The Disheartening Disapproval of Sol Yurick
As soon as Walter Hill finished reading Sol Yurick’s novel, his intentions, and aspirations were clear: he was destined to make this book into a big-screen film. However, while Hill knew he wanted to make the novel into a blockbuster hit, he made it clear from the start that his movie adaptation of Yurick’s novel, while following the basic plot of the text, would stray slightly from the original story.
Because the portrayal on the big screen was not nearly as dark as the original novel, the author deemed the film an enormous misrepresentation. Another major difference between Yurick’s story and the movie can be found in the different names of the gangs, as not one of them was used in the film.
Mercy and Fox Sitting in a Tree?
Long-time lovers of the movie might be surprised, but while in the final version of the film, Swan winds up with Mercy, originally, these characters' relationship was entirely nonexistent. Although filmmakers originally wrote the script to include a passionate relationship between Fox and Mercy, they proved to have absolutely no chemistry with each other.
Not only was there no proper chemistry, but the actor that played Fox, Thomas G. Waites, would eventually be fired just eight weeks into the production of the film due to an ongoing conflict with the director Walter Hill. Consequently, Fox's character was written off early in the film.
Fox: A Two-Man Job
How exactly could the film possibly carry on after Thomas G. Waites (Fox), one of its main actors, was kicked off the set? By hiring a lookalike stunt double, of course. This strikingly similar body double can be seen in the scene involving the death of Fox. To ensure the audience would not be able to spot the difference between the two actors, filmmakers had to cover the character's face as much as possible.
It was so well done that if you were to closely pay attention when watching the film, you will actually be able to notice that, in the scenes leading up to Fox’s death, you are never able to get a clear, distinct look at the character’s face — and now we all know why.
The Greek Epic Behind the Novel
Though all true Warriors fans know of the film’s novel roots, little are aware that the book written by Sol Yurick is actually an adaptation of one Ancient Greek tale: Anabasis. It is within this particular story that some ten thousand mercenaries, were hired by a man by the name of Cyrus the Younger, with the hopes that they could help him seize the throne of Persia.
However, following the unexpected murder of Cyrus, the mercenaries were left hopeless. With no direction nor supplies, not to mention 1,000 miles behind their enemy’s lines, this group of men was left with no other choice but to march towards the enemy, in order to fight their way through and out of enemy territory. Sound familiar? We thought so too.
Ganging Up
When filmmakers began shooting "The Warriors", they soon ran into a major problem: the areas of New York City in which they desired to shoot the film’s scenes in were actually very dangerous. On a few occasions, whilst shooting the movie the actors present on set would often find themselves taunted by real-life gang members.
To combat this major problem, the makers of the movie decided to turn to real-life, gang leaders to help control the risk of surrounding gangs by hiring them as gang advisors. The film’s creators even hired a real-life gang by the name of 'The Mongrels' to ensure the safety of those on the film’s set. The gang members would ardently guard the movie’s film trucks for a fee of $500 a day!