The Born Losers (1967) User Reviews

Billy Don't be a Hero

[mikaldhuber · 5/10 · 6 October 2007]

This film is something that Tarentino ought to remake, not updated but a simulacrum of the original. Make a nice follow-up to DEATH PROOF. (Where is Tom McLaughlin now?)

The "martial arts" in this flick are pretty feeble, consisting of a few judo chops--the action on BILLY JACK was much more intense. That Billy ends up shooting the gang leader between the eyes (he DID warn him, though) is so anti-heroic that it rather spoils the film in some ways.

Some of the camera work in BORN LOSERS borders on amateurish, the FAR side of amateurish that is. The sound quality is at times atrocious, and the Beachhouse/clubhouse is absurd- I've hung out with bikers, and believe me that place was ridiculously clean--the hardwood floors actually shine!

The Deputy (who pokes Danny in the gut) seems like he SHOULD have been more heroic, but like all of the lesser roles he is completely undeveloped.

Note that Elizabeth James has a co-writing credit on this!

But for all of that, it still ranks among my favorite biker films.

I find it patently absurd to see the subcategories listed as NIPPLE, PUBIC HAIR, NUDITY and so on, since there is very little actual nudity.

BTW: I had a bit part (hippie kid #4) in BILLY JACK since they filmed parts of it at the new Buffalo Free School where I was in attendance. To anyone who keeps an eye open, you might also see that the swimming hole (where Jean was raped) is the very same pool as in EASY RIDER. I think I received about $140 for my three days on set.

Can't win for trying

[funkyfry · 6/10 · 4 October 2002]

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).

Sixties artifact with the debut of Billy Jack!

[thomandybish · 9 April 2001]

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

The beautiful beaches of Southern California become grounds for terror.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 8 May 2021]

This cult film is arguably American International's best non horror film ever made, a biker film that is heads above all the "Hell's Angels" made to follow. It is the most anti-establishment film against the anti-establishment, dealing with Native American Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin) and his battle against a motorcycle gang who is terrorizing the community. When three young women are raped, the gang sets out to silence all witnesses and it's up to Billy and one of the women (Elizabeth James) to bring them to justice even though James refuses to aid the police out of her own fears.

The film that spawned a series of sequels (only the first of which is worth seeing, a total classic and even better than this) got two chances for success. It was a moderate hit on its first run and in its re-release after the premiere of "Billy Jack", it did even better. This film is brave in many ways because it doesn't hide anything and even though there's not excessive nudity outside a few bare breasts, there's also hints of homosexuality among the gang and a violence that is painful to see but necessary as a reflection of these dangerous times.

Playing the leader of the gang is Jeremy Slate, a talented featured actor in westerns whole soap fans will remember playing Philip Carey's right hand man on "One Life to Live" for years. He's not afraid of kissing a man on the lips or slugging a woman (obviously insinuated but realistically so), and the build-up to him getting his comeuppance is worth the wait. It's not often that you see a B movie that runs nearly two hours, but this film never drags.

Playing the mother of one of the victims is a very camp Jane Russell, heavily made up, wearing gold lemay (so you know she's trailer trash), and completely over the top in her two scenes. Tom Laughlin is very subtle in his performance, making clear his disgust with Slate and his gang, and unafraid of playing a vigilante for justice. He gets a huge prison sentence (or option for a huge fine) while slate and his gang get less. Some justice, huh? The gang obviously warrants no sympathy and this is one time when police brutality seems welcome on the screen even though it's only Billy Jack who has the courage to stand up and face these scourges of the earth.

Stayed up till 2 am for nothing.

