I posted this on another forum, but, with a few edits, this seems a fitting place to add it.


This film is my favourite of all time. Simple as that.

Don't get me wrong, I know it has it's flaws - there are hundreds of 'better' films out there - hell, it's not even Walter Hill's best film, and it's certainly not one for all tastes, but for me, it's simply unbeatable.

For anyone who hasn't seen it, it's the (tall) tale of Coney Island street gang (or 'boppers') The Warriors, who agree to a city-wide gang truce to attend a meeting in The Bronx. After the grand, city grabbing schemes (and life) of Cyrus, head of the Big Apple's biggest gang (The Gramercy Riffs) is cut short, our earstwhile heroes are blamed, and must 'bop' their way back to Coney, in a very loose adaptation of Sol Yurik's source novel, and looser adaptation of Xenephon's Anabasis.

Now, there's enough cheesy 70's goodness in this film, that it would automatically appeal to a man of my tastes - If you don't believe me, here are the Baseball Furies...


But this one has something else - an X-factor that no other film can have, and no other viewer can share in the same way.

I finally actually saw The Warriors in its entirety when I was about 14, but I felt like I knew it off-by-heart as I watched - I knew what was happening, to/by whom, who'd be bopping by next, and who wouldn't be making it back to Coney. I was nervous as I watched, because, for reasons outlined below, I had a clear image of this film in my head, and I hoped it would live up to my expectations. I was not disappointed.

You see, my dad went to cinema to see this about five times because he loved it so much - it was the B feature (when they has such things), and he can't even remember what the A was - I was about 2 at the time. Now that may not seem like much, but bear in mind this was 1979, in Newcastle upon Tyne - at the time an economically depressed region of England - and he was a married man with three small children, and bugger all spare cash for anything other than the essentials (scran, tabs and bottles o'broon!).

He bought the soundtrack LP, and played it constantly. The cover was awesome, and the inner sleeve was covered in movie stills. When we were older, my brother, sister and I also played it constantly. I know every song by heart. I still listen to it, now (though sadly the CD version cuts the DJ's line from the end of Desmond Child's 'Last of an Ancient Breed').

Dad did paintings of it (sadly lost, though I am attempting my own, if I can ever get the damned thing finished), drawings of it, doodles of it, stick figues of it... Well, maybe not that last one.

I knew the story, and all the characters - my bro, sis and I used to play The Warriors. One halloween I even attempted to dress up as one of the Furies - and that was incredibly hard, as an 8 (or so) year old in Newcastle - old-time baseball strips were hard to come by. Sadly, no photos exist of that - but I think I made a pretty good fist of it. I even had dreams about the dude getting thrown in front of a train.

All of this, before I'd even seen the film it all related to. Watching it that first time was almost like a religious experience. It felt like...

I was going to say it felt like deja-vu, but that's not quite right, it felt like... coming home. It felt like I belonged there, in that movie, bopping along with the gang.

That's pretty sad... right?

This familial bond with The Warriors had us all. Even my mum still enjoys it - to give that some context, she's a pacifist, and hates films that 'glorify violence', my folks have been divorced for over 30 years, and can barely stand to be in the same hemisphere as each other!

When I finally found it, it was immediately bought on VHS, and was quickly upgraded to DVD when the time came - one of my first. I still watch it regularly - at least a couple of viewings a year. I could put The Warriors on at any minute of any day, and sit enthralled for ninety-odd minutes. I've got plans for a tat or two of it (if/when I can afford it, and convince Mrs M. that getting some more ink doesn't warrant a divorce...) If any of my kids had been boys, there's a fair chance there'd have been a Swan, Ajax or Cochise in his name, and in a couple of years, I'll start indoctrinating my girls into it, so another generation of Moffats keep The Warriors' spirit alive..

I haven't bothered with the director's cut - that's not the film I want to see. That's not the film that's important to me. There was talk of a remake a few years back - that doesn't interest me. There's even a game of it, and comic books, too. None of that interests me (though I've heard the game captures the spirit of the film brilliantly). I'm happy with the film that means something - even if I'm not sure exactly what that something is - to me.

This film was part of my childhood - part of my life - before I'd even seen it. It's a 'good' bad film, I know that, but to me, it possibly the best thing ever made.