Absolutely the worst movie.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

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.

If you like Billy Jack, this is for you. Over 2 hours of a leading actress that can't act, a leading man who stands still without expression, and an inane group of men who are supposed to be dangerous because they are slightly bizarre. Sprinkle in ten minutes of Billy kicking big donkey, and you have the formula.Tom Laughlin knew a winner when he saw one and would use the main elements of this film in all of his future Billy Jack movies. In later films, his real-life wife would take over the role of the leading actress that can't act.This is a very low-budget movie. Future Billy Jack against the world movies had a couple more bucks. But true to form, as in all Billy Jack movies, there is no competent acting anywhere.Personally, none of this stuff turns me off of Billy Jack movies. In one movie, I see it for the gas station scene. In another, I want to see Billy put his right foot up against the guy's left ear. In a third, I want to see him shoot it out.For an anti-war pinko, Laughlin sure knows how to create some nice fight scenes. If the man would have moved a few more times per pic, he would have been a major star. But his style is to stand around for most of the movie with a deadpan expression, and then finally kick some butt.The Billy Jack movies are a lot like chitlins, limburger cheese, or kim chee. If you like that stuff, you don't mind the smell.This one stinks to high heaven.But it's a Billy Jack stink.

This film is over the top. Especially the bikers, who all appear to be recently barbered. I swear one of the bikers looks like Wes Studi, the native American actor.Did anyone notice, that the actor who plays the sheriff's deputy, who escorts Billy Jack into his cell, is the same actor who played the Sheriff's deputy, who interviewed Rambo in "First Blood"? Notice the actress who is on the street, during the first rough-up scene, is Billys girlfriend from Billy Jack.This is an interesting film.The fictional town of "Big Rock" is meant to be "Big Sur", but Big Sur is not a town.Jane Russell's spoof of herself is a real gas. When she is talking to her daughter, the daughter is looking at an album "Music to Strip by" hoo!

This flick was pathetic. So bad, it's still not good enough to be "so bad, it's good". Billy Jack is an Indian? From what Native American tribe? The white Irishmen? They say this guy Laughlin has a martial arts background? I know at least ten residents of an assisted living home that could mop the floor with his self righteous ass. He has the strange ability to render people helpless with feeble karate chops. And what about that biker leader with the white-framed sunglasses? Was this a fem bike club or what? And the chick riding around on a scooter with white gogo boots and a white bikini? Who the hell did she think she was? Girls who cavorted around like that were considered to be sluts anyway, so what's the point? Jane Russell hit rock bottom here. Tom Laughlin is definitely talent free. A loser indeed. This movie reeks!