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22 out of 25 people found the following review useful: ''Out For Kicks And In For Trouble!'', 2 August 2005 Author: phillindholm from Rohnert Park, CA
Contrary to one reviewer's information, "Born Losers" was a smash at the box office the FIRST time it was released in '67. And it's easy to see why. It's the most entertaining of the "biker movie" genre, because it has a story and vivid characters. Elizabeth James is Vicky Barrington, a vacationing college student who comes up against a nasty motorcycle gang in a California mountain town. Naturally, the gang, headed by a weathered Jeremy Slate, take off after Vicky (who is on a motorcycle wearing white boots and a matching bikini) and two of them eventually catch and rape her. She's not the only victim. Three incredibly foolish local girls visit the gang's "clubhouse" and meet a similar fate. But they don't have a champion like Tom Laughlin (in his first appearance as Billy Jack) who manages to get Vicky out of danger (at least for a while) and subsequently falls in love with her. "Born Losers" has a great score by "Wild Angels" composer (and future Lieutenant Governor of California) Mike Curb, good acting by a large cast, and a fine cameo appearance by Jane Russell as the trashy mother of one of the victimized girls. Add some beautiful locations and some slick motorcycle stunts, and you have a "Born Winner!" Incidentally, beautiful Ms. James turned up as a police dispatcher in the seventies cult classic, "Dirty Mary Crazy Larry". She also wrote the screenplay for "Born Losers" (under the pen name 'E. James Lloyd').
19 out of 24 people found the following review useful: Born Losers a Born Winner, 9 January 2005 Author: angelsunchained from United States
Tom Laughlin's 1967 film The Born Losers is not what it appears to be; good-guy defeats out-law biker gang and saves young rape victims. On the contrary, Born Losers is Laughlin's take on the war in Viet-Nam and the effects it had on "normal" middle-America. The motorcycle gang in the film is a symbol of military forces who take-over a town (representing Viet-Nam) and go on a brutal spree of violence and rape. What causes these seemingly normal men to act in such brutal manners? Are there goods guys and bad guys? No, just people caught up in a "cruel" world of hopelessness, acting out their most primal instincts. Laughlin makes sure not to fit his characters into "good" and "evil", but incorporate a little of both in each person. Laughlin's character fights fire with fire, and it seems to say that there are no-rules in war. Controversial to say the least. The movie bombed at the box-office when first released in 1967. After the amazing success of Billy Jack, it was re-released and showed a pretty-profit.A strong supporting cast of "B" movie legends-Elizabeth James, Jerome Slate, Robert Tessier, Jack Starrett along with a "faded" Jane Russell, make Born Losers one of the more outstanding independent movies of the 1960s.Born Losers is a Born Winner.
16 out of 20 people found the following review useful: Campy, Outrageous Fun!, 19 February 2003 Author: Hoohawnaynay (DA90027@aol.com) from United States
This movie is interesting on many levels. Although it contains a few shocking scenes (if viewed unedited) it still comes across as kind of campy. When a girl on a motorcycle p***es off a motorcycle gang the fun begins. First of all, the girl on the cute little scooter type motorcyle looks like she just finished a gig on the "Hullabaloo" TV show complete with her matching go-go boots and bikini. She is kinda cute except she has a haircut that looks like they put a bowl on her head and cut around it. (She could have at least wore a "Bob's Big Boy Cascade" to sex it up a bit). She mouths off to the group of scumbags who all look like rejects from the Manson Family.One shocking scene for 1967 is the part where two gang members french kiss (they are both men)! This is to illustrate the free-sex attitude of the era and supposedly (I am guessing here) to show what a bunch of degenerates these guys are.Jane Russell is over the top here as a drunken, floozy mother of a teenage trollop who does a strip tease in her trailer park that has to be seen to be believed. The look on her face while stripping is somewhere between orgasmic and root canal. RENT THIS AND HAVE FUN!
