Lin-Manuel Miranda’s (Hamilton) studio concept for a musical based on the cult classic movie from 1979 – The Warriors.
A battle of gigantic proportions is looming in the neon underground of New York City. The armies of the night number 100,000; they outnumber the police 5 to 1; and tonight they’re after the Warriors – a street gang blamed unfairly for a rival gang leader’s death. This contemporary action-adventure story takes place at night, underground, in the sub-culture of gang warfare that rages from Coney Island to Manhattan to the Bronx. Members of the Warriors fight for their lives, seek to survive in the urban jungle and learn the meaning of loyalty. This intense and stylized film is a dazzling achievement for cinematographer Andrew Laszlo.
– Manufacturer
It really is amazing how Lin-Miranda + Eisa Davis were able to keep so much of the original movie yet create something more. Rewatch the original movie after listening to the disc to realize how much source material makes it to the lyrics – from getting cracked by a chair to the hearse.
The weaving of the musical styles is incredible, there are hints of Hamliton, some cuban beats, some heavy metal for the bad guy who just hates the world and wants to burn it all down.
“Same Train Home” is such a tear jerker especially after the heatbreak of the last election. The theme of the Warriors is so relevant today with so many people just looking to “tear it all down” while so many others are just looking to “survive the night” for the next four years.
After listening to the CDs in the car a few times during a long road trip, we rewatched the original movie. It was so much a product of bankrupt NYC in the late 70s. Not watching it in decades, I didn’t even recall the Swan/Mercy relationship. Swan is so damaged. Mercy is just looking for something better, some way out. In the end I suppose they come to realize that they both want the same thing and it’s better to take on the world together than fighting each other.
The musical concept switches around the gangs for better theatrical pacing and storytelling. The Warriors are all women in the musical and there is a same sex attraction between Mercy and Swan, which has a push and pull but not down right cruel as in the original movie where Swan abandon’s Mercy in a subway tunnel and calls her a whore most of the time.
I suppose in the movie Swan is constantly questioning Mercy’s value as a human being. Mercy seems more sure of herself than Swan as he grapples with leadership thrust upon him and trying to figure out what exactly he is fighting for – as they get back to Coney Island a see that it’s like of a shitty place unworthy of a turf war.
In the musical, Mercy is trying to show her worth the gang and be accepted. Swan isn’t as abusive as the movie Swan. God knows there are enough people trying to kill them, why fight with someone who wants to be by your side? And isn’t that what we are all looking for? Some acceptance and our own place to call home?
In the movie the Lizzies (a lesbian gang) seduce the Warriors and then turn on them. In the musical the Bizzies or Carigans try to capture the Warriors with some boy band type sugar. It makes for a better musical to have those female voices in the mix unlike the movie which was 95% men.
In the musical retelling of the the scene where the rich prom kids look down on the dirty street thugs on the subway gets much more poinant. Just from the music and lyric one feels the pain of those on the bottom rung trying to survice on the streets. This is where the heart wrenching “We are all on the same train” song.
Can’t wait for this project to find some backing for production on stage.
No doubt the influence of this movie inspired other “chase movies” and movies with various gangs from Running Man to John Wick to Bullet Train to Fury Road.