[my2cents · 1/10 · 13 October 1998]

My husband and I stumbled on this movie late one night on our tv. We decided to watch it because we liked the other 2 Billy Jack movies and were hoping we would like this one too -- we didn't! We actually stayed up till 2 am to watch it all the way to the end, hoping it would get better, because the tv guide gave it a 3-star rating. We thought the acting was awful, what little plot there was made no sense to us, we didn't care about the characters and we thought the dialog was pathetic. It wasn't even "so bad that it was funny" -- we just found it boring. Even though the acting wasn't all that much better in the other Billy Jack movies, they at least had cohesive plotlines with characters that we actually cared about (and one had a hit song, to boot!).

forget Laughlin, Jeremy Slate makes this work

[BoomerDT · 6/10 · 13 May 2015]

So on the evening on 5/11/15 across America much of the country's senior population settled in after dinner at 8/7PM to TCM to enjoy a movie. Perhaps a frothy Esther Williams vehicle, or a Gene Kelly musical or maybe some 1940's film noir with Alan Ladd. I can only imagine the reactions when they discovered their favorite movie channel was showing 2 hours of mayhem, featuring brutal violence and gang rapes as a motorcycle gang, "The Born Losers" terrorize a California town in this 1967 classic of the biker flick genre. No complaints here, I know they've shown this very late at night before, not sure if they've ran it in prime time but one thing I love about TCM is the variety in showing films rarely seen elsewhere.

AIP did a great job of gaging the pulse of the young film goers in the 50's through the early 70's. In the 50's they had rock n roll and juvenile delinquent movies, and in the early and middle 60's they had all the silly Frankie & Annette beach comedies. By 1967 they had ran their course and AIP went to edgier stuff, with biker and drug flicks, cheaply made stuff for drive-in's and a teenage audience. "Born Losers" is notable for the introduction of the Billy Jack character. The sequel, the pretentious and heavy handed "Billy Jack" received much more attention and was more successful and would spawn one more sequel, the truly dreadful "Trial of Billy Jack" which I must admit, I've never been able to sit through entirely.

However, the most compelling character in BL isn't Tom Laughlin as Billy Jack, but screen veteran Jeremy Slate as Danny Carmody, the leader of the biker gang. Slate actually brings a touch of humor (like wearing goofy white sunglasses that look like they were ripped off an old lady) to an otherwise repulsive thug and in my book does a superior of more believable job of playing a biker gang boss than Brando did in "The Wild One." Also notable is the great Jane Russell, in a small part as a washed out alcoholic mom of a girl who fell in the bikers. Now in her mid-40's, time hadn't been too kind to the gal who was a sex goddess in the 40's and 50's with a spectacular figure.

As with all AIP films, much of it is unintentionally hilarious and lousy. Fun to watch though and thinking about, maybe it's not a bad call for TCM to run it in prime time, considering the original target for this is now between 60 and 70.

The granddaddy of all Billy Jack flicks

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 16 March 2006]

This is probably the least horrible (this isn't saying much) and first Billy Jack film. Instead of having Billy Jack defending his beloved hippie friends like he did in later films, a group of sadistic evil bikers invade a small town and Mr. Jack is the only one who can stop them. As a pacifist who turns maniac and dispenses justice to evil doers, this film is pretty watchable--despite its lousy production values and stilted acting. This isn't exactly a glowing review, but at least the film isn't terrible like the sequels. Its very similar to a lot of the biker films of the era, but perhaps a notch above them in watchability.

Note: It is pretty violent and full of rapes and sexual exploitation, so the kids should not watch.

''Out For Kicks And In For Trouble!''

[phillindholm · 8/10 · 2 August 2005]

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').

Whatever they've done to your women, you deserve it!

[sol1218 · 6/10 · 10 October 2007]

**SPOILERS*** The first of the Billy Jack quartet of movies that's the least sanctimonious and preachy of the bunch and the only one that doesn't have the name "Billy Jack" in it's title.

Mr. Jack, Tom Laughlin,were given to understand in the films prologue has called it quits on society after coming home from "Nam", South Viet Nam, with a chest full of medals as a member of the elite and tough as nails Green Berets. Mr.Jack, or Billy Jack, has since become a recluse minding his own business and living with nature, in his trailer, outside the seaside town of Big Rock California where he occasionally drives in with his jeep to get both food and supplies.

One afternoon Billy Jack goes out of his way saving the life of a motorist who's being attacked and beaten by this gang of bikers known as the Born Losers,or Born to Lose. This ends up not only educating Billy Jack on what the outside world, beyond his home in the woods, is all about but makes him become an activist for among other things womens rights and the rights of self-defense.

