Adaptation Displacement: The movie is loosely based on a little-known novel by Sol Yurick. In fact, it's more faithful to Xenophon's Anabasis than Yurick's modernized (and deconstructed) version.
Alternate Character Interpretation: The case can be made that Swan and Ajax are not so different. Swan is considerably more pragmatic than Ajax, but similarly eager to lead, happy to bust some heads, proud, and sexually aggressive. Tellingly, Swan's objection to Ajax staying behind to rape a woman alone at night in a park isn't that it's immoral, but simply the wrong time and place for such detours when they can do the same thing in the comfort of their own turf.
Anti-Climax Boss: Luther, who is disarmed with a single knife-throw before he can put up a fight.
Audience-Coloring Adaptation: Not surprisingly, the film has completely eclipsed the Sol Yurick novel — so much so that the 2005 video game adaptation not only kept the film's campy approach, but made it even campier!
"Last of an Ancient Breed" by Desmond Child is a powerful song complete with an appropriate Title Drop.
"In the City" by Joe Walsh, while it sounds relaxing, sums up Swan's attitude at the end of the movie perfectly.
Arnold McCuller's version of "Nowhere to Run" is timed nicely as a threat to the Warriors.
Barry De Vorzon's synthesized score is pretty damn good as well. The film's main theme does a pretty good job setting the scene with the opening montage.
Cult Classic: The film was popular in its day, especially due to the controversy it created, but has found a second wind as a campy, violent cult classic.
Epileptic Trees: The scene where Luther dials a phone to speak to someone about Cyrus's death has sparked a ton of speculation as to who it is and if Luther was perhaps directed to kill Cyrus by a higher power.
Even for The '70s, the Boppers' shiny purple vests and hats stick out like a sore thumb.
The Punks wear denim overalls over brightly striped shirts. It makes them look like overgrown children. The roller skates don't help matters.
Our Villain Protagonists, The Warriors aren't that bad, although some viewers interpret their vests in ways that probably weren't intended. In the original book, though, their dress code was straw hats, paisley blue polo shirts, black chinos, and monkey jackets. So... they dress like the tackiest tourists ever?
Roger Hill's hammy yet captivating performance as Cyrus.
Ho Yay: The Warriors are a group of physically fit young men who wear matching leather outfits, including vests worn open. The fact that they're Bash Brothers in a story loosely based on an ancient Greek legend go even further in providing some homosexual subtext to the affair.
I Am Not Shazam: In the original Sol Yurick novel, the main gang was actually called the Dominators. The film avoided this trope by renaming them "the Warriors."
Jerkass Dissonance: Ajax is violent, argumentative, crass, sexually aggressive and generally the most unpleasant of the Warriors, and the movie doesn't shy away from depicting his negative traits. Despite this, he's pretty popular among fans and regarded as one of the most memorable characters. It's likely because he's such a blatant asshole with no filter that he can be quite amusing or entertaining to watch; for all his many flaws, he also has a few traits some find genuinely admirable (e.g. he's willing to fight off multiple opponents unarmed when Cowboy can't run anymore, rather than ditch him to save himself).
Cleon is the founder of the Warriors and their original Warlord. A brilliant and charismatic leader, Cleon creates fear and admiration for the Warriors while bringing down rival gangs and eventually luring his old enemy Virgil of the Destroyers into a trap that sees him killed. While he is killed in a final stand when wrongfully accused of the death of the Gramercy Riffs' leader Cyrus, Cleon's legacy endures with even his spirit still assisting his successor Swan.
Swan, War Chief of the Warriors, assumes command with Cleon's death. After butting heads with the boorish Ajax, Swan takes undisputed leadership and cleverly leads the Warriors to outwit their enemies: stealing the weapons of one gang and ambushing another from hiding. Hunting down Cyrus' real killer Luther, Swan easily disarms him before preparing to fight the lunatic, always ready to protect his gang.
Cyrus, leader of the Gramercy Riffs, the "Magic Man" is a gang lord with a vision. Pulling together the gangs of New York after sowing his vision among them, Cyrus unites them with a singular dream: to bind together as one, 100,000 strong gang so that they outnumber the police and organized crime and might bring in tribute and protection. A captivating and charismatic leader who brings together all the gangs as one, Cyrus's death kicks off the hunt for the Warriors, with almost all mourning him and his lost dream.
