#The Warriors Controversy Explained

The Warriors, a small leather-waistcoated gang from Coney Island, attend a summit in a Bronx park called by Cyrus (Roger Hill), the charismatic leader of one of New York’s most powerful gangs, the Riffs. Cyrus’s grand scheme is for all the gangs to unite and control the city together, since they would significantly outnumber the police. Most of the attendees definitely seem to dig this idea, but the deranged leader of a rival gang shoots Cyrus dead and pins the murder on the Warriors.

The Riffs send out a message on the radio calling for the Warriors’ heads and the city’s other gangs start scouring the streets for them. Framed for the killing and miles from the safety of their home turf, leader Swan (Michael Beck) must get his beleaguered troops home alive, dodging cops and rivals along the way.

The basic plot of “The Warriors” is about as simple as they come, which suits Walter Hill’s stripped-back style. He’s more interested in mood, attitude, and style; shot on location during the summer nights of ’78, it’s a viscerally nocturnal movie, of spooky rubble-strewn neighborhoods that could be right out of “Escape from New York,” graffiti-scarred subway trains, and neon reflected in rain-slicked streets. Then there are the colorful gangs, who register more as characters as a unit than most of the individual faces in the film. This is where the film clearly tips over into the fantastical, showcasing outrageous gangs like The Baseball Furies in their green face paint and sports uniforms, and the Hi-Hats, who dress like mimes. The Warriors themselves are a likable bunch, at least enough to keep us rooting them home, and their journey takes on a mythic quality as they are ambushed, attacked and waylaid.