Walter Hill’s The Warriors fully deserves its place in the grand pantheon of cult-classic comic book movies, even if it is not, strictly speaking, based on a comic book. Hill adapted his vivid and hyperreal epic of warring New York gangs from Sol Yurick’s 1965 novel, which in turn is based on Xenophon’s ancient Greek epic Anabasis. But the director acknowledged the movie’s larger-than-life comic book stylings with his 2005 director’s cut, which borrowed graphic novel-style framings for scene transitions. And the film’s subsequent influence can be clearly seen on everything from Sin City to Suicide Squad.
It’s fitting then, that The Warriors are coming out to play once again in an era when shows based on fiercely adult comic books such as The Walking Dead and Preacher seem to be taking over the small screen. Hill’s film is being adapted for television by the directors of Captain America: Civil War, the Russo Brothers, with the aim of honouring the original movie but adding its own colourful blend of “grit, pulp, sex and violence”.
In 1979, our heroes were menaced by a multitude of colourful crews as they made their way home through hostile territory from the Bronx to Coney Island, painfully aware that every other gang in the city wanted their blood. So which should be brought back for the TV show, and which ought to be left on the cutting room floor?
The Baseball Furies
The Manhattan-based Furies were notable as much for their sense of quiet menace as for their heavy metal makeup, New York Yankees uniforms and brutish choice of weapon (baseball bats). But we never got to find out why they dress the way they do, or remain freakishly mutant even in the throes of battle. Perhaps the TV show could delve into the gang’s back story to establish where the whole bad slasher flick villain meets Kiss cover band look came from in the first place?
The Rogues
What the leather-clad crew lacked in sartorial flamboyance, they more than made up for with Machiavellian plotting and unhinged, bully boy swagger, as David Patrick Kelly’s deranged turn as bottle-clicking gang leader Lucas is contrasted beautifully with the quiet charisma of The Warriors’ Swan (Michael Beck). The garrulous little freak might be too much of a rabid dog chasing cars to survive as the main villain of the piece for an entire season’s run, but The Rogues will surely play their part in events.
The Gramercy Riffs
Gang leader Cyrus’s death at Lucas’s hands at the beginning of The Warriors is the catalyst for all the blood and thunder that comes after. If the ruthlessly organised Riffs appear in the TV show, we’ll want to find out if they still hold to their plan for a single unified mob controlling the entire city.
If the idea upset the Rogues, there might be other groups out there none-too-pleased at the thought of giving up their colourful costumes and blending together into one all-powerful (but presumably rather-less-flamboyant) mega-gang. Side note: we’d love to see/hear the return of the gang’s bloodthirsty radio DJ, played so memorably by the late Lynne Thigpen last time out.
The Lizzies
The Warriors’ only all-female gang surely need to up their game for the TV adaptation. The Lizzies are little more than honey traps for our heroes, luring them in with the promise of sex before whipping out the guns and knives, then completely missing their targets. Meanwhile, the movie’s only other prominent female character, Mercy, is an underwritten hanger on who offers very little. The TV show can do better here.
The Punks
A gang whose chosen look seems to be based on Mork & Mindy-era Robin Williams, rather than, say, The Sex Pistols or the New York Dolls. A sartorial update surely beckons for the TV show, which would almost be a pity. Grown men in dungarees and roller skates are a rare enough tribe these days as it is.
The Boppers
Cruelly sidelined in the movie, where they only appear in the opening sequence, The Boppers are a Harlem-based gang. Their uniform of purple waistcoasts and hats suggests they belong on stage crooning out harmonies rather than dusting up rivals on the mean streets. But looks can be deceiving, and there’s nothing like a little elegant hipster swagger to blindside one’s opponent.
The Dingoes
Hill’s original script called for a gang of gay men known for their sadomasochistic behaviour, who at one point abduct the Warriors’ leader Swan. Fortunately, these scenes never made it into the final movie, and we don’t even know what this particular group looked like.
If the TV show plans to visit the movie’s 1970s New York setting, it would be a pity to ignore the Big Apple’s vibrant gay culture of the period. But all things considered, it’s probably best the Dingoes don’t get another run.
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