Billy ending up fined $1,000.00, bankrupting him, and sentenced to 120 days in jail, that the judge dismissed, is outraged that the bikers who almost beat a man, the motorist that Billy saved, to death were given a much lighter sentence. Billy used a rifle, which according to the law is illegal, to save the man's life and the bikers used their fists as well as steel pipes and wooden clubs, which according the law is legal, to beat him into a pulp!

This incident at the beginning of the film "The Born Losers" sets the stage for the now arrogant and filled with hubris bikers going on a raping rampage grabbing a number of teenager, who in fact were invited over to their clubhouse, and brutally gang raping them. Among the bikers rape victims is also Vicky Barrington, Elizabeth James, who was just riding through town on her motorcycle with nothing but a florescent white bikini on. Vicky caught the eye of the bikers lead by the insect-looking, with those oddly-shaped black and white goggles on, Danny Carmody played by Jeremy Slate who just went wild over her. Looking like mousy Shelley Duvall from the neck up and voluptuously sexy Jacqueline Bissett from the neck down Vicky had that right combination of innocence and guilt, in the way she was flirting with the sex crazed bikers, that the bikers felt that she was asking for it and, despite her fending them off, piled on top of her.

The local sheriff and D.A, Stuart Lancaster & Paul Bruce, were trying to make a case against the bikers but their victims, about a half dozen young women including Vicky, were just too scared to testify against them which in effect tied theirs as well as the laws' hands. It was the bikers intimidation of the witnesses that really brought the best, or worst, out of Billy Jack in him doing what the gutless sheriff and his deputies were afraid to do, take the law into his own hands. Going from cold to hot an back again the violence avoiding and pacifistic Billy Jack purposely lets the bikers push him around so far that his adherence to violence, that he developed since he left the horrors of the Viet Nam War behind him, was slowly stripped away as he turned into the mad as hell, with his fists feet and guns, individual that he tried to repress for so long.

Not just your typical biker movie "The Born Losers" in its own and amateurish way tries to tell it's audience how the law ties the hands of honest citizens by forcing them to give up their arms as well as refraining from defending themselves with anything, besides firearms, available to them. The police in the film are totally ineffective in enforcing the law in not just arresting the criminals, the bikers, and bringing them to justice but they can't even protect their victims who are needed to testify against them in court.

Billy Jack who in the end saves the day, after having his skull cracked open, by putting an end to the bikers reign of terror in the little town of Big Rock ends up almost getting killed himself by the police whom he called to come to his rescue. Billy racing on a motorcycle to the hospital to see how Vicky, who was almost beaten to death by the bikers, is doing ends up being shot in the back by an overly eager sheriff's deputy who thinks he's one of the criminal bikers trying to make a run for it! Despite all it's flaw's "The Born Losers" is by far the best of the four Blly Jack movies. This was only because the movie was made before it's star writer and director Tom Laughlin got too philosophical and sermonizing,in his screenplays, due to the amazing financial success of the Billy Jack films, which gave Laughlin complete control in making them, that followed it.

"The Born Losers" at least stuck to a simple story that could easily be followed by those watching it. This made it a much better film then the three later Billy Jack movies that besides their confusingly mystic and American Indian philosophy themes also had so many sub-plots, which "The Born Losers" didn't, that you got lost watching them long before they were finally over.

You have got to be kidding

[darryllmonroe · 1/10 · 8 October 2007]

I saw this movie on TCM cult movie Friday nights just last Weekend. I am beyond mystified why anyone would regard this pompous horse dung of a movie and character as quality film making...Yet, there it is. Tom Laughlin is easily the most arrogant , high and mighty excuse for an actor who has ever walked the earth. The acting in this movie , and every other Billy Jack movie is sooooo amateur, no, that is too kind a word....It's not even acting. You would get substantially better acting in your average Junior High School play.

All this said, I nearly broke a rib laughing while viewing "Born Losers" so as high camp uber trash it performs brilliantly. I wanted to find a copy of the Billy Jack collection just so I could make some tape loops but the average price of 29$ I saw on Amazon and Ebay was about 28 $ too much....Anybody that likes these movies on a serious level is insane, and , apparently, a lot of people like these movies, thus we live in an insane world......

