of mostly juvenile fans, the producers curtailed the movie publicity efforts by removing provocative posters and replacing them with just simple film logo on white background.
It hardly worked since two people were killed separately in two movie screenings. The producers were so concern that they offered theaters the option to refrain playing the film without threat of litigation.
The Dominators in Sol Yurick's novel became the Coney Island Warriors in the original movie script. It was later shortened to simply The Warriors. As is usually the case, novel content significantly develop into something different when adapted into a movie. The Warriors was no exception and the main connection between novel and movie was the element that the two groups were from Coney Island. A detail impossible to revise without straying too far from the source material.
Twists and turns behind the camera have almost as much interests as the film plot itself. The Warriors movie is an example, while casting for the character Ajax actor Irwin Keyes was highly regarded. The director Walter Hill, however, felt that he was too mature for the character to emulate. They decided on a scrawny fellow by the name James Remar. It was not a total loss for Irwin for he got the role of an NYPD officer who got to manhandle the Ajax character played by Remar and even send him to jail. Touche!
As pointed out before the twists and turns while filming the Warriors movie is almost as fascinating as the movie itself. The controversy involving Thomas Waites and the casting of Irwin Keyes just to mention a few, but the casting for the character Cyrus was hauntingly tragic. The role to play Cyrus was originally given to a real life gang member who actually auditioned and finally won the part in all fairness. Unfortunately, he mysteriously disappeared just days before filming was to commence and was never seen nor heard of again.
Conspiracy theorists contend that he was murdered because participation in show business is a big no-no in gangland. Nevertheless, Cyrus part was given to a New York stage actor Roger Hill.
Some scenes in the Warriors movie were too complicated to shoot on location, so those dynamic filmmakers made use of animation, which was a relatively new technology in the late 1970's. In this fledgling technological breakthrough the producers broke some parts of the movie into drawn up images and incorporated the actors seamlessly in them, thus providing a realistic backdrop for the scenes. Some viewers, however, observed that some scenes looked futuristic.
The producers wanted a realistic movie, so they insisted on filming at night when gangland folks love to prowl and drift around more recklessly. But it was in the middle of summer solstice when you have about 14 hours of daytime and barely 6 hours of nighttime. So it was a considerable challenge schedule wise and the prevailing financial crisis was also an aggravating circumstance.But the cast and crew were having a great time wandering about in the Big Apple; shopping, taking in the sights and sounds of New York. Likewise, the material abundance of goods and services accessible to the city provided much logistics and props for the movie.
The two main means of mass transport in the city is either by bus or by train. Both are being managed by the Metropolitan Transport Authority or MTA for short. The trains travel above-ground or they travel underground called the subway. The subway basically operates in the borough of Manhattan and some parts in Brooklyn.
The MTA does not take cash, you pay by MetroCard now, but in those days the payment is through tokens and they drop these in a turnstile machine at the entrance.
The scenes in the Warriors movie were predominantly shot in Manhattan that is why most travelling scenes were done in the subway. In most of the scenes the characters jump over the turnstile rather than pay for it, it was a pretty common thing to do in the wild 70's.
New York City is the most diverse city in the world. The different cultures, languages and thoughts you can feel and see while being there. The movie is an illustration of this, so when they conceived a gang of mimes it did not seem strange. Though the gang did provide a sort of comic relief from all the drama and intensity of the film. The gang of mimes were not there to war and conquer, they were kibitzers.
Walter Hill is an accomplished filmmaker. His brand of films are dominantly of action/drama genre. Though the Warriors was considered his most significant movie yet, he also directed the 48 Hours which was an action/comedy box office hit. His other famous films were, The Long Riders and The Driver which was an inspiration to Ryan Gosling's Drive.
One of the most intriguing part of the movie was the lady DJ's voice over the radio while almost all the gangs were tuned in to her in the same station. Her real name was Lynne Thigpen and her character was in charge of the all the news the different gangs needed to hear. Quite organized for gangland people and it reminds one of a real life person by the air name of Tokyo Rose; the Japanese lady broadcaster whose program was announcing the exploits of the Japanese Imperial Army while mocking and taunting the Allied troops in the Pacific during the 2nd world war. Both characters, fiction and real, were never seen. Samuel L. Jackson's Do The Right Thing was similar though not exactly, his character was shown in the movie.
It is strange, though, that all three examples bring about violence.
Aside from the Warriors/heroes themselves, the Baseball Furies were the most memorable characters in the movie. Their personality and costume became pop-culture icons. The production outfit did very well in designing and conceiving the characters, or did they?
The Furies concept was simply directorial prerogative, Walter Hill just love baseball and the rock star band Kiss. His preferences was a hit.
The movie soundtrack was extraordinarily curious when it was 1st played at that time. That can be attributed to Barry De Vorzon who was signed up by Director Hill to do the movie soundstripe. He produced quite an unnerving soundtrack which blended well with the movie's underworld setting.
