"Warriors, come out to plaaaaaayyyyy!" our all-time favorite cult NYC movie

On point.

    In 1979 New York city was, to quote many a resident and politician, "Crime Ridden."  The subways were filled with graffiti, crime sprees both minor and large were sweeping through the city, and the ever-present New York gangs were making a comeback.....not that they had ever really left. 

     New York has always had "gangs;" roving groups of often disaffected and impoverished youth from a particular neighborhood or block, who band together using violence as a currency for protection, money-making, and  a sense of purpose.  By the 1820's the Five Points neighborhood between Bowery and Canal was an already filthy, thriving slum home to poor orphans, immigrants, and criminals who would later be written about in the book "Gangs of New York."       

---

    Gang culture, as it evolved through the centuries, was always a part of New York's history, so when "The Warriors" premiered in 1979 it dramatized, satirized and mythologized the neighborhood-centric street gangs locals were encountering everyday, and had lived with in some form for generations.
   "Cyrus, the leader of the most powerful gang in New York City, the Gramercy Riffs, calls a midnight summit for all the area gangs, with all asked to send nine unarmed representatives for the conclave. A gang called The Warriors are blamed for killing Cyrus as he gives his speech. They now have to cross the territory of rivals in order to get to their own 'hood. The Warriors slowly cross the dangerous Bronx and Manhattan territories, narrowly escaping police and other gangs every step of the way. "

  Dozens of "gangs" hail from a highly specific neighborhoods and wear a uniform depicting their allegiance.  They have "logos" as recognizable as sports teams, along with their own sets of neighborhood fans rooting for them to beat the Warriors and "win."
  

  The Warriors are from Coney Island and wear leather vests with a flaming skull on the back, The baseball furies hail from Riverside Park and dress in Yankees Jerseys with multi-colored facepaint. Rogues are out of Hell's Kitchen, the Punks control the Bowery, Savage Huns run Chinatown, HiHats control SoHo. The Warriors encounter each gang as they attempt to make it "home" to Coney Island.

   We're not going to lie this movie is complete bonkers, and that's why we love it so much.  The old New York it shows is just as fascinating as the freakish, stylized gangs running through its streets, with ridiculous music, AMAZING costumes, and sheer, weird fun.  Sure, this movie is not quite within the realm of Eric Bogisian's "Sex, Drugs, Rock&Roll," BUT we challenge you to find a weird, wonderful movie more New York than this.  Plus, the film has tons of Sex, Drugs, and Rock.  So there's that.

purchase tickets to Sex, Drugs, Rock&Roll