Exploitation gem

[fertilecelluloid · 8/10 · 21 February 2007]

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!

Billy Jack, an environmentalist activist who can shoot right in the middle of the forehead n a hapkido practitioner who can kick butt.

[Fella_shibby · 7/10 · 23 January 2019]

First saw this in the late 80s on a vhs. Found the bike sequences cool then. Revisited it recently. This film introduced the character of Billy Jack, a half Indian n a special ops war veteran, who lives in a trailer near the hills among nature, fishing and bathing nude in the waterfalls. (Quite an environmental activist before anyone else I guess). A biker gang terrorize the nearby town, rape four teenage girls and threaten anyone slated to testify against them. Billy comes to the aid of one of the girls, Vicky, (Elizabeth James), a hot chick who rides a motorcycle while wearing a bikini. I wonder wher she disappeared? No information about her is available on Google or IMDb. The film does get a lil slow with all the unnecessary talky stuff, most of the acting is not up to the mark but overall this film is a must watch for the political n social theme. Of course, another reason is Billy Jack n his karate chops n the hottie Elizabeth.

so glad I'm sick. I would have never seen this coal in the rough.

[charlienesbitt-11905 · 1/10 · 23 January 2019]

I could not believe my eyes and ears. This movie is on line with examples of what not to do with rape victims. This movie is hilarious. I'm still reeling from the audacity of it. I will recommend highly to my grown kids. It is right on with "The Room" as far as its wonderful ridiculousness. I have been throwing up and visiting the bathroom for the other end, but this movie made it all bearable<--------, oh pun intended.

I only gave it one star, but it is 10 stars for its sheer stupidity. Thanks TCM.

Notes: Is that Karl Maldin? Jane Russell? WTF? What happened to the real to real tape player on the table in the bar? It was there, it was not there. Elizabeth James ditches her motor cycle in the middle of the road. Why not hide it in the woods? Why does she keep running in the middle of the road? She can outrun bad guys on motor cycles? There are just too many comical scenes to bring up.

Next time you are sick, buy it, on demand it, DVR it. Just do it.

Iconoclastic And Colorful

[Lechuguilla · 7 September 2007]

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".

Older Films With Shock Appeal: Born Losers

[FloatingOpera7 · 7/10 · 8 August 2007]

The Born Losers (1967): Tom Laughlin, Elizabeth James, Jane Russell, Jeremy Slate, Robert Tessier, Paul Prokop, Jeff Cooper, William Wellman Jr, Jack Starrett, Robert Cleaves, Paul Bruce, Anne Bellamy, Stuart Lancaster, Janice Miller, Gordon Hoban, Susan Foster, Julie Cahn,Paul Napier, Art Eisner, Edwin Cook, Susan Bauman, Robin Corum, James Smith, Robert Apollo, Clegg Hoyt, Mike LeSage...Director Tom Laughlin, Screenplay Elizabeth James.

From 1967, Director Tom Laughlin's "Born Losers" was evidently made for a target audience in the late 1960's, a young adult audience who was probably more than familiar with the Hell's Angels, with California and with pop culture of the time. The motorcycle gangs that were sprouting everywhere in the US in the 60's, later organized as the Hell's Angels, were fueling the imaginations of writers and film makers alike. They were to cause the "end" of the flower-power 60's when during a Rolling Stones concert in Altamont, they were hired for bodyguard protection but what resulted was death and mayhem. This film does not take itself seriously nor does it attempt to present itself as reality. This is one of several films made at the time that dealt with motorcycle gangs terrorizing small northern California towns outside San Francisco, lawless rebels on wheels turning people's worlds upside down. These films were popular after wild rumors and myths concerning the Hell's Angels after incidents like the one in Monterey, California in which reports of various girls being raped by the motorcycle gang came to public attention. The exploits of these motorcycle gangs is the subject of this intense, shocking film.

