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The Warriors

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The Warriors

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Also known as Warriors

1979 action film directed by Walter Hill

Film · TMDB

7.7

Prominent gang leader Cyrus calls a meeting of New York's gangs to set aside their turf wars and take over the city. At the meeting, a rival leader kills Cyrus, but a Coney Island gang called the Warriors is wrongly blamed for Cyrus' death. Before you know it, the cops and every gangbanger in town is hot on the Warriors' trail.

Released: 1979-02-0194 minDir: Walter HillAction, ThrillerBudget: $4.0MBox office: $22.5M

Cast

  • Michael Beck as Swan
  • James Remar as Ajax
  • David Patrick Kelly as Luther
  • Dorsey Wright as Cleon
  • David Harris as Cochise
  • Deborah Van Valkenburgh as Mercy

Themes

  • new york city
  • street gang
  • gangster
  • disc jockey
  • gang war
  • coney island
  • survival
  • pursuit
  • gang member
  • new york subway

This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.

Ratings

IMDb

7.5/10

119,719 votes

Year
1979
Runtime
93 min
Genres
Action, Crime, Thriller

via IMDb

Key facts

Directed by
Walter Hill
Screenplay by
David Shaber Walter Hill
Based on
The Warriors , by Sol Yurick Anabasis , by Xenophon
Produced by
Lawrence Gordon
Starring
Michael Beck James Remar Deborah Van Valkenburgh Marcelino Sánchez David Harris Tom McKitterick Brian Tyler Dorsey Wright Terry Michos David Patrick Kelly Roger Hill Edward Sewer Lynne Thigpen
Cinematography
Andrew Laszlo
Edited by
David Holden Freeman Davies Jr. Billy Weber Susan E. Morse
Music by
Barry De Vorzon
Production company
Lawrence Gordon Productions
Distributed by
Paramount Pictures
Release date
February 9, 1979 ( 1979-02-09 ) (United States)
Running time
92 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Budget
$4 million
Box office
$22.5 million

via Wikipedia infobox

~29 min read

Encyclopedic overview

The Warriors is a 1979 American action thriller film directed by Walter Hill from a screenplay by Hill and David Shaber and based on the 1965 novel of the same name by Sol Yurick, in-turn inspired by Xenophon's Anabasis. The film features an ensemble cast which includes Michael Beck, James Remar, Deborah Van Valkenburgh, Marcelino Sánchez, David Harris, Tom McKitterick, Brian Tyler, Dorsey Wright, Terry Michos, David Patrick Kelly, Roger Hill, Edward Sewer, and Lynne Thigpen. In the film, a street gang must escape from the Bronx back to their home turf on Coney Island after being framed for the murder of a respected gang leader.

Development on The Warriors initially began in 1969 after American International Pictures purchased the film rights to Yurick's novel, but production stalled until producer Lawrence Gordon obtained the rights and commissioned Shaber and Hill to work on the screenplay. Originally envisioned as a western, the novel was ultimately adapted as a stylized action thriller. Casting was extensive and production was troubled, with Hill clashing with some of the actors and going over budget. Principal photography took place in 1978 on location across New York City, including at Astoria Studios.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “The Warriors” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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