There are two films that are often mistaken for the other. Each film came out in 1979. Each film features gangs dressed in ostentatious costumes. Each has a distinct soundtrack. Despite some similarities, the films are uniquely different. These films are The Wanderers (dir. Phillip Kaufman from a book by Richard Price) and The Warriors (dir. Walter Hill). Kaufman also remade a creepy update of Invasion of the Body Snatchers in the 1970s, while Walter Hill is generally regarded as one of the greatest action film writer/directors of his time with films like 48 Hours, Hard Times, and The Long Riders.
When Walter Hill’s The Warriors came out there were several incidents of gang violence which were blamed on the film in the media. Crime in NYC was at a high and perhaps that paranoia about criminal activity drummed up interest in the film. Nevertheless, it became a cult-classic. Just the beginning sequence on the NYC subway alone, with a futuristic-sounding, synthetized soundtrack from Barry De Vorzon makes it worth the price of admission.
The Wanderers, on the other hand, was supposed to be depicting the early 1960s in the Fordham section of the Bronx. The film is full of nostalgia, unlike the brooding, futuristic vibe of The Warriors. The Wanderers also focuses on the different ethnicities of gangs, and the civil unrest at the time, while also showing humorous picaresque scenarios and conflicts that the The Wanderers find themselves in.
The Wanderers boasts a soundtrack of 1960s groups including The Four Seasons and Dion and the Belmonts. The Wanderers is full of wonderful caricatures of neighborhood fixtures such as the Galasso Brothers, the local Mafioso- one whose daughter is being courted by the unlucky and unlikely leader of the Wanderers, Richie (Ken Wahl)…. And who could forget about Terror, a gi-normous bald headed leader of the Fordham Baldies.
The Wanderers takes a surreal turn briefly in the middle of the film when a mysterious gang called the “Duckie Boys” from outer Brooklyn invade the neighborhood. The Warriors, though, dabbles in surrealist fantasy, and later Walter Hill revealed that the film was based on Greek Mythology. It was also supposed to take place in a few years in the future from when it was made making it almost Sci-Fi. There were several foreign made rip-offs that were influenced by this film such as Enzo Castalari’s 1990: The Bronx Warriors and Escape from the Bronx.
In The Warriors, every gang in the city sends “delegates” to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx to listen to the legendary leader of the Gramercy Riffs, Cyrus, the “one and only.” Turns out Cyrus wants to unite the gangs and then is assassinated by the low-life Rogues. The Warriors are subsequently falsely accused. The Warriors have to “Bop” they way back to their hometown, Coney Island with every gang in the city on alert to come down on them.
And who could forget weasly David Patrick Kelly’s role as the leader of the “Rogues” taunting The Warriors with three clanking beer bottles, “Warriors! Come out to Playeee"! Roll the Oscar clip please. Yes, The Warriors is an enduring cult-classic artefact of time long gone as is The Wanderers.
Two films; same year; different aesthetics; BOTH CLASSICS
They don’t make ‘em like they used to…..