Actor and Director Tom Laughlin stars as Billy Jack, a half-white, half-Indian hero who saves the day at the end of the film. In a sedate north California town, a motorcycle group stirs up trouble when a series of rapes occur and violence ensues. The police and authorities do nothing to stop them, out of fear and due to one of the members' connections with the authorities. When innocent but brazen Vicky (Elizabeth James) flirts with the gang leader Danny (Jeremy Slate) even trying to become a "mamma" that is a gang member's girl, she does not realize what she is getting herself into. When she learns that her "initiation" involves being raped by all the members, she tries to escape them but is not able to and is consequently another rape victim. When the evil deeds of the gang go to far, it's up to Billy Jack to come to the rescue, when no one else would. The film is inappropriate for younger audiences as it contains some violence, foul language and some nudity. This film was made for "shock" appeal, being a sort of early exploitation film, many of which would become numerous and popular in the '70's. The showdown between Billy Jack and the gang is straight out of a Western, except this time it's set in late 60's California. The screenplay, written by actress Elizabeth James (a female screenwriter in those days was rare) is excellent, full of 60's slang, sarcasm, humor and dark edginess. The film is a combination of dark humor and serious drama. Jane Russell, a veteran Hollywood actress, makes a surprising cameo appearance as one of the victim's mothers. Her scenes are over-the-top but she is still a terrific actress even at her older age. For a dark film, the music by Mike Curb and Davie Allan is beautiful, nostalgic of old Western dramas and melancholy. The cinematography by Gregory Sandor and production design by Richard Beck-Meyer as well as the costumes by Katherine Free are very "pop" 60's in style. Everything has the photogenic quality of a 60's magazine and evokes a "dirty" dime novel full of violence and catering to men's revenge fantasies. This film is for men, though it's interestingly written by a woman, obviously friends with Director Tom Laughlin who stars as Billy Jack. This is one of many films they'd make, but this one did very well at the box-office, primarily because of its bold new content. While I don't much care for the story, it's a film that has some value due to that very content itself, a look at the attitudes of the wild late 60's.

Enter Billy Jack

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 23 January 2019]

This rather pedestrian film about motorcycle gang violence did serve to introduce the classical hero Billy Jack to the cinema. Tom Laughlin who directed The Born Losers then took his character and made an iconic 60s film with him and then some not as good sequels.

But Billy Jack starts here and we meet him tangling with Jeremy Slate and his motorcycle gang. This bunch makes Marlon Brando's crowd look like the kids from Covington. They take their pleasures from unwilling young women and have a whole Pacific coast town in terror.

Having seen Billy Jack's martial arts skills in the Billy Jack movie I was surprised to see how little was employed here. Left me disappointed.

Jane Russell looking a bit the worse for wear got a pay day out of this as Elizabeth James's mom. James was one of the rape victims and she is the love interest for Billy Jack.

From most humble beginnings a cinema masterpiece emerged as a sequel.

Gloomy, violent, senseless..

[thegulls1 · 6/10 · 28 April 2020]

I saw BILLY JACK at the theater in my youth. I had heard about this entry, but finally got to try it on AMC. Gave up after 30 minutes. Here's why: 1) Early on, a young motorist is challenged by a biker gang on the main street of a small town after a minor mishap. The guy antagonizes the gang leader until the gang drags him out of his car & beats him to a pulp. Stupid.

2) Billy Jack comes to the aid of the beaten kid. He gets a $1000 fine--the bikers get $300 fines. That makes sense.

3) Many attractive young ladies in skimpy (even by today's standards) bikinis sit around watching the bikers' antics. One particular damsel (attitude AND a flimsy bikini) eludes, then joins, then flees the gang, after whacking a slower thug with a tire iron. Guess what will happen when they catch up to her?

4) I perceive that there are serious sexual assaults later in tbe film--may I point out that bikinis may have been worn at the beach 50 years ago, but NOT downtown? Probably because it'd attract attention of biker gangs & other lechers. Life imitates art.

5) There is a minor confrontation between a tough-looking deputy & said gang in a bar. The Bikers are listening to music on a reel-to-reel recorder. (Oh no... Can no one stop these men?). After 2 'cuts', the recorder disappears. Huh? Continuity, anyone?!

To summarize, this must be as bad as those early /40's C Westerns with Nazis in them.

