{"id":447384,"date":"2026-02-03T22:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T22:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/447384\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T22:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T22:48:09","slug":"get-to-know-the-warriors-the-classic-film-inspiring-the-patriots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/447384\/","title":{"rendered":"Get to know ‘The Warriors,’ the classic film inspiring the Patriots"},"content":{"rendered":"

You see, last week I read an article in this very paper<\/a> about coach Mike Vrabel and his players repeatedly referring to \u201cThe Warriors,\u201d specifically actor David Patrick Kelly\u2019s immortal taunt: \u201cWarriors! Come out to play!\u201d That line is quite often the only thing people know about the movie, and it wasn\u2019t even in the script. Kelly improvised it on the spot for his character, Luther, an enemy of the titular gang, and created something iconic in the process. People chant it all the time, especially if they have a few beer bottles hanging around that they can clink together with their fingers, as Kelly does in the film.<\/p>\n

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\"DavidDavid Patrick Kelly as Luther in “The Warriors.” CBS via Getty Images<\/p>\n

I am confused by all of this. I mean, if the Yankees started chanting dialogue from your buddy Ben Affleck<\/a>\u2019s movie, \u201cThe Town,\u201d I\u2019d disown them for invoking a movie as closely associated with Boston as that one is. That\u2019s how much of a New York movie \u201cThe Warriors\u201d is. But far be it for me to question the reasoning behind a team\u2019s rallying cry. After all, it got the Patriots to the Super Bowl. <\/p>\n

What I found far more flabbergasting was Vrabel\u2019s comment that nobody knew what he was talking about when he first referenced \u201cThe Warriors.\u201d \u201cI had to actually show the movie,\u201d he said. His comment reminded me that the reason I know all about the movie is because I saw it opening weekend at the Loews Jersey in my hometown of Jersey City. Which means I am far older than every player on the Patriots. I\u2019m also older than Mike Vrabel.<\/p>\n

But I digress. The best I can do here is give a primer on \u201cThe Warriors\u201d for those of you who first heard about the film from your hometown heroes. It\u2019s a favorite film of mine, and one of only two movies I\u2019ve attended dressed as one of its characters (the other is \u201cThe Rocky Horror Picture Show\u201d). <\/p>\n

The plot of \u201cThe Warriors\u201d is simple. At a summit designed to form an alliance between all the gangs of New York, the leader of the Gramercy Riffs gang, Cyrus, is shot and killed by Luther, who runs the Rogues gang. Luther frames the Warriors for the truce-breaking crime, leading the Riffs to put out a contract on the Warriors. <\/p>\n

As a result, every rival gang wants to off them. Led by their War Chief, Swan (Michael Beck), the Warriors must make their way from the Bronx to their safe home turf of Coney Island. Throughout their journey, they violently face off with several other gangs. There\u2019s a memorable death in the subway; much of this film takes place on the rapidly deteriorating 1970s era MTA. And the film\u2019s lone female main character, Mercy (\u201cToo Close for Comfort\u201d’s Deborah Van Valkenburgh), turns out to be more complexly drawn than expected.<\/p>\n

Yurick\u2019s far more serious book was influenced by Greek tragedy. Hill keeps that angle, but everything else about \u201cThe Warriors\u201d is extremely stylized, from its dystopian look to its unforgettable, graffiti-sprayed poster title logo. One version of the posters, which contained only the logo, was specifically designed to look like real graffiti on the MTA subway station walls. There was certainly enough of the real thing back in 1979.<\/p>\n

Hill has written, produced, and directed movies as varied as \u201cAlien,\u201d the Depression-era boxing drama \u201cHard Times,\u201d and the violent cop buddy comedy \u201c48 Hrs.\u201d But I\u2019ve always said Hill\u2019s movies, regardless of genre, were westerns under the skin. This one has a twisted nod to \u201cHigh Noon.\u201d Nobody believes the Warriors are innocent, so no help in defeating their rivals is forthcoming. Making matters worse, there\u2019s an omniscient Greek god of sorts, a radio DJ whose lips occasionally fill the screen to taunt our heroes and tell rival gangs where they are. <\/p>\n

We never see anything besides her blood red lipstick-covered mouth, but that instantly recognizable voice is unmistakable. Those velvety tones belong to the late, great Lynne Thigpen, Morgan Freeman\u2019s antagonist in \u201cLean on Me\u201d (for us Gen Xers), and the Chief on \u201cWhere in the World Is Carmen Sandiego\u201d (for you millennials). Thigpen gives \u201cThe Warriors\u201d an icy coolness that overshadows the assorted gangs and their memorable outfits. <\/p>\n

Speaking of memorable outfits, one of the gangs who target the Warriors is the Baseball Furies. They control Riverside Park on the West Side of Manhattan. With their painted faces, baseball bats, caps, and pinstripe uniforms that resemble the Yankees\u2019 attire, these guys are my favorite gang. Each set has a specific uniform that\u2019s perfect for cosplaying at fan-filled midnight screenings. The Warriors themselves have buttonless vests that show off their abs. <\/p>\n

Eventually, the Warriors make it back to Coney Island, where Luther issues his immortal taunt. At the midnight screening I attended as a Baseball Fury back in 2019, someone brought bottles into the theater and recreated that scene. Surprisingly, everyone let that guy have the floor; I expected the entire theater to say the lines, but he was the only one who did.<\/p>\n

Such friendly camaraderie wasn\u2019t present at theaters when \u201cThe Warriors\u201d opened 40 years earlier. In fact, several violent incidents and riots occurred at screenings attended by real-life rival gangs in New York City, Los Angeles, and Boston. A major fight broke out at my Jersey City screening on opening weekend. Two of these incidents proved fatal, including one in Dorchester. Two weeks after the film\u2019s opening, State Senator Michael LoPresti Jr. from East Boston requested an investigation into having the film banned in Boston.<\/p>\n

A skittish Paramount (the studio that released \u201cThe Warriors\u201d) temporarily pulled all marketing<\/a> from TV and radio, and offered to pay for any vandalism theaters incurred. Security was increased at several theaters as well. Nowadays, a movie would never cause this sort of controversy, but back then, it only added to the street cred of a soon-to-be-cult classic. <\/p>\n

Though it received many negative reviews (and a positive one from Pauline Kael, who also referenced \u201cThe Blackboard Jungle\u201d in her review), \u201cThe Warriors\u201d made money at the box office and had a long shelf life. It inspired a concept musical album co-written by Lin-Manuel Miranda in 2023, as well as video games and comic books. Several remakes were considered, but none were made, because how can you make a better movie than this one? It\u2019s a product of its time, lightning in a bottle that can\u2019t be recreated. <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s see if the movie\u2019s mojo still works for the Patriots when they come out to play on the home field of my beloved San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara on Super Bowl Sunday. Until then, to quote Lynne Thigpen\u2019s DJ, \u201cI guess the only thing I can do is play you a song.\u201d<\/p>\n

Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe’s film critic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You see, last week I read an article in this very paper about coach Mike Vrabel and his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":447385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[210207,7820,88,10117,206,1815,349,8088],"class_list":{"0":"post-447384","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-afc-championship","9":"tag-denver-broncos","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-kraft","12":"tag-movies","13":"tag-new-england-patriots","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-patriots"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=447384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/447384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/447385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=447384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=447384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=447384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}