1970s Cult Classic Original Version Finally Released And It’s Beautiful
Take it from us—Walter Hill’s 1979 cult classic film, The Warriors, is unmissable. The movie dances a wonderfully thin line between the street gang, documentary-like realism, and dark, nightmarish fantasy as it charts the travails of a Coney Island gang wrongly accused of murder and trying to escape the Bronx. Critics seem to agree that the release of both the director’s cut and the original in 4K is excellent, a remarkable testament to film restoration.
That means there’s never been a better time to watch The Warriors.
Fans, who are possibly the harshest critics, will remember Hill releasing a director’s cut in 2005—one that introduced comic-book-like sequences that many of these fans panned. Indeed, die-hard devotees of The Warriors who cherished every inch of the original film took up their pitchforks and torches, accusing the director’s cut of perverting the movie’s raw, vibrant sensibility and depiction of “old, bad New York.”
These fans will likely be satisfied, however, with Arrow Video’s release of the original theatrical cut, including a 4K disc, all sourced from the original camera negatives and heightened by Dolby Vision. The transfer amounts to a revelation, providing crisp details and crystalline nighttime cinematography while avoiding aggressive, problematically noticeable digital manipulation. It even includes competing audio tracks—the initial mono and a new Atmos mix—enriching the immersive experience yet preserving The Warrior’s original charm.
Indisputably, Arrow Video surpassed the call of duty with their re-release, which boasts a plethora of extras. These include new commentaries and interviews with filmmakers, exploring thematic aspects of the film like class and race consciousness, and thorough breakdowns of costume design (an iconic highlight of the movie).
Additionally, look out for roundtable discussions, insights from film historians, archival documentaries, and a comprehensive booklet sporting essays and interviews on film production, all included with the release.
Walter Hill’s renowned film is adored as much today as it was nearly forty years ago for its raw depiction of gang culture and the hyper-stylized, nearly mythical take on New York City’s underworld. This is no accident; The Warriors, like many great movies, is based on a novel (by Sol Yurick), which itself took inspiration from the Ancient Greek historian Xenophon’s Anabasis, a recounting of a Greek mercenary army making their way home from Persia.
Rather than ancient Persia, however, the film is set against a backdrop of a dystopian New York, unfolding its tale of survival, brotherhood, and urban warfare throughout a single, tension-filled night.
The narrative, a thriller employing horror elements, centers around the titular gang hailing from Coney Island, the neighborhood in Southern Brooklyn beside the sea, famed for its amusement park. Like something out of a Greek tragedy, The Warriors opens with a grand assembly of New York City gangs, called together by a charismatic, visionary leader named Cyrus (himself named after the Persian leader who hired the Greek army in the first place before being killed), who heads the powerful Gramercy Riffs gang. After proposing a truce, a united front among the city’s many gangs to check the police and take control of NYC, Cyrus is assassinated—and The Warriors, who had nothing to do with it, take the blame.
With all the gangs turned against them and stranded in the Bronx, they must somehow chart their own odyssey home. The Warriors is a true classic movie and not to be missed. That’s now more true than ever, with the newly released original, 4k version.
