I loved this film as a kid, in the very early days of video, this is as stated in other reviews on this page the best gang related movie ever. But some film do age badly, so I was curiouse in not seeing the film in years how it fairs up.
The clothes have dated, the acting is poor at the very best, and the action is a little amaturish. But the film is still a brilliant nights retro entertainment. Director Walter Hill really did cut his teeth with this cult low budget classic. The pace of the film is never flagging, and the great music score really does pump up the tension. With some directors cut's they seem to get a little too obsessed and spoil film. But this version is a great up date. The original version was supposed to be a comic book on the big screen as Hill originaly intended, but never had the budget to forefill his vision. Now the director managers to use comic effect freeze frame end of chapters, that really do give the impression of reading a graphic novel. Die hard… more »

I loved this film as a kid, in the very early days of video, this is as stated in other reviews on this page the best gang related movie ever. But some film do age badly, so I was curiouse in not seeing the film in years how it fairs up.
The clothes have dated, the acting is poor at the very best, and the action is a little amaturish. But the film is still a brilliant nights retro entertainment. Director Walter Hill really did cut his teeth with this cult low budget classic. The pace of the film is never flagging, and the great music score really does pump up the tension. With some directors cut's they seem to get a little too obsessed and spoil film. But this version is a great up date. The original version was supposed to be a comic book on the big screen as Hill originaly intended, but never had the budget to forefill his vision. Now the director managers to use comic effect freeze frame end of chapters, that really do give the impression of reading a graphic novel. Die hard fans of the original version may object to this new vision, and whilst not improving on the original cut. This version is still just as good.
If you like the original Assult On Precict 13 and Escape from New York, you will get an amazing retro kick out of this film.
The only question to ask yourself is can you still dig it?

I saw the film on cinema release in 1979 and a couple of times thereafter and bought it on original VHS and DVD release but just had to buy it again in this Ultimate Director's Cut version with it's associated Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix. Unfortunately, whilst the picture quality is brilliant, that 5.1 mix is pretty much rubbish like most of your old 70s film remixes into what masquerades as 5.1. To be honest the stereo mix actually sounds better for the most part. I don't know why anyone bothers remixing (or saying it's been remixed) into 5.1 with such poor results. Surely every such remix is an opportunity for excellence in the audio department?

So as one of the lucky ones having the original DVD version (with its monaural soundtrack) I cannot agree with one of the other reviews' 2* downgraded rating for this new version. Whilst the comic-book cartoon additions between chapters will not be to everyone's taste, they do add a refreshing change to the original version for… more »

I saw the film on cinema release in 1979 and a couple of times thereafter and bought it on original VHS and DVD release but just had to buy it again in this Ultimate Director's Cut version with it's associated Dolby Digital 5.1 surround mix. Unfortunately, whilst the picture quality is brilliant, that 5.1 mix is pretty much rubbish like most of your old 70s film remixes into what masquerades as 5.1. To be honest the stereo mix actually sounds better for the most part. I don't know why anyone bothers remixing (or saying it's been remixed) into 5.1 with such poor results. Surely every such remix is an opportunity for excellence in the audio department?

So as one of the lucky ones having the original DVD version (with its monaural soundtrack) I cannot agree with one of the other reviews' 2* downgraded rating for this new version. Whilst the comic-book cartoon additions between chapters will not be to everyone's taste, they do add a refreshing change to the original version for those who've already seen it and have it on DVD. Those who haven't seen the original won't mind as they won't know the difference.

To be honest, the way it's done with reality morphing in and out of comic-book images and simple wipes is actually pretty good. To my mind both original and this new version have their advantages.

The basic story is a meeting of the important gangs in the city, arranged to suggest a plan to take it over and control everything, bearing in mind that they and associates outnumber the cops 3 to 1. Some arse called Luthor (David Patrick Kelly who couldn't have done a better job of looking like one) shoots the orator/organiser Cyrus and blames The Warriors by simply saying it was one of them that shot him with the backing of a fellow gang member. Strange how everyone just accepts or comes to believe the word of such an imbecile via word of mouth alone and nobody bothers to ask any questions. The Warriors then have to fight their way back to their home turf of Coney Island through every other gang in the way.

Some decent special features are added to this version, as compared to the bare-bones original DVD issue. In the course of these we learn that an English woman, Rose Clements, embroided all the gang logos by hand whilst Bobbie Mannix did the costumes and painted the patches.

Though irrelevant to the film itself, the new US version of the film replaces the dull and crappy stretched-from-4:3 blurred cover with a rather more appealing normal-aspect version of the same image, with vibrant colours showing The Warriors walking in front of a wall of flames in a touch of that infamous Lynyrd Skynyrd last LP cover. The British version shown elsewhere on this site meanwhile appears to change the rating from "18" to "15" and uses a poor animated-style new cover shot. The cover here appears mistakenly be the original issue, not the Ultimate Director's Cut.

Finally, I wish people writing these reviews would learn how to spell correctly or even if they can't spell just spell-check it before submitting. It's not rocket-science.