Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

The Warriors Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 26, 2022

Walter Hill's "The Warriors" (1979) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Via Vision Entertainment. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new programs with stars James Remar, David Patrick Kelly, and Dorsey Wright; exclusive new program with composer Barry De Vorzon; new video essay produced by critic Chris O'Neill; extensive collection of production and promotional materials for the film; archival featurettes; and a lot more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

It is a long way back to Coney Island. You coming?

If you are reading this article, it is not because you know very little about Walter Hill’s The Warriors, or nothing at all, and are looking for information that would help you decide whether it is a film worth adding to your library. It is practically guaranteed that you are a seasoned film collector who knows pretty much everything there is to know about The Warriors and have stopped by to see whether I am going to list all the major reasons that validate your opinion of it. Well, I am not going to do that. I am going to do something different, which I hope would provide you with new information that will enhance your appreciation of The Warriors. I will highlight a few interesting bits from three exclusive new programs that are included on Via Vision Entertainment’s two-disc set, which has the original Theatrical Cut of The Warriors, and then place them in a proper context for you.

Some of the most revealing comments about the conception and production of The Warriors come from a new program that features James Remar, who played the rowdy Ajax. It is a wonderful program in which Remar quickly discusses the early days of his acting career and then recalls precisely how he auditioned for and won the part of Ajax. Remar also recalls a particularly tricky shooting session in the Bronx and how a decision was made to move to a different part of town because members of local gangs and residents essentially made it impossible for Hill to get any quality material done. The most interesting bit from this program, however, is Remar’s admission that The Warriors was never intended to be an authentic depiction of street gangs in New York City. Rather, it was conceived as an emotionally authentic project, and because it got this particular type of authenticity right later on it became a cult classic.

In another new program David Patrick Kelly, who played the shady character Luther, reminds that Hill thinks of most of his films, including The Warriors, as westerns. Kelly then brings up Sol Yurick’s original novel that inspired The Warriors and admits that he read it only after he had familiarized himself with Hill’s screenplay and understood its characters. Yurick’s novel and Hill’s vision of The Warriors were so different that later on Kelly did extensive research on the former. Kelly learned that Yurick’s novel was partially influenced by John Milton’s novel Paradise Lost, which was related to Chinese writer Shi Naian’s novel The Water Margin about a grand unification of gangs and outlaws in China, very much like the one that takes place at the beginning of The Warriors. Kelly was also fascinated by the direct relationship between Yurick’s novel and the ancient Greek soldier-turned-writer Xenophon and his novel Anabasis about Greek warriors coming back home from the Great Persian War. So, Kelly realized that even though Hill’s blueprint for The Warriors might have been modeled after Yurick’s novel, the roots of the original material in it were apparently in some pretty exotic places.

The music is essential for the type of atmosphere that flourishes in The Warriors. In fact, it is not a stretch to say that in quite a few areas it does even more than Andrew Laszlo’s terrific cinematography to shape up its identity as well. In another excellent new program composer Barry De Vorzon explains that when he started working on the soundtrack for The Warriors there were particular sequences where he felt that it was best to “stay out of the way”, but elsewhere carefully used music themes to express things that the visuals alone would have struggled with. (The gang’s arrival at Coney Island right before the decisive encounter on the beach is his best example of the ability of his music to instantly transform an entire sequence). De Vorzon’s most revealing comments, however, come at the end of the program where he confirms that Paramount mishandled The Warriors and, in the process, disappointed a lot of people that worked on it, including himself.

The three programs that are referenced above are placed on the Blu-ray disc with the Theatrical Cut of The Warriors. In all three programs, the Director’s Cut is essentially persona non grata. Why? Because it is a drastically different film, one that very much feels like a politically correct alteration meant to carefully replace the identity of the original material Remar, Kelly, De Vorzon, and a lot of other people worked on. De Vorzon mentions that top brass at Paramount got spooked by some unfortunate events following the premiere of the Theatrical Cut, but this is a minor detail that does not have anything to do with the fact that ultimately it was Hill’s decision to produce a new cut of the film with some pretty strange narration and comic transitions that the majority of its fans rejected.

The Blu-ray disc with the Theatrical Cut also includes deleted and extended scenes that were part of the TV version of The Warriors, which had its debut on The ABC Friday Night Movie series on February 23, 1983. The combined running time of these scenes is approximately eleven minutes.

The Warriors Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Warriors arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Via Vision Entertainment.

