STACK #211 May 2022

MOVIE FEATURE

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intends to confront the Warriors and eliminate any proof of his crime. The Rogues pursue the Warriors in a graffiti-covered hearse, crawling

slowly behind them. From inside, Luther begins taunting them in an unforgettable sequence that sees him singing, “Warriors, come out to play,” while rhythmically clinking beer bottles on the end of his fingers. Director Walter Hill outlined the scene’s conception during a podcast with Marc Maron. “I have to give him [David Kelly Patrick] the credit for that. I said, ‘Think of something to say. I don’t care, sing to them if you want, but let them know of your presence and taunt them’,” said Hill.

Walter Hill, director of TheWarriors , talks about creating a classic moment in the 1979 cult movie. Words Paul Jones W alter Hill’s stylish, dystopian story of a gang wrongly accused of murder and

“Then I went over to the camera we were getting ready for the next shot, and I saw him in the corner of my eye jump out of the car, and he ran under the pier where he grabbed some old beer bottles from the trash and ran back into the car.” Hill continues: “I’m like, ‘OK, let’s rehearse once more, and then we’ll shoot. Action.’ And then he does the clink, clink and I thought, this is what a real director is about – you don’t get in the middle of this, you just shoot it. “In a way, it’s what directors do; it’s what actors do, and he deserves the lion’s share of the credit. But at the same time, I created an opportunity and I was open to something that wasn’t in the script, so I give myself 20 per cent on that.”

forced to fight their way home across a ruthless, neon-lit underworld of street gang crime is a bona fide cult classic. Savage gangs from every corner of NewYork City join the hunt for the Warriors, searching a desolate urban nightscape that’s superbly captured by cinematographer Andrew Laszlo. Barry De Vorzon’s accompanying score of whirling synths and phaser- drenched guitars only adds to the palpable sense of impending menace, and the relentless action – where grit, determination, knuckles, and baseball bats largely replace guns – is masterfully sustained over a taut 93-minute running time. The script, adapted from the 1965 Sol Yurick novel by Hill and David Shaber, brings together a menagerie of colourful characters, distinctive gangs, and unforgettable dialogue that is still regularly quoted some 43 years later. The most memorable quote comes from an iconic scene at the conclusion of The Warriors . [Spoiler alert] Framed for killing the Gramercy

• The Warriors is out on May 25

Riff’s gang boss, Cyrus (the head of the biggest gang in NewYork), the dishevelled and exhausted remaining Warriors finally make it back to their home base of Coney Island. But waiting for them as they alight from the train at dawn are the real perpetrators of the crime, the Rogues, headed up by deranged gang boss Luther (David Patrick Kelly). Luther had pulled the trigger that killed Cyrus and

During the park fight sequence with the Baseball Furies, Michael Beck, who plays the calm Warriors’ temporary boss, Swan, attacks a member of the Furies with a baseball bat. However, he hit the stuntman so hard with the bat prop that he broke three of his ribs.

20 MAY 2022

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