9 out of 10 people found the following review useful: Sixties artifact with the debut of Billy Jack!, 9 April 2001 Author: thomandybish from Weaverville, NC
While most people are familiar with Tom Laughlin's half Native American/half Anglo cult figure Billy Jack through THE LEGEND OF BILLY JACK, many don't know that the character originally appeared in this flick, an off-kilter biker flick about a group of psycho cyclists who terrorize a small California town over Spring Break and zero in on a young college co-ed whom they raped and don't want to testify against them. No, the film isn't as good(or political)as the two sequels, but it does say something about the isolation of the individual in a society that won't stand up and protect that individual from harm. There's a profound sense of solitude in the cinematography of beaches and seaside highways and the sparse, often inarticulate dialog. And, looking closely at the motorcycle gang, you can see some none-too-subtle homosexual overtones. Of course, all the quick cuts and zoom shots earmark the film as a product of late sixties moviemaking. Still, if you want to catch a glimpse of Billy Jack's debut or like to study sixties film styles, take a look at this one
6 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Probably has the most interesting characterization of Billy Jack, 11 November 2006 Author: TimothyFarrell from Worcester, MA
While it's no "Easy Rider", "The Born Losers" is one of the most entertaining biker films of the decade, right up there with "The Wild Angels". Its also notable as being the first screen appearance of Billy Jack, a halfbreed who's trained in judo and carries a pacifist viewpoint. Fortunatly, he isn't opposed to kicking some butt when necessary. In my mind, this is more enjoyable than the later, more successful "Billy Jack". One of the things I enjoyed about this entry is that for once Laughlin didn't over do the preachy (not to mention hypocritical) non-violence message.Its a mixture between amusing camp and some actual quality. The screenplay isn't fantastic, but it has a story to tell and tells it well. Also, despite the large (at least for a drive-in movie) running time of nearly two hours, it remains quickly paced and interesting throughout. Tom Laughlin was always a charismatic and cool guy, but this movie probably has the most interesting characterization of Billy Jack. It isn't nearly as polished as the later films in the series, but is the best directed. The film's camp appeal comes from a brief appearance by Jane Russel. Normally a fine actress, she seems to be just interested in picking up a paycheck here. As a mother of one of the rape victims, she is over-the-top and chews the scenery. Every time she is on camera, you'll be in stitches. Definitely a scene stealer. Any fan of the AIP biker films of the time should check this out. (7/10)
7 out of 9 people found the following review useful: Classic Hero, 3 August 2004 Author: Charles Eagle (cneagle0227@yahoo.com) from Dayton, Ohio
Loner Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin), just returned from Viet Nam, pits himself against a vicious motorcycle gang who are terrorizing a California town, protecting a rape victim and standing alone when even the police are reluctant to act.This is one of the best of its kind. Made on a shoestring budget the tight storyline allows for few frills but plenty of classic hero and villain tension. In-your-face violence for its time, only a little martial-arts action (compared to the later BJ films) but all the ingredients are on hand for a character who is destined to become an American screen icon.The nattering nabobs can kavetch about bad acting until their faces turn blue---Billy Jack is what he is, and Laughlin plays him to perfection. Particular credit goes to veteran actor Jeremy Slate as the complicated, arrogant gang leader, and again to Laughlin, for writing the part. Laughlin's villains have an element of sympathy. They may be monsters, but they have reasons for the way they behave and this makes them more human.Look for an early walk-on by Laughlin's wife and later screen partner Delores Taylor (also his executive producer and co-writer)and their son and daughter (she would have a substantial role in following BJ flicks).Also on hand is one of our favorite heavies, Robert Tessier as CueBall, sporting thick dark hair before he adopted his well-known shaved-head look. Tessier, a military vet and stunt man, was also the stunt adviser for the film.Classic hero defending his girl against despicable bad guys makes for ONE TERRIFIC MOVIE. If you like this one check out BILLY JACK and DEFIANCE (Jan-Michael Vincent).
4 out of 4 people found the following review useful: Iconoclastic And Colorful, 7 September 2007 Author: Lechuguilla from Dallas, Texas
Given its low budget, this is not a bad movie. A motorcycle gang, led by the scruffy Jeremy Slate, terrorizes a small California town, and in the process rapes several college girls. There's lots of tough talk, motorcycle noise, and violence, as you would expect for a biker film.Of course, to balance out all the villainous mayhem, you gotta have a hero on the scene. And for the era in which the film was made, there was no better hero than the charismatic loner, half-breed Billy Jack, played with serene gusto by Tom Laughlin. He's a one-man show of moral and physical strength, as he outwits and outfights the biker roughnecks. The film makes the point that bad parenting and ineptness in traditional law enforcement foster an environment conducive to delinquency.Interestingly, although this is the first Billy Jack film, Laughlin played a similar role ten years earlier, in a movie called "The Delinquents" (1957). His character was Scotty, a good guy teenager who gets mixed up with a bunch of high school hoodlums. Whereas in "The Delinquents" all the villains are kids who drive around in jalopies, in "The Born Losers", the kids have grown into adults who ride motorcycles.In "The Born Losers" the characters tend to be stereotypes. In a time period that immediately preceded the women's lib movement, the film's female characters are very, very subservient. The film's plot does depend on contrivances to some extent. Dialogue lacks subtext. Production design is ... colorful. And the costumes reek of late 60's garish "hip" (love those pink walls and pink clothes), all perfectly in sync with the Age of Aquarius. Tom Laughlin's direction is excellent. Color cinematography is very good. The outdoor scenery is wonderful, as is the music in the opening title sequence.I've seen a number of biker films. "The Born Losers" is one of the best. It was highly successful at the box office, and led to later Billy Jack films. It has a cinematic style that is almost iconoclastic; not insignificantly, it preceded "Easy Rider" by a couple of years. Such was the impact of "The Born Losers".
