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From the New York City Subway to Coney Island—uncover the gritty legacy of The Warriors, the cult classic that stormed the streets—and shaped mainstream culture—since 1979!
The Warriors opened to scathing reviews, big box office, and major controversy. Walter Hill’s stylized tale of gang warfare wasn’t just another action movie—it rewrote the rules of the genre. Vilified and celebrated in equal measure, it rose above its notoriety to become a cult phenomenon. Today, it stands as an influential classic, spawning cross-media spinoffs and offering a vivid snapshot of late-1970s New York City.
The history of
The Warriors is a complex, sometimes tumultuous one.
Armies of the Night: The Warriors and Its Legacy tracks the movie’s long journey, beginning with its origins as a groundbreaking Sol Yurick novel, revealing the many changes it underwent from book to script to screen, recounting a turbulent production involving real gang encounters and a lead actor dropped mid-shoot, through to a detailed chronicle of the controversy
The Warriors sparked. How did the film overcome the kind of obstacles only an all-nights NYC shoot could throw in its path? And how did a movie that does not actually contain much graphic violence ignite such a firestorm of outrage?
Authors Michael Gingold (
Fangoria,
Ad Nauseam) and Chris Poggiali (
These Fists Break Bricks,
Temple of Schlock) answer those questions and many more via exclusive interviews with cast and crew, a wealth of vintage reportage and dozens of photos and promotional images. It’s a story as unique and dramatic as
The Warriors itself.
Can you dig it?
List of contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 –
The Warriors: Literary Origins and Early Incarnations
Chapter 2 – Shooting After Dark: Making
The WarriorsChapter 3 –
The Warriors: Alternative Visions
Chapter 4 – Criticism and Controversy:
The Warriors Hits the Streets
Chapter 5 –
The Warriors Battles On
Acknowledgments
Image Credits
Source Notes
About the Authors
About the author
MICHAEL GINGOLD began writing about movies as a teenager, editing and publishing the fanzine
Scareaphanalia. He has been a writer and editor for
Fangoria magazine since 1988 and its website since 2000. He is also a regular contributor to
Rue Morgue magazine and Rue-morgue.com,
Delirium magazine, and Inverse.com, and has written for
Birth.Movies.Death and
Time Out New York in print and on-line,
Scream magazine, and IndieWire.com. Michael is the author of the
Ad Nauseam and
Ad Astra books (1984 Publishing), the novelization of
Nightmare (Severin), and
The FrightFest Guide to Monster Movies (FAB Press). He has directed documentaries and other bonus features, written liner notes, and taken part in audio commentaries for Blu-ray releases from Arrow Video, Severin Films, Vinegar Syndrome, Synapse Films, Shout! Factory, Blue Underground, Mondo Macabro and others, including the award-winning doc
Twisted Tale: The Unmaking of “Spookies” for Vinegar Syndrome.
CHRIS POGGIALI is the co-author (with Grady Hendrix) of
These Fists Break Bricks: How Kung Fu Movies Swept America and Changed the World (Running Press, 2025). He is a librarian, film historian and Rondo-nominated writer who edited the fanzine
Temple of Schlock from 1987-1991, and brought it back as a blog in 2008. He has written for Turner Classic Movies,
Cinema Retro,
Fangoria,
Rue Morgue,
HorrorHound,
Shock Cinema,
Filmfax,
The Phantom of the Movies’ Videoscope,
Delirium,
Deep Red,
Eastern Heroes, and other magazines and websites. His essays, commentaries and additional special features have appeared on DVD/Blu-ray releases from Kino Lorber, Shout! Factory, Vinegar Syndrome, Arrow Films, Severin Films, Synapse Films, 88 Films, Eureka Entertainment, Mondo Macabro, Something Weird Video, and other companies.
