The Warriors

“Warriors, come out to play… Warriors come out to plaaaayyy”

• Title: The Warriors
• Director: Walter Hill
• Release date: 9th February 1979

“Can you dig it? Can you dig it? Can you dig ittttt?”.

If you are part of the minority that has not heard this line before…

Get out the popcorn, put in the DVD and immerse yourself into 92 minutes of super cool bad boys fun.

The cult classic The Warriors follows the story of Coney Island gang ‘The Warriors’ after they are falsely accused of murdering gang kingpin Cyrus by rival gang ‘The Rogues’. The film follows their journey back to their sacred territory of Coney Island while being tracked down by every gang in the city of New York.

After an initial lousy reception, The Warriors is now deemed as a classic by every critic. Adapted from the book ‘The Warriors’ by Sol Yurick, Hill initially claimed that the screenplay was “too extreme and too weird” to be a hit. But after gaining a small budget, he decided to bring the story to life and in doing so created cinematic history.

As an avid comic fan, Hill was determined to capture these elements within the cinematography of the film which he did perfectly. From the blood-red graffiti-style title sequence to the use of cut transitions to represent a new chapter, Hill really captured the comic book style elements which allowed the film to stand out, even in the present day where the filming and editing capabilities are endless.

One particular scene which caught my eye was the close-up shot of the radio presenter Lynne Thigpen as she kept the city up to date with the movements of the gang. This reoccurring scene definitely added a different element to the film as the use of low-key lighting, the close-up shot and the use of the colour red created an iconic image which I will always associate with the movie.

The Warriors while definitely being a gang thriller does not possess the graphic violence scenes we have come to expect from such movies, as is more about young testosterone filled males strutting their stuff as they go about the business of proving who the top dog in town is. The fact that this is all played out dressed in remarkable gang threads and choreographed fight scenes that could be in a Bruce Lee movie all adds to its appeal.

Watch it…join the cult