5 out of 6 people found the following review useful: Exploitation gem, 21 February 2007 Author: fertilecelluloid from Mountains of Madness
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
This is what an exploitation movie should be. It is filled with allusions to and actual on-screen rape, biker beatings, mean-spirited treatment of those female and infirm, gory revenge, teenage nudity, lots of hot babes in swimsuits, and Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin). Yes, this film introduces Billy Jack, the spiritual Charles Bronson, who defends a town against a plague of rapist bikers. The strange but tasty Elizabeth James, who also wrote the crazy script, plays a buxom free spirit on two wheels who tangles with the bikers and comes off second best. Billy forms a close friendship with her and becomes instrumental in her life by breaking heads and defending her lost honor. The screenplay is no masterpiece and there are dozens of plot holes, but this fine piece of savage 70's exploitation succeeds by sheer balls. The bikers, led by the irrepressible Jeremy Slate, are a totally psychopathic bunch with obvious homosexual bents. In fact, the homo-eroticism of George Miller's bikers in "Mad Max" was surely inspired by this highly influential gem. Not to be missed!
5 out of 6 people found the following review useful: Can't win for trying, 4 October 2002 Author: funkyfry from Oakland CA
The first "Billy Jack" film is a serious examination of rape and personal cowardice disguised as a biker/drug exploitation film. It manages to satisfy on both counts. No nudity, lots of outrageous clothing, and plenty of nazi bikers. Not quite as good as its sequel (which was written previously) but also not so preachy and talky. Dig the "nature carnage" at the film's beginning. Decent photography (marred in the DVD presentation by pan and scan process), but mid to low grade actors. Russell appears as a burnt-out, harried mom. Is she really acting? She's way over the top, but fun as always.p.s. (2008, second viewing) p.s. the movie isn't going to appeal to everyone, but it's coming from a good place compared to a lot of exploitation films. There's a lot of classic Hollywood here, Tom Laughlin drawing on a lot of his roots. Like "Billy Jack" this movie is a very passionate statement against rape and it condemns society's attitude about rape. But because the victims are so beautiful, frankly the movie feels more exploitative and less serious than the more successful sequel. You could look on this movie as a learning experience for Laughlin, but it's a very interesting drive-in biker movie in and of itself, very different and more carefully put together than a lot of its brethren. For example this time around I noticed that the film can be seen as an anti-Western -- as opposed to the stereotypical concept of a white man rescuing the white virgins from the "indians", here we have an ostensibly Native American hero rescuing the white women from white bikers (bikes and jeeps standing in for horses and stagecoaches in the traditional Western iconography of course).
6 out of 8 people found the following review useful: The first and the best of the Billy Jack films., 17 June 2004 Author: Captain_Couth (sirjosephu@aol.com) from Sacramento, CA
Born Losers (1967) was the first of the Billy Jack series. Like most films that are later "franchised", the first film is usually the best and this one is no exception. No pontificating or posturing, it's what Billy Jack does best, putting in work and taking names. Watch the townsfolk back off of Billy Jack because they know what he's capable of. This was before the silly b Freedom School nonsense. Born Losers is just a straight forward biker white exploitation film. No flowery signifying from Billy Jack, no sir. Too bad he went into a different direction with the latter films, padded out with nonsensical scenes and overlong running times. He could have revolutionized action films. But I'll have my memories and enjoy this one for what it's worth. Biker trash pulling Billy Jack's chain and watching them pay the price!Followed by Billy Jack, Trial of Billy Jack and Billy Jack Goes to Washington. Fun stuff.Highly recommended.
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