Masai becomes leader of the Gramercy Riffs following Cyrus' tragic death. An affluent, military-like leader who dearly cherishes his fallen friend, Masai, with Tranquil Fury, puts a hit out on the Warriors after being informed they were responsible. His influence bringing nearly all the gangs of New York to follow his commands as he has them close in on the Warriors, Masai assumes total control in the chaos, the Gramercy Riffs staying just as powerful as ever. Learning Luther was the real killer of his mentor, Masai puts an end to the vile coward and has his DJ play a song for the Warriors out of respect for their strength and bravery.
Cyrus's rallying cry of "Can you dig it?" and Luther's taunt "Warriors, come out to play!" pop up all over the place. Even an episode of Lazytown referenced the second one!
The poster on the main page.
"Shit, the chicks are packed!!! THE CHICKS ARE PACKED!!!"
"You see what you get when you mess with the Orphans!?"
Narm: Cleon's death. Getting mauled to death by a gang? Horrific. Being surrounded and attacked with synchronized elbows? Pretty hilarious.
That DJ has to know there's no way the Warriors are actually listening to her, but she still commits completely to the bit and puts on some pretty great music.
Given their overalls and bright long-sleeved shirts, the Punks don't look particularly threatening, especially since their leader Vance even rolls around in roller skates. However, the fact that they never speak gives them an air of menace when they pursue and finally fight the Warriors.
One-Scene Wonder: Cyrus holding his speech to rally all the gangs.
Mercedes Ruehl, the woman who handcuffs Ajax would later play the mother in Big and, still later, would win an Academy Award for her work in The Fisher King.
Ajax is played by a young James Remar, in one of his first ever film roles.
Near the end of the movie, on the subway ride back to Coney Island, two couples board the subway. One of the passengers is played by a young Debra Winger in one of her earliest roles.
One of the Hero Antagonist police officers is Sonny Landham, who would later be well-known eight years later for his role as Badass Native Billy Sole in Predator.
Signature Scene: The film has two that have achieved memetic notoriety.
Cyrus's speech, culminating in his rallying cry, "Can you dig it?"
Luther clanking the glass bottles together with his fingers and taunting the Warriors with the chant, "Warriors, come out to play!"
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: The opening introduced the Hi-Hats, a gang that dress like mimes, but we never got to see the Warriors beat up any mimes. Same goes for The Boppers, a gang that dress like stereotypical pimps. These two cases were fixed in the game.
Cyrus' plan of uniting the gangs and taking over the city sounds like it would have made a great movie, but it's a Red Herring that is quickly scrapped and forgotten. That said, it does get a slight revisit in the comic sequel Jailbreak when the Riffs and Warriors team up to help bust out Ajax and the imprisoned Riffs. Swan tells Masai that Cyrus was onto something, but Masai just coldly rebuffs him and says that that dream died with Cyrus.
It's hinted via the phonecalls Luther makes or receives that he may possibly have carried out the hit on Cyrus not just for the hell of it, but at the request of someone else who wanted him out of the way. This is an intriguing plot point that is unfortunately never elaborated upon.
Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: Let's not mince words, it's easy to not care one bit about anyone in this film considering they're entirely composed of street gangs who've done all sorts of crimes for their own benefit. The film's ending is pretty bleak too when you think about it; although most of the Warriors make it back to Coney, they're still stuck in a life of violence and poverty, with little hope of things improving. Swan even lampshades this once they get back to Coney, looking around in disgust and stating "This is what we fought all night to get back to?" It still manages to be less grim than the novel though and trying to avoid this trope is probably a big reason why the film is only a loose adaptation, as the protagonists there are depicted committing far worse acts with less justification.
Cyrus, who with a single speech manages to convince the gangs to put aside their differences and team up to take over the city. It's safe to say the film would be very different had he not been shot at the beginning.
