Write What You Know: Sol Yurick had been a social worker with troubled youth for over a decade when he wrote the novel. The book puts emphasis on how the gang members are mere teenagers who come from broken homes.
The Film
Ability over Appearance: Walter Hill initially wanted a Puerto Rican actress for the role of Mercy, but Deborah Van Valkenburgh's agent convinced the film's casting directors to see her, and she was eventually cast.
Actor Leaves, Character Dies: Thomas G. Waites (Fox) was fired eight weeks into principal photography, for being difficult and arguing with Walter Hill, so his character is removed from the movie when a cop throws him into the path of a train during a fight. To this day, Hill has felt bad about the rough times he had with Waites. Waites is not in the final credits because he demanded that his name be removed. However, he did return to reprise the role in the game.
Beam Me Up, Scotty!: It's not "Warriors, come out and play!" It's "Warriors, come out to play!"
Breakaway Pop Hit: Joe Walsh originally co-wrote and recorded "In the City" for this film. When he re-recorded it on the Eagles album The Long Run a few months later, it became a staple of rock radio (though it was never actually released as a single).
Cast the Expert: Many of the extras and supporting bit parts were played by real-life gang members.
Cast the Runner-Up: Irwin Keyes was strongly considered for the role of Ajax, but James Remar was cast instead. Keyes was cast as the cop who arrests Ajax in the sting operation.
Dawson Casting: With the exception of Rembrandt, the gang all look like they're at least in their mid-twenties (Michael Beck was actually 30), but Fox mentions that they have a youth worker. Swan and Mercy are also compared to a group of kids coming from prom. These suggest that the gang is supposed to be in their teens.
Deleted Role: Pamela Poitier was cast as Cleon's girlfriend Lincoln, who was originally intended to appear at the start of the movie, seeing the Warriors off and warning Cleon she has a bad feeling about the conclave. However, all her scenes were deleted due to the opening scene being substantially rewritten.
Disowned Adaptation: Sol Yurick, the author of the novel, liked Walter Hill's direction of the film, but wasn't pleased with the many changes to the story, the slightly Lighter and Softer tone of the film compared to the novel, and Roger Hill's performance as Cyrus, who Yurick didn't think came across as a realistic gang leader.
Dueling Movies: Released the same year as The Wanderers with both films sparking discussion about youth gangs. The studios raced to beat each other to the punch, but The Warriors came out first and had the more lasting impact.
Executive Meddling: Originally, the film was a going to have an all black and Hispanic cast much like in the book. The studio forced Hill to cast some white actors as well so the film would have broader appeal.
Hostility on the Set: Thomas G. Waites (Fox) proved difficult to work with during film production, to the point that he was fired and his character was brutally killed early in the story. Most notably, he constantly feuded with both Walter Hill and Deborah Van Valkenburgh (Mercy), who was supposed to be his love interest.
Real Life Writes the Plot: Thomas G. Waites being fired not only caused his character's death, it unintentionally had further consequences that could've been a disaster. According to Sean Eagan's 2021 book about the film, Deborah Van Valkenburgh fractured her wrist filming Fox's death scene with Waite's double. She was in a cast for almost a month while the crew shot around her. When Hill finally had to have her start shooting again, he pulled a denim jacket from costume, threw it over Mercy — and the still-obvious cast — and hung the following lampshade pretty much on the spot:
Mercy: Hey, wait! There's still cops all over the place. Swan: Where's the Fox? Mercy: A cop grabbed him. Swan: So how come you hung around? Mercy: I don't know. Swan: Where'd you get the coat? Mercy: You ask a lot of questions. Swan: Don't give me that! Mercy: I stole it. Cops are looking for somebody in a pink top.
Role Reprise: Dorsey Wright (Cleon), Michael Beck (Swan), James Remar (Ajax), David Harris (Cochise), Thomas G. Waites (Fox) and Deborah Van Valkenburgh (Mercy) all return to voice their characters in the game.
Sequel in Another Medium: There's a comic book that follows up on the events of the film. It received a sequel titled Jailbreak by Erike Henriksen which addresses Ajax's fate. Both were published by Dynamite Comics.
Walter Hill realized that the scene where Luther and the Rogues confront the Warriors at Coney Island was missing something, so he asked David Patrick Kelly to come up with something for his character to do. Kelly recalled a crazy man from his youth who would taunt him by shouting, "Come out to play!" so he ad-libbed the lines. He originally requested dead pigeons to hold in his hands, but the production couldn't come up with that, so he substituted clinking the beer bottles in his fingers.
Ajax's James Remar ad-libbed his line, "I'll shove that bat up your ass and turn you into a Popsicle!"
Uncredited Role: Thomas G. Waites (Fox) demanded that his name be removed from the credits.
An opening narration was planned, voiced by Orson Welles. It's included on the director's cut DVD, along with comic book-style transitions between scenes.
A real-life gang leader was cast to play Cyrus, but mysteriously disappeared shortly before principal photography.
If Hill wouldn't have been able to make this movie, his backup plan was to do a western film called Last Gun.
The story was originally set in Los Angeles.
Originally, it was Fox who was supposed to be the sympathetic character whom Mercy goes with in the end. The director and the actor playing Fox had a falling out, so Fox gets hit by a train. Furthermore, Vermin was supposed to die at the hands of the Lizzies, but his actor was likable enough that the director decided to spare him. Swan was supposed to be kidnapped by a gang with a penchant for anal rape, but escape and return for the final showdown.
Snow was originally named Snowball and did not say a single word until the end when he gave a small statement about how they should fight the Rogues to avenge their fallen friends.
Tony Danza was set to play Vermin, but chose to star on the sitcom Taxi, instead.
Tony Scott tried to get a remake off the ground for several years, which was ended by his suicide in 2012.
The Video Game
The Other Darrin: While this is averted for the most part, Luther, Vermin, Cowboy, Snow and Cyrus (except for his iconic speech) were all recast for the video game. Rembrandt's actor had died in 1986 due to complications from AIDS.
Screwed by the Lawyers: The Playstation 4 re-release omits “In The City” by The Eagles in favor of "Last Of An Ancient Breed". This is a particularly egregious example since “In the City” was only used to match up to the end of the film’s credits, though "Last Of An Ancient Breed" did originally play during the credits after "In The City".
Possibly. In the arena mode, two of the stages are at the graveyard the Warriors regroup at after Cyrus is shot. They are the only stages not present in the actual levels. In one mission you can overhear a conversation between a group of Jones Street Boys, and sometimes they'll talk about a time The Warriors screwed them over in the graveyard, which is mentioned nowhere else in the game. It seems that at least one additional level was planned, but scrapped for whatever reason.
A spiritual sequel (unrelated to the film) was planned by Rockstar. The game was to be titled We Are the Mods and was to be set in 1960s England during the mods and rockers brawls. Unfortunately, the only thing left over from the planned game is a texture that can be found inside of one of the motorcycle clubs as wall art.