I viewed the original Theatrical Cut and then did a few direct comparisons with the Director's Cut. As far as I can tell, both cuts of the film are sourced from the same master. As far as the actual visuals are concerned, the only notable differences occur during the comic transitions. Please note that the screencaptures in this article appear in the following order:

1. Screencaptures #1-24: Theatrical Cut.
2. Screencaptures #25-34: Director's Cut.

It is pretty obvious that the current master, which comes from Paramount's vaults, is old. It is even easier to tell that when it was finalized some digital work was done to manage the surface of the visuals. Why? I have a couple of good guesses, but the best one is that the work was done to make the comic transitions on the Director's Cut blend better with the native footage. Of course, I could be wrong, but on the Director's Cut the merging of the two looks pretty effortless. Without the adjustment, moving from a grainy visual to the comic transition and back to another grainy visual would have made the segment somewhat uneven. So, the obvious question here is this: how does this impact the overall quality of the visuals? Do they still have a decent organic appearance? On my system, the opening credits with the lush neon lights do not look very convincing -- decent, yes, but not too convincing. After that just about everything looks much, much better. Why is that? Because from the gang gathering all the way until the decisive clash at Coney Island the film is quite dark -- there are nighttime and indoor visuals, plus some visuals from the subway, and all of them feature minimal or seriously restricted lighting. Also, Andrew Laszlo's cinematography -- and specifically the manner in which it emphasizes the wet dark streets -- unintentionally hides many of the current master's shortcomings. As a result, delineation can range from decent to surprisingly good (see screencapture #3). Clarity is usually satisfying as well. The effects of the digital work can be spotted during still shots where depth isn't optimal, but even they can look acceptable, or at least as far as dated content is concerned (see screencapture #2). The other partially good news is that while there are areas with flattened delineation and depth, the visuals do not appear to be plagued by heavy smearing like the one that is often present on old masters that emerge from Universal's vaults. This is the reason why the daylight footage from Cony Island at the end of the film has some decent detail as well (see screencapture #20). However, this is also the footage where the age of the master begins to show (see screencapture #12). Image stability is good, but I did notice a few shaky areas. The current master's greatest strength is the overall very solid color balance. If you ignore some of the clipped highlights that pop up here and there, the existing ranges of primaries and nuances is very, very solid. In darker areas there is a bit of light crushing, but it is still very easy to tell that the primaries values are very good. Finally, I did not see any distracting large debris, cuts, warped or torn frames to report in our review.

So, what is the final verdict on the current presentation of The Warriors? It is imperfect. Now, if Paramount restores The Warriors in 4K as it has various older films that have appeared in the Paramount Presents line, the new presentation will have an all-around better organic appearance. However, I personally am not interested in owning a copy of Walter Hill's Director's Cut of the film, and I remain skeptical that Paramount will invest in a 4K makeover of his Theatrical Cut of the film in the near future. Of course, I could be wrong, but this is how I feel at the moment. More importantly, I think that the current presentation of the Theatrical Cut is decent, even surprisingly good at times. The darkness in it hides plenty, balances some areas pretty well, too. Yes, I could easily spot the digital edge during the prologue from the subway, but I had a fine time with the rest of the Theatrical Cut as it is. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your location).

The Warriors Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for both cuts of The Warriors.

As noted elsewhere, I viewed the Theatrical Cut in its entirety and then tested some random sections of The Director's Cut. I started with the LPCM 2.0 track, quickly switched to the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, and then did a lot more switching along the way. In fact, I probably overdid my testing a bit. I usually go for the original audio, but in this case the 5.1 track was so good that I believe I viewed larger parts of the Theatrical Cut with it. My guess is that when the Director's Cut was prepared the 5.1 track was finalized under the supervision of someone that knew exactly what it was supposed to accomplish. (By the way, I am going to guess that this is the reason why the LPCM 2.0 track is Stereo, rather than Dual Mono). In other words, it is not just a random upmix that was quickly put together. Also, on the U.S. release of the Director's Cut there is only a 5.1 lossy track, so on this release the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track has superior basic dynamic range as well. I thought that the music sounded absolutely incredible on my system, and the rest was just as healthy and solid as I hoped it would be. Can Paramount deliver a superior audio track in the future? Anything is possible because now the technology to extract audio files and produce lossless tracks is superior, but I am completely satisfied with what this release offers in terms of audio quality.