Maybe the worst movie you will ever enjoy

[rickyotis · 2/10 · 21 June 2005]

Bad news: Born Losers is the most aptly titled movie of all time. Good news: It's wonderfully enjoyable. It is a movie that, if made 5 years later, would be much more violent and graphic. It was made right before Hollywood relaxed any attempts to keep bad language and graphic violence out of its movies. That makes it funny and worth watching. The acting, apart from Jeremy Slate, was well, not acting. Tom Laughlin, like David Carradine in Kung Fu, created a character committed to peace, but couldn't avoid a fight to save his life. Jane Russell was wonderfully camp and should never have shown up. What makes this so much more watchable than Billy Jack is it has few overt references to political correctness and does not try to comment on all of societies ills. It is vintage mid sixties Hollywood with no substance or redeeming social value. Isn't that the Supreme Courts definition of obscenity?. watch it.

Not just better than I expected, but pretty darn good

[morrisonhimself · 8/10 · 17 April 2009]

For some reason, I remember this as being the target of jokes and sneers when it was new.

Making sure to avoid prejudice, wanting to see it myself and know for sure, I recorded it when it premiered on Turner Classic Movies so I could watch in the right mood.

What a pleasant surprise it turned out to be.

To the best of my weakening memory, I don't believe I've ever seen Tom Laughlin and now I wonder why.

First, he was a really good-looking guy, and he was a very pleasant personality on screen. He should have become a major player.

Elizabeth James might not have been the best actress around in the '60s and '70s, but my gosh was she a looker. She had a fit, athletic presence, and just glowed on the screen, and she should also have been a major player.

And why isn't there more information about her? She seems a fascinating person.

Not such a surprise, but really deserving prominent mention, was Jane Russell's performance.

She has not been treated with the respect I think she deserves, having not completely recovered from the "wouldn't you like to tussle with Russell?" PR nonsense from her first movie, "The Outlaw." But she was, frankly, great in this small part. Actually, she had been turning in great performances for a long time, and she has been great because she made the effort to become an actress, and not just coast on her looks.

Jeremy Slate was so good in his villainous role, his character was almost admirable, almost likable. The man is a standout in any movie he is in. He's been gone a little more than two years now, and he left a void.

Let's be honest: The script could have used a good editor. There were some hokey moments that could have been fixed with just a little effort before production.

But all in all, this is a good movie, within the context of what it tried to do and be.

Now I look forward to seeing the other "Billy Jack" movies.

Great B-movie

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 6 September 2015]

Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin) is an ex-Green Beret back home after Vietnam. There is a motorcycle gang 'Born to Lose' who are terrifying a small California coastal town. The gang is led by Danny Carmody and his second-in-command Child. Only Billy Jack is willing to stand up to them as they call him an Indian. He's sentenced and fined for vigilantism which is more than even the gang members. College student Vicky Barrington (Elizabeth James) in her white bikini riding a motorcycle attracts the attention of the gang. She gets raped along 3 other girls. The girls are pressured out of testifying except for Vicky. Billy Jack's friend Crawford has a daughter that is one of those girls. The gang kidnaps Vicky from Deputy Fred and then she's rescued by Billy Jack.

The acting is generally bad in this movie. The gang is rough at times and then at other times, they're doing a version of West Side Story. Elizabeth James is a bad actress but she's great at wearing that white bikini. On the other hand, her character is well written. She's able to write a character that isn't simply a damsel in distress and also not a simple heroine either. She's a smart mouth and a coward in her own words. Also watch out for a Jane Russell cameo. Even though this is a badly made and badly acted movie, I still root for these characters. I think there is the bare bones of a good movie inside of here.

Ah! Hooray For The Summer Of '67!

[strong-122-478885 · 4/10 · 11 January 2014]

You know, I was really-Really-REALLY (!!) hoping that Born Losers was going to be a helluva lot better than it was.

Yes. I'm very hip to the fact that this "product-of-its-time" (1967) was, in fact, an independent endeavor and filmed on a mere $360,000 budget - But, all the same, it basically wimped out about 70% of the time with its bargain-basement everything (from acting to dialogue to violence to philosophy).

