36 Years Later, The Warriors Take Their Last Subway Ride Home. Can You Dig It? (Video)

A lot has changed in New York City since Walter Hill filmed The Warriors. While the Wonder Wheel remains, much of Coney Island has changed when standing on Stillwell Avenue. More than 35 years after the cult classic released, Rolling Stone filmed as cult fans organized “Swan” (Michael Beck), “Cochise” (David Harris), gang leader “Cleon” (Dorsey Wright), “Vermin” (Terry Michos) and “Fox” (Thomas G. Waites) to ride the Q Train to Coney. The MTA lines are one of the consistencies in New York City from the 1978 filming (released in ’79) and today. Even that is questionable.

Beck, the cast lead, reflected, “These subways are different than they were in 1978,” recalling the graffiti-strewn trains that The Warriors desperately traveled from the Bronx to the bottom of Brooklyn—stopping in Manhattan along the way. In a series of videos at R.S., cast members reflected on the film’s impact alongside fans—some traveling continents—to witness the celebration.

Here is the classic sequence of The Warriors arriving to Brooklyn at dawn:

Notably, David Patrick Kelly, who played Warriors’ nemesis “Luther,” was not on hand.

Beyond a popular 2000s video game, the film has deeply influenced Hip-Hop. The theme and concept behind N.W.A.’s “100 Miles & Runnin'” was based on a film sequence involving cast DJ (Lynne Thigpen), and a Martha & The Vandellas drop. In the current release of the film, the original Motown music was removed. Puff Daddy & Craig Mack, Bumpy Knuckles, and DJ Z-Trip have all interpolated elements of the film and its music into their works.

Why is The Warriors so enduring as a Hip-Hop film?

Read: The Warriors Recreate Their Last Subway Ride Home at Rolling Stone.

#BonusBeat: See how locations for The Warriors look today in the city that never sleeps.

Related: The Documentary About The Real “KIDS” Who Inspired The Movie Has a Trailer (Video)