On September 13, 2015, the original cast of The Warriors put on their old vests and reunited for one last ride to their home turf of Coney Island. That ride was captured on video for Rolling Stone’s website and was part of a larger Warriors Festival held in New York City to celebrate the 36th anniversary of the release of the cult classic.
Based on Sol Yurick’s 1965 novel of the same name, 1979’s The Warriors had a tumultuous release with rumors of vandalism and violence breaking out at showings of the film resulting in Paramount pulling advertising for the movie. Critics generally panned Walter Hill’s film although critic Roger Ebert mentioned in a review of Hill’s Southern Comfort in 1981, that perhaps he overlooked some of the film’s positive qualities due to the very broad manner in which Hill paints his characters. As he put it,
“He knows how to make a movie look great, and how to fill it with energy and style. But I suspect he is uncertain about the human dimensions of his characters. And to cover that up, he makes them into larger-than-life stick figures, into symbolic units who stand for everything except themselves.”
Ronald Reagan was a fan of the film, so much so that he called Swan (Michael Beck) to let him know that he screened the The Warriors at Camp David.
Both the original cut and Walter Hill’s 2007 directors cut of The Warriors are available to stream.