The Warriors Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

BLU-RAY DISC ONE - THE THEATRICAL CUT

• "We Got the Streets" - in this exclusive new program, actor James Remar, who plays the character of Ajax, discusses the early days of his acting career and experiences during the shooting of The Warriors. Also, there are some very interesting observations about the personality of the film and its lasting appeal. In English, not subtitled. (17 min).

• "Last Train to Coney Island" - in this exclusive new program, actor David Patrick Kelly, who plays the character of Luther, discusses his involvement with The Warriors, the many influences in Walter Hill's screenplay for the film and its western identity, the unique qualities of his character, and Sol Yurick's novel. In English, not subtitled. (12 min).

• "Sound and Fury - Scoring The Warriors" - in this exclusive new program, composer Barry De Vorzon recalls his initial interactions with Walter Hill during the production of The Warriors, and discusses the important role music has throughout the film, Paramount's mishandling of the film, and his work with Joe Walsh on "In the City". In English, not subtitled. (16 min).

• "Nowhere to Run" - in this exclusive new program, actor Dorsey Wright, who plays the character of Cleon, discusses the start of his career in the film industry and involvement with The Warriors. There are also some quite hilarious comments about the appearances of the different gang members that are seen in the film. In English, not subtitled. (16 min).

• "Literally Classic: The Ancient Greek Roots of The Warriors" - in this exclusive new program, Bryant Kirkland, assistant professor of classics at UCLA, discusses Xenophon and his novel Anabasis and explain how certain themes from it are incorporated in The Warriors. In English, not subtitled. (22 min).

• "Magic... Whole Lot of Magic" - presented here is an exclusive new video essay produced by critic Chris O'Neill. In English, not subtitled. (10 min).

• "The Warriors' Scrapbook" - an extensive collection of production and promotional materials for The Warriors. With music. (19 min).

• TV Spot - a vintage U.S. TV spot for The Warriors. Sources from a VHS. In English, not subtitled. (1 min).

• Trailer - a vintage U.S. trailer spot for The Warriors. Remastered. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• The Warriors From the Cutting Floor - a collection of deleted and extended scenes used in the TV version of The Warriors. In English, not subtitled. (11 min).

• Commentary - an exclusive new audio commentary recorded by film critic and author Walter Chaw.

BLU-RAY DISC TWO - THE DIRECTOR'S CUT

• Commentary - an exclusive new audio commentary recorded by author AND historian Chris Poggiali and former editor of Fangoria and author Michael Gingold.

• Introduction - this archival video introduction to the Director's Cut of The Warriors by Walter Hill. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• "The Warriors: The Beginning" - this archival program takes a closer look at the conception and production of The Warriors. Included in it are clips from interviews with producer Lawrence Gordon, James Remar, editor David Holden, and Walter Hill amongst others. In English, not subtitled. (15 min).

• "The Warriors: Battleground" - this archival program examines some of the obstacles Walter Hill and assistant director David O. Sosna encountered while working on location in New York City. In English, not subtitled. (16 min).

• "The Warriors: The Way Home" - this archival program examines the unique appearance of The Warriors. There are some particularly interesting comments from director of photography Andrew Laszlo about the lensing of the dark street and choreography of the gang fights. In English, not subtitled. (19 min).

• "The Warriors: The Phenomenon" - in this archival program Walter Hill and cast members discusses the lensing and editing of key sequences from The Warriors. There are some very interesting comments about Lynne Thigpen's involvement with the film as well. In English, not subtitled. (16 min).

The Warriors Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I am in full agreement with the popular consensus that Walter Hill's Director's Cut of The Warriors is a minor disaster. No, it is not an unwatchable film, but it is very clearly a mismanaged film that no one asked about. I am sorry, it is the truth. The Theatrical Cut has the right personality, the right narrative construction and definitely the perfect stylistic appearance, which is precisely why fans of The Warriors have always supported it as the only legit version of the film. I am one hundred percent in their camp -- it is the version to see and own. This new two-disc set from Via Vision Entertainment has the Theatrical Cut and Director's Cut of The Warriors, as well as the deleted and extended scenes that were used in the TV version of the film. It is great to have all this content in one place, but the Theatrical Cut is what I was waiting for. So, how does it look? Decent and in some areas surprisingly good, so even though it can look better if it is properly restored in 4K, I am happy to finally have it in my library. Last but certainly not least, the two-disc set has an outstanding selection of new and archival bonus features that I think make it pretty special. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.