Cleon is taken out not too long after, but before then he manages to establish himself as a capable leader and a badass. His exit leaves the Warriors in a much more dire situation than if he was alive.
A few accidental blink-and-you-miss-it glimpses of subway station ads for Grease, Heaven Can Wait, and Foul Play give away The Warriors production being done during summer 1978.
Luther's use of a pay phone.
The nearly complete lack of guns in the New York City underworld was anachronistic even for its time and comes across as hopelessly quaint today, as contemporary Gangbangers tend to pack heat.
The rollerskating leader of the Punks is obviously styled on the heightened popularity of rollerskating in the 1970s and into the 1980s.
Vindicated by History: The film was negatively received by most critics; Pauline Kael, writing for — ironically — The New Yorker, being a notable exception. Worse, after a promising start at the box office, it quickly fizzled. The latter was mostly caused by outbreaks of gang-related violence — different gangs in the same theater at the same time came to blows — which in turn led to reasonable fears from both theater owners and non-gangster audience members, and also to the studio essentially pulling support with advertisements being culled to a minimum. Now it's considered a cult classic.
Watch It for the Meme: "Warriors! Come out to play-ay!" doesn't pop up until there's about ten minutes left in the film. Fortunately, the other big meme, "Can you dig it?", is at the beginning.
The game:
Adaptation Displacement: The game was released three decades after the movie, with expected results.
Best Level Ever: Writer's Block, notable for having little combat compared to the other levels. Running across the rooftops and destroying Chatterbox's art gallery is a lot of fun.
Complete Monster: Luther is expanded upon in the game, taking his manipulative sadism to new heights. The volatile leader of the Rogues who subjects his gang to abuse and threats, Luther goes so far as to throw away the lives of two of his goons because they annoyed him. After murdering a cop simply because Luther wanted his gun, Luther frames the killing on other gangs to bring Police Brutality down on the neighborhood and get many people savaged. Luther kicks off the main plot by pointlessly killing beloved gang leader Cyrus and framing the Warriors for it, resulting in the gang's members being slowly killed off one by one in a single night. When he gets tired of the chase, Luther challenges the Warriors to come out and play in a fair fist fight, only to pull a gun and try to shoot them all dead when he begins to lose. When confronted on his motives, Luther cruelly snarks "No reason, I just like doing things like that!"
Difficulty Spike: The challenge ratchets up in "Boys in Blue". The first area is under permanent lockdown by the police as well as other gangs. This is pretty much the case in each subsequent level.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: While Rockstar games were having a large fanbase worldwide, The Warriors is notable that it has large fanbase in Indonesia, owing that it's a Rockstar game as well as having full co-op support (which contribute to the social gaming in rentals).
Moral Event Horizon: After Virgil has new Warrior initiate Ash murdered, Cleon decides to finally deal with the Destroyers, once and for all.
Chatterbox (and his art gallery) are creepy as fuck.
The entire Baseball Furies mission. Being chased by ruthless gang members with baseball bats and face paint would freak anyone out.
Nightmare Retardant: Unleash the Fury difficulty has the Warriors dressed up as the Furies. This in turn makes the actual Furies gang swap places by using Warriors character models. This can make the chase scene completely hilarious as you can see half a dozen Cowboys and Vermins chasing you down the street.
No Problem with Licensed Games: Among fans of the film, and even gamers in general, this is a much beloved adaptation of the film. It does help that it was released quarter of a century after the release of the film and, thus, didn't need to be rushed to coincide with its theatrical release and had much of the original cast back.
That One Level: In the middle of "Encore", your character is chased by a ghost train on tracks and doesn't think to just run off the tracks. The resulting minigame is entirely a button masher; you must very rapidly press one button to not die instantly. The problem? Unless you've been training your fingers in some sort of Ninja Gaiden dojo it is nigh impossible to actually mash the button at the speeds the game expects. Gamers soon realized that no matter what they did, the roller-coaster of doom would hit them just a few seconds in.
Underused Game Mechanic: Melee weapons can actually be thrown by pressing the square and x buttons together. When does the game bother to tell you this? During the Final Boss battle against Luther. And to finish him off no less.
does a pretty good job setting the scene with the opening montage.