The Born Losers

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The Born Losers
Promotional movie poster for the film
Directed by	Tom Laughlin
Produced by	Tom Laughlin
Written by	Elizabeth James
Starring	Tom Laughlin Elizabeth James Jeremy Slate
Music by	Mike Curb
Cinematography	Gregory Sandor
Editing by	John Winfield
Distributed by	American International Pictures
Release date(s)	1967
Running time	113 min.
Country	U.S.A.
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Born Losers is a 1967 film and the first of the Billy Jack movies. The film introduced Tom Laughlin as one of Hollywood's more enduring symbols, the half-Indian Green Beret Vietnam war veteran Billy Jack. Though on the surface it was merely another "motorcycle gang terrorizes town" movie, it hit a note with audiences, and resulted in Tom Laughlin, who starred as Billy Jack being able to raise the funds to make its incendiary and successful sequel, the movie Billy Jack .

The film was considered the typical drive-in theater fare of the period, described by Entertainment Insiders reviewer Rusty White as "pure exploitation, but with something extra."^[1]. The "something extra" may have included a compelling main character who sustains a storyline rooted in a strong, perhaps even crude, conflicts involving freedom and justice: Billy Jack defeats the gang and defends from their wrath a college student who has evidence against them for gang rapes.

Though the film is dated by its perception of women and society - women ride Hondas and Yamahas, men ride Harleys - the story itself is not a bad one, and begins the development of a powerful anti-establishment character, who defends the weak and battles injustice no matter who the opposition is. [1]

In 1974, after the popularity of the film "Billy Jack" was proven, American International Pictures re-released "The Born Losers" with the taglines "The film that introduced Billy Jack" and "Back By Popular Demand: "Born Losers" The Original Screen Appearance of Tom Laughlin as Billy Jack". This re-release helped cement "The Born Losers" honor of being the highest grossing American International release until 1979 when "The Amityville Horror" was released.