The rock n roll movie soundtrack was a first in the sense that De Vorzon introduced a new instrument called the synthesizer. That was the reason why the music was peculiar at first, but eventually everybody love it.
Video games expanded with a fury around 2005. Rockstar Games was in expansion just like the other companies. They used material for the Warriors movie but after exhausting the film plot, they needed additional input. Luckily, Dynamite Comics released a 4-part series created by Erik Henriksen. Its in comic book format and titled The Warriors: Jailbreak. It released in 2009 and the plot picks up after the warriors got home to Coney Island.
The movie was a smash hit, though it was considered low budget. There was no big-name stars that played the movie, although it was reported that arrangements were conducted to have Robert De Niro play the role of "Cowboy" in the film. The deal did not push through for some remote reason and Robert De Niro passed on the role.
The late Director Tony Scott was so captivated by The Warriors that he wanted to do a remake with a Los Angeles setting. That city is equally gang infested as New York and with Scott's record in the box office it would have been another hit.
The director of Top Gun, True Romance and Deja Vu, however, died prematurely and the 2nd Warriors movie was never made.
The gang genre in movies is a certified box office draw. Why? Because viewers and producers alike tend to romanticize their portrayal. The Goodfellas, The Godfather, the Hollywood adaptation of real life Hell's Angels and especially the musical West Side Story.
Sol Yurick tried to write a more authentic representation of gangster life in New York in the Warriors novel, but the producers only modified the story in the movie adaptation.
It is the perennial struggle between literary distinction and commercial consideration. Even a renown critique like Gene Siskel agrees.
Violent scenes in movies can be hazardous to the cast because accidents can happen. Deborah was once rushed to the hospital at 3 in the morning for stitches when Michael Beck swung a bat at her face to throw at a cop but somehow the sequence miscarried.
Fortunately, the actress only sustained minor injuries though she carries a scar for it. It is much safer for actors and actresses to engage professional stunt personnel when filming precarious scenes.
The nighttime filming of the Warriors must have been ticklish to the cast and crew. You understand that New York City do not have the kind of wide and vast spaces that one see in the neighborhoods of Los Angeles. The New York City neighborhood is packed and crowded.
Trying to film in such packed vicinity is truly a strain to the local residents given the loud fracas of a movie like the Warriors. It is no wonder the crew got the urine treatment from a tower block as a result of all the tumult they were causing.
Another predicament for the Warriors cast and crew was the presence of real life gangs in the obscurity of nightfall in New York City. Even though they hired a gang "consultant", that guy can only advice and give information, in short, he was not a "Cyrus". All of them still had to be extremely careful without having to neglect their real job of filming and it was quite a stressful situation.
In fact, some aspiring gangsters who auditioned to be part of the cast but did not make it issued veiled threats to the crew and more gravely, thousands of dollars worth of film equipment was destroyed when a gang callously run through the location site at during lunchtime.
It is a wonder how the crew handled their mental health during those trying times and likewise, whether the producers got insurance for the equipment ruined.
The law-abiding citizens of New York City were dismayed when they learned about The Warriors movie poster which read: "THESE ARE THE ARMIES OF THE NIGHT. THEY ARE 100,000 STRONG. THEY OUTNUMBER THE COPS FIVE TO ONE. THEY COULD RUN NEW YORK CITY". They wanted to have the movie banned.
Their reaction was making a mountain out of a molehill; true that they may be 100,000 strong and can outnumber the cops five to one, but they can never run the city.
Why? because they had the NYPD at their side, the meanest and most effective gang in New York City.
What a compliment it must have been for Michael Beck when he got a call from the President of the United States himself, Ronald Reagan, commending him on how much he enjoyed the movie when he watched it from Camp David. Any one would be thrilled if the most powerful man on earth gave you acclamation for a job well done.
The movie already had so much hype and promotion before its debut that the stress level of New York City residents was compounded not only by the filming noise that movie production generated but the incessant chatter of the ever present kibitzers it regularly brings out every shooting activity.
The same kind of stress was apparent even to cast and crew that site location was altered occasionally.
Another hiccup while filming the Warriors is a technical specialty; lighting. Camera focus need powerful lamps behind it to provide a brilliant scene and during the nighttime filming of the movie those forceful lamps were always utilized. In the dim scenes of the movie the straight lights were turned off, but the when film lamps were on their brilliance causes the street lights to flicker. It was a sensor thing, so the crew had to regularly cover all the affected light sensors in the given area of shooting.
The production outfit of the Warriors all had to be diplomatic when dealing with real life gangs during filming.
A clear case of this is when the real life gang stationed in Coney Island asserted that no colors or group brands be worn by fictional gangs in their the territory and the filmmakers concurred.
The production staff then made precautionary measures by urging cast and crew to refrain from wearing any costumes outside location site and fenced in the whole cemetery scene in the film.