The opening scene shows a Ferris wheel at night with eerie music playing. The title "The Warriors" appears in red letters as a train passes by, connoting violence. Various gangs are shown arriving by train to the same location in New York. Through shots like close-ups and over-the-shoulder shots, the film establishes important characters and conversations while showing the different gangs converging. It ends with the gangs gathering in an argument before cutting to black.