Co-written by its ambitious director and star, Tom Laughlin, apparently this film's underlying message was supposed to be geared to promoting peace, tolerance and understanding. (Spare me!)

But, the truth is, there was very-very little (if any) of that sort of stuff in this one's "bad-ass" story where our hero (of mixed race), Billy Jack (Laughlin), inescapably spent more time karate-kicking his malicious opponents into submission rather than doing any legitimate promoting of some starry-eyed, hippie-dippie philosophy.

With shades of 1954's "The Wild One" hanging, like a tired cliché, over much of the action, Born Losers focuses in on the belligerent, in-your-face activities of the swastika-waving "Born To Lose" biker bad-boys who get their thrills terrorizing the folks of sunny Big Rock, California, and raping their virginal daughters for an added emphasis on entertainment.

Naturally, our peace-lovin' hero, Billy Jack gets his toes stepped on once too often by these "Born To Lose" kids and that, in turn, provokes an inevitable climax of pure kick-ass retribution.

This film predates "Easy Rider" by 2 years. It actually spawned 4 equally tiresome sequels and earned close to 10 times its budget ($360,000) in just the first year of its release.

Personally, I found Born Losers to be only marginally entertaining. But, hey, perhaps after guzzling down a few beers, you, yourself, may actually find it to be quite otherwise.

The first and the best of the Billy Jack films.

[Captain_Couth · 9/10 · 17 June 2004]

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.

One of the First and Better Biker Movies Introduced Billy Jack

[LeonLouisRicci · 7/10 · 22 May 2015]

This Movie must be given Credit for being One of the First and Perhaps One of the Better of the Biker Wave Drive-In Series that lasted for About 7 Years.

The Biker Films were many and varied...The Wild Angels...Werewolves on Wheels...The Glory Stompers....Hell Angels on Wheels...etc.

Although the Billy Jack Character was Tom Laughlin's Hope and Dream (Produced, Wrote, Directed, and Starred), it really wasn't the "Billy Jack" Character that made the Movie 10 Times its Budget. It was the Bikers, Sex, Violence, and Counter-Culture elements.

Billy Jack did help as a Center between Law Enforcement and the Bad Bikers and was a Semi-Interesting, if Stiff and Solemn Stud, and it was Laughlin's attempt to make Him a Hero, and He Was in this "Sleeper".

But it was all of the other Strange and New Attractions in the Movie that made it a Box Office Phenom. It was the kind of Thing that Helped bring an End to the Code.

Audiences in 1967 were Simply Not Used to this Type of Wild and Crazy Stuff. But Tom Laughlin took the Money and made 3 other Billy Jack Movies that were Not as Good as this, but were Popular nonetheless.

Except for the Terrible "Mike Curb" supposedly Hip Music, some Pretty Lame Acting, especially from Laughlin (the Bikers actually were pretty good), and a rather Long and Padded Length, the Movie does Deliver on an Anti-Establishment level.

Worth a Watch for it helped Begin the Biker Cycle, and did Introduce Billy Jack, who, for Better or Worse did become a Pop Culture Icon.

Note...The Wild One (1952) is considered the first Biker Movie, it starred Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin.

BILLY JACK 1, LOSERS 0...!

[masonfisk · 5/10 · 1 January 2019]

Thanks to TCM I was on a bit of a Billy Jack kick this weekend. Billy Jack was a movie which came out in 1971 starring Tom Laughlin who played an ex-military, Native American pacifist who used his feet (he was a martial artist) to right the wrongs imposed by the status quo. I knew there were some sequels but what I didn't know was a prequel was made where his character was shoehorned into a 'bikers laying siege on a town' saga. Playing as a curio of the times (this came out in 1967, a year before Easy Rider) the anti-establishment was still finding its footing & having a peace loving, ass kicking Indian as a nominal spokesman would be something of a head scratcher to be sure. Being his first outing as star, co-writer (his wife also did writing duties) & director, some things had to give & Billy Jack as a character seemed out of place or would just pop in out of nowhere ran contrary to the forward movement of the biker gang's onslaught & mayhem. Jack would fare better in the follow-ups (I'll get to them shortly) but here he stuck out like a sore thumb or is that a smashed kneecap?