The Born Losers

Written by Joe D on August 30th, 2007

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I guess the biker movie motif has got me. Writing about The Wild One got me thinking about this other biker flick The Born Losers. It’s pretty badly made, some of the worst grade Z lighting in any flick ever! Especially the scenes with Jane Russell. ( What is she doing in this movie???) But what it does have going for it is , Billy Jack, the first appearance of this drive- in icon. Part Indian, part Green Beret he’s a back to nature ass kicker. There’s a scene where he’s standing off the whole biker gang at a gas station, he uses the cardinal rule of street fighting, make a weapon out of whatever’s at hand, ( car antenna, bottle, etc.) in this case he douses a downed biker with gas and threatens to light him up with a Zippo unless they let him and his chick get away. The lead chick , Vicky Barrington, is a strange one, she rides around on a motorcycle in a bikini and boots, she’s a spoiled rich brat, she is constantly wisecracking, even to the bikers that want to rape her! And she wrote the script! Several young girls get raped by the polymorphously perverse biker gang. Vicky gets it from a singularly unappealing deaf mute who goes around making noises like ” Unnnggghhhhoooouuuuggggnnn!” Wacko!

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Dig those white shades on The Leader Of The Pack
The gang members tounge kiss each other and one hirsute member is always asking the other guys to take a shower together! Where other movies skirt around the piratical homosexuality this movie embraces it with a big sloppy kiss! The greatest scene by far though is where a badly beaten Billy Jack returns to rescue Vicky from the bikers, he’s got a gun and he tells the leader he’s going to count to 3. Danny calls his bluff, Billy Jack: “One!” Danny:”You can’t get all of us”Billy Jack :”Two!” Danny: “I’m going to rip your guts out, half breed” Billy Jack: “Three!”, BLAM!!! He shoots Danny right between the eyes! Splitting his groovy white sunglasses in two! Insane! We’ve all seen this scene before, it never ends with the bad guy getting shot! Except this time! It’s a mind blower! This movie was very successful, it was made for zilch and looks it but it raked in mucho dinero at the box office, probably at Drive-Ins across the USA. I can’t really recommend it, it’s up to you, I’m posting the trailer YOU make up your mind. It definitely falls into my new category: CRAPTASTIC.

7 Comments so far ↓

  1. Aug
    31
    3:26
    PM
    Richard Harland Smith

    I think there’s more to THE BORN LOSERS than meets the eye. I think it’s interesting how the biker gang is really the only family that works in the film — Danny is even seen with a wife and kid! (Plus, he rescues his brother from a seemingly abusive father.) On the other hand, Billy Jack and the female protagonist (whose name escapes me) are both outsiders, disenfranchised, alienated… until their brush with the Born Losers forces them to be a part of the world and wear the scars of human contact. I don’t know if Tom Laughlin intended this reading– remember, he was only trying to finance BILLY JACK when he made this– but there’s definitely something unconventional going on within a standard western/biker conflict.

  2. Aug
    31
    5:00
    PM
    admin

    I agree, Danny is sort of nice, he takes in the deaf guy, he looks out for his brother, he’s a charming outlaw. That’s why when he is killed so suddenly and unexpectedly it’s such a shock. If Child or Cueball had been killed, who cares. If you read my review of Roma A Mano Armata , I make a similar point about Tomas Milian’s bad guy hunchback character. And looking at the effect of Danny on Vicky and Billy Jack as a positive stimulus, it almost makes him a guru. Another odd thing Elizabeth James (Vicky Barrington) wrote the movie! Several Big directors (Sam Peckinpah, Luis Bunuel) portray rape as a positive stimulus, freeing up repressed people, I think this concept had some popularity 40 years ago or so.

  3. Dec
    30
    2:46
    PM
    fernando

    il film mi è piaciuto moltissimo,non tanto per la vicenda,ma per il personaggio femminile del quale io invece ricordo benissimo il nome:vicky barrington-elizabeth james,della quale sono stato’preso’. ad oggi non sono ancora riuscito a trovare una copia del film tradotta in italiano,devo contentarmi di una copia in inglese della quale mi sfuggono le sfumature dei dialoghi. pregherei qualcuno che leggesse questo scritto di darmene avviso,qual’ora avesse disponibilità di una copia in italiano o potesse indicarmi dove trovarla. vorrei tantissimo,inoltre,avere un contatto con questa attrice,elizabeth james,che porto ancora nel cuore nonostante i 40anni trascorsi dalla visione del film da parte mia. ringrazio chiunque vorrà darmi un’indicazione a tal proposito.

  4. Dec
    31
    6:01
    AM
  5. Mar
    17
    12:57
    PM
    alfredo

    ho visto anch’io il film, e mi è piaciuto, non tanto per la trama o i contenuti,ma mer la stupenda protagonista femminile,che dopo circa quarant’anni ancora pervade il mio cuore. ho visto il film 4-5 volte,rincorrendolo nei cinema in cui venivo a sapere che lo davano. 2 volte anche in tv. e tutto questo rincorrere soltanto per vedere e rivedere “vicky”. dopo tante peripezie sono riuscito a procurarmi una copia in inglese: sembra che in italia non se ne trovano. anch’io,spero che qualcuno possa indicarmi come e dove trovarne una in italiano. spero tanto che mi si indichi come e dove procurarmi una copia in italiano.

  6. Mar
    17
    1:03
    PM
    alfredo

    vorrei tanto che qualcuno mu indichi come e dove procurarmi una copia del film in italiano,per vedere e sentire,la bella dolce vicky

  7. Mar
    12
    3:59
    PM
    Anonymous

    What kind of glsses are those I need a pair

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