Waaaaaaarriors! Come Back and Plaayyyyy: Scenes from an Iconic Reunion

All photos by Sarah Coulter

All right now, for all you boppers out there in the big city, all you street people with an ear for the action, it’s been 36 years since Walter Hill’s seminal classic The Warriors was first released to unsuspecting audiences. All that time, the Warriors have been on the run: from nearly evading the Baseball Furies in Central Park to a final showdown with the Rogues in Coney Island, from an explosion but rocky theatrical opening to countless re-releases on every imaginable home video format. It’s been a long and rough journey but that journey is finally coming to end.

Yesterday, in honor of the film’s legacy, the LSRR and Village Voice hosted a cast reunion in nowhere else but the home of the Warriors, Coney Island. The exhaustive reunion featured actors Michael Beck (Swan), Dorsey Wright (Cleon), David Harris (Cochise), as well as numerous other members of not only the Warriors, but the Furies, Punks, Orphans, and Lizzies. As a representation of the width of influence, New York Hardcore Legends Sick Of It All, clad in Warriors jackets, played before the enthusiastic, diverse crowd and Cro-Mags frontman lead the after-film Q+A. It was a long day – filled with a few too many lengthy breaks for photo/signature opportunities and technical difficulties but spirits were largely high. The weather was also fittingly dismal, clouds hovered overhead and casted a cold, grey shadow over Coney Island but despite the conditions, the Warriors, lots of Warriors, came out to play.

Can you dig it?

Antoinette Johnson:
“[The Warriors] is a celebration of New York in general.”

Benito (Baseball Furies)
“The Furies were one of the most competitive competitions that they had in the movie. Everyone wanted to be a Warrior, why not come as the competition?”

“Gangster” is the smallest Warriors recruit. Festival Organizer Eric Nyenhuis Sick of it All in the Warriors Vest Sick of it All in the Warriors Vest​