The streets are wild and full of darkness. Every corner is filled with extraordinary events, adrenaline, and stories of people fighting it out against the world. So if you like movies like The Warriors, you have come to the right place!
The Warriors is a story of gang rivalries, street fights, and one epic which was directed by Walter Hill and has now received cult status. So without further wait, here are 10 awesome movies like The Warriors!
Top 10 Street Gang Movies Like The Warriors
1. The Wanderers (1979)
The Wanderers is an Italian-American gang vying to make a name on the streets of New York. The group of teenagers go through fights, rivalries, football matches, death, and heartbreak, all in order to rule the gangland.
Philip Kaufman’s The Wanderers encapsulates the street spirit of the 70s and 80s. As a coming of age drama, The Wanderers works on multiple levels, thanks to its amazing cast
Just like the gang Warriors, we see and grow to love the members of Wanderers who are trying to survive a cruel world in their own way.
2. Bad Boys (1983)
Up and coming delinquent Mick accidentally kills a rival gang member which changes his life forever. In prison, things become even darker when the rival gang leader vows to take revenge by messing with Mick’s personal life.
Directed by Rick Rosenthal, Bad Boys is one of the best performances of Sean Penn’s career which covers many taboo topics head-on.
If you’re looking for movies like The Warriors where the theme of gang rivalry and revenge becomes central to survival, you will like Bad Boys!
3. Death Wish 3 (1985)
A vigilante killer is patrolling the streets trying to find the thugs who violently beat his friend to death. Will he be able to avenge his friend’s death?
Michael Winner started off the Death Wish franchise by directing the first 3 films. Led by Charles Bronson, the Death Wish series is full of street violence, death, and stories of a man on a mission.
Even though all the Death Wish movies center around the theme of loss and revenge, none of them come as close to The Warriors as Death Wish 3. It’s the depiction of gang culture, the seedy streets, and violence that stand out.
4. West Side Story (1961)
We have two gangs ruling the 60s New York city streets – the Jets and the Sharks. There’s always tension between the two sides, so when love blooms among all this violence, things take a drastic turn.
What West Side Story lacks in terms of novelty of the plot, it more than makes up for it with a realistic depiction of sociopolitical issues, hatred, and insecurities. Natalie Wood and Richard Beymar lead the struggle to survive.
Before The Warriors reached new heights with the theme of street rivalries, West Side Story popularized and romanticized this part of the society a few decades earlier.
5. Rumble Fish (1983)
Rusty James is a local thug whose life is stuck in the same old streets of his town while he struggles in his personal life and gets into brawls with other gangs. Things finally change when his elder brother returns. But is it for better or worse?
Directed by the legendary Francis Ford Coppola, Rumble Fish is an exhilarating chronicle of the greaser subculture, the failure and the pain of the lost youth.
Movies like The Warriors and Rumble Fish stand as the testament of the wild at heart generation, fighting against rival gangs and fighting against the world to survive.
6. Streets of Fire (1984)
When a rock ‘n’ roll singer is kidnapped by a biker gang, the singer’s ex-boyfriend, her manager, and a soldier come together to go to the devil’s den and rescue her.
Walter Hill’s Streets of Fire celebrates the culture of brute dominance and heroism while also showing that not everyone has the grinding strength to survive.
Just like The Warriors, Streets of Fire echoes Walter Hill’s deep understanding of the streets, the culture of the time, and the unwavering passion to survive.
7. Training Day (2001)
A rookie narcotics cop goes on a 24 hour training period with a veteran detective. Things don’t go smoothly as the veteran’s violent and questionable ways to handle drug-infested streets lead to shock and confusion.
Antoine Fuqua’s Training Day features a superb Denzel Washington as the hardened amoral detective with a penchant for violence. Ethan Hawke represents all of us watching the conflicting proceedings of the day.
If you are looking for movies like The Warriors, Training Day might just be the one you’re looking for. It is very raw, it blurs our concepts of morality and it pictures the streets with realism.
8. The Outsiders (1983)
The Outsiders focuses on a family of misfits, each with different personality traits that are trying to survive their own battles and against rival gangs.
Francis Ford Coppola explores the greaser subculture to the fullest with The Outsiders. The movie is a realistic depiction of poverty in 60s Oklahoma, where young men trying to forge a future that is better than their present permits them.
Similar to The Warriors, The Outsiders touches on the story of young guns stuck in the crossfire of violence, hatred, and rivalries, scraping for a way to survive.
9. Over the Edge (1979)
A planned community full of teenagers isn’t exactly perfect for young minds to flourish. Without anyone to listen to their needs, teenagers resort to drugs and violence until one incident puts everyone over the edge.
Jonathan Kaplan’s coming of age drama of teenagers voicing their protests and finally taking matters into their own hands resonates with the rowdy angst of the 80s. Street movie veteran Matt Dillon shines yet again in Over the Edge.
Movies like The Warriors and Over the Edge revolve around teenagers plagued by their inner issues and a society that uses conformity to kill individualism, leading to violent outbursts.
10. Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)
An about to be closed precinct in LA stands disconnected from the world without electricity or phone lines. The handful of cops and prisoners must team up to survive a bloodthirsty horde of gang members who have waged war against the cops.
John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 starts off with an incredible plot and tops it off with high octane action, suspense, and violence.
Just like The Warriors, Assault on Precinct 13 is a survival story more than anything. A group of people is left to defend themselves against gangs who have sworn revenge make both the movies similar.