The Warriors Movie Site Forum

Great to see such enthusiasm for a movie we threw together hastily back in '79. I had a crushing amount of footage to deal with (we nicknamed Walter Hill "the blanket" because he covered everything. After a while cutting in NYC, Freeman Davies came from LA to help me out, then Billy Weber joined the two of us when we moved back to LA. We still worked with film in those days (no computerized editing yet), and had tads of assistants keeping KEM rolls in sync. We had a rough cut ready 3 days after shooting ended. Then came the grind, under Walter's direction (and the watchful eyes of Larry Gordon, producer, and Frank Marshall) to pound the film down to its final 87 minutes. Stuff that was dropped needed to be to make the movie work. See the DVD extras for details.

Man that is so cool. I have a million questions. But how about just one. How much Thomas Waites footage was cut or redone?

Thanks for visiting the site

How much film actually existed before the cutting started?

Tom Waites had a bad attitude during filming, and it threatened to infect the other actors. It was decided to alter the plot and have him die by being thrown under a subway train, as filmed. In the rest of the filming a lookalike was used (I think it was Tom's stunt double), shooting always being done over Fox's shoulder so you'd never see his face. Later Tom came in and (as per contract) voiced his dialogue. So not much was "dropped," rather his presence in the rest of the filming (for scenes EARLIER in the movie chronology, before his death) were doubled.

Hi David, and welcome to the forum! A question that is often asked is whether there were any other scenes cut from the movie (other than those on the extra scenes page).

You asked, "How much film actually existed before the cutting started?"

Of course, I started editing the moment shooting began (actually a day later, when stuff came out of the lab). I would cut (edit) material to show Walter and Larry and Frank on Sundays (their day off) when they came to the editing room. As to the total amount of footage we had, I'm not sure, over 150,000 feet (1000' is a reel). For the conclave and riot in Brooklyn alone I must have had 30,000 ft. Reels and reels of Cyrus's speeech, the gangs, the Warriors' arrival, the shooting and aftermath, etc. Everything was covered in multiple cameras and takes. I'd be looking for those choice moments -- like Cyrus saying "little piece of turf" -- that were the most choice. It was a mining operation, going for the gold.

wared wrote:You asked, "How much film actually existed before the cutting started?"

Of course, I started editing the moment shooting began (actually a day later, when stuff came out of the lab). I would cut (edit) material to show Walter and Larry and Frank on Sundays (their day off) when they came to the editing room. As to the total amount of footage we had, I'm not sure, over 150,000 feet (1000' is a reel). For the conclave and riot in Brooklyn alone I must have had 30,000 ft. Reels and reels of Cyrus's speeech, the gangs, the Warriors' arrival, the shooting and aftermath, etc. Everything was covered in multiple cameras and takes. I'd be looking for those choice moments -- like Cyrus saying "little piece of turf" -- that were the most choice. It was a mining operation, going for the gold.

So not to be greedy as others will have questions this will be my last ones.

How many hours is that and does a scene with Swan throwing a knife in the boardwalk at the start exist.

Thanks and it's great you giving up some of your time.

A question that is often asked is whether there were any other scenes cut from the movie (other than those on the extra scenes page).
Wow -- the extra scenes page brings back memories. Actually, most of those scenes were added to the TV version becuase, when they took out most of the fight footage, the movie wasn't long enough. I could never bring myself to look at the TV version, knowing the s*** that was in it (I lobbied strongly for the movie to start at night). I can see why the last dropped scene under the pier was omitted -- no Warrior should want to run anymore at that point in the story.
I remember daytime footage of the Warriors riding the subway until the car plunged into darkness. I used the Drifters "UNder the Boardwalk" as temp music. This too was dropped when we decided to start at night, and I chose to begin with the Wonderwheel and the strange, almost mysterious opening. Where are we? Who is Cleon talking to? The way Walter shot the little diolog riffs between the guys only accentuates this sense of dislocation.

That sounds really good. The finished theatrical version (non-TV) came out great!! Were you ever on set or just in the cutting room?

Thank you for the wonderful insight to the editing stages of the film,as a hardcore fan,it's fun hearing the stories from the people who were in the frontlines when the movie was being made,makes me wonder if there was stuff on the cutting room floor which at the time sounded like a good idea,only to get scraped?
like maybe??,
Does Ajax make it home??
Does Ajax meet any woman,on this trek back?
Were there any new gangs not featured??
Did they shoot the scene where they kidnap Swan?
Does any more footage with Cleon exist?
Did they change any of the music at the last minute
Was there any footage shot in the day time?

Whoah, easy T7!! One question at a time! :p 8)

How many hours is that and does a scene with Swan throwing a knife in the boardwalk at the start exist.

let's see, a reel of 900 ft. is roughly 10 minutes. So we had in the neighborhood of 30hrs. of footage for a ninety minute movie. Not so uncommon nowadays for an action flick. But MUCH easier to handle with a computer, where you're not dealing with actual physical manipulation of film, and you can access any part of the material almost instantly. They don't it non-linear for nothing.
Swan throwing a knife at start. I found my way here because I was looking for a script, saw they had one of The Warriors, and stumbled on this site. Maybe there's a scene in the script which they might have shot that moment -- did you check the script?
http://warriorsmovie.co.uk/script/
Anyway, gotta go now, will check back later sometime to take further questions
David

WOW!!!!
gee, i take one little nap, and look what i miss!!!
ok, the real question, which my colleagues.....PFFSSSTT!!!! (i couldn't say it with a straight face!! LOL didn't ask is, IS THERE ANY OTHER FOOTAGE AVAILABLE!!!!!????? (i wanna see it!!!)
of course there's stuff that got cut, and probably a million feet of film that went by the wayside, but, is there any way to get our grubby little hand on it???
or at least see it!!!
who might still have that stuff, ANYONE????

welcome to the forum, David!!!
it's nice to hear from someone that actually KNOWS what went on, and not just more SPECULATION, from one of us!!
though, we are quite the SPECULATORS!!
(is that even a word?? and if it is did i spell ie right???)

Was the Dingo part of the script ever shot? Kevin Bacon on film?

Sir, I must say your quote: I chose to start with the wonderwheel and the strange almost mysterious opening along with the guys talking on the train really hit home with me because I can truly say its my favorite begining of any movie I've ever seen. Thank you for that and thank you for the time you are spending here.

Very much looking foward to hearing what you have to say!