The Losers (1970)

Well, at the rate I'm going, I'll watch a new biker movie every year or so. It's not that I don't like them, far from it. It's that at times, it can be difficult to find good ones, even viewable ones. So following up 1968's The Savage Seven (a very pleasant surprise) and 1969's Hell's Angels '69 (liked it a lot, heist movie meets biker movie), here's 1970's The Losers.

At a a remote Army outpost deep in Vietnam, a heavily armed patrol cuts through several Viet Cong ambushes to deliver a special team being used for an almost suicidal mission. Who steps out of the Army truck? Five Hells Angels bikers led by Link Thomas (William Smith), a tough as nails biker recruited by his brother, an Army major (Dan Kemp), who's limited by international law as to what he can do. Just across the border a few miles into Cambodia, an American diplomat/CIA agent is a prisoner of the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces, but American forces aren't allowed to cross the border to rescue him. On the other hand, there's nothing stopping five rogue Hells Angels from hopping on their bikes and riding into Cambodia. With Army backing as long as they're in Vietnam, Link and his men armor their motorcycles with armor-plating, heavy machine guns and grenades, all the while preparing to go in and rescue the captured American.

There are certain low budget genres you just know aren't going to be truly quality moments, many of them from the late 1960s and into the 1970s. Think of the lousier spaghetti westerns, gory, schlocky horror flicks, and in this case, biker flicks. Put a bunch of tough-looking, grizzled bikers on some motorcycles and let the craziness ensue, low budget be damned! If you can embrace that cheap quality, you're in for a treat. Sometimes, it's just too much. I wanted to like this biker action movie from director Jack Starrett (also starring as the paranoid, ranting CIA agent). At its heart, it is a men-on-a-mission movie, a bunch of oddballs working together to pull off a suicide mission. Even the bad ones can be good with that formula, but this one just isn't good enough to recommend. It has a moment here and there, but in between can be rough-going.

For openers, the casting felt like a good jumping off point. A physical bear of a man, Smith is Link, a Vietnam vet turned biker who assembles a team of bikers to pull off a rescue at his brother's behest. He's the leader, but an anti-hero through and through, troubled at what the war has become. He has a soft spot for some of the people he runs into, all the while trying to hold his crew together. That group includes biker regular Adam Roarke as Duke, a fellow vet looking to find a past love in the Vietnamese boonies,  Paul Koslo as Limpy, similarly finding love in a rundown old house, Houston Savage as Dirty Denny, the pot-smoking, booze-swilling, three-way having biker, and Eugene Cornelius as Speed, the goofy, long-haired hippie with an odd sense of humor. There's also Bernie Hamilton as Capt. Jackson, the regular army officer tasked with keeping the Losers in line, and John Garwood playing his right-hand man, Sgt. Winston.

Some cool potential there, right? That's what I figured, but that's what it remains with little else, potential. I expected a hard-edged men on a mission movie with said men fighting impossible odds. Instead, it's a half-boiled love story. We get Roarke's Duke reuniting with his lost love, walking through the fields dreamily, wondering about the future. Koslo's Limpy falls for a Vietnamese girl with a baby and steps in as a surrogate father. What the hell happened?!? Sure, there's some biker shenanigans, Dirty Denny (of course) having a three-way and then getting in a fight with some locals. There's no story, no sense of urgency, and no rhythm in the least. The bikers party and bitch and fight and screw around, outfit their cycles, and then oh yeah, they head into Cambodia. By that point, I'd been fast-forwarding through huge stretches of so-called 'story.'

If there's a remotely positive saving grace, it is the biker attack on the Red Chinese camp in Cambodia. All sorts of crazy bike stunts, gunfire and explosions throughout make it an exciting, adrenaline-pumping shootout. That isn't the end though, some preachiness saved for the last 15 minutes as a movie about bikers on a suicide mission decides it needs to deliver a message to its viewers. Seems logical, right? The ending is not surprisingly pretty downbeat, but it was yet another case of too little, too late. A pretty bad movie, aided by two folk songs in the soundtrack that try to again, add depth to a story that simply doesn't require it.

Make a movie about Hells Angels rampaging through Vietnam and Cambodia and be content with it. Don't try and make it something more. A disappointment.

The Losers (1970): * 1/2 /****

The Savage Seven

Writing this blog, I take some pride in doing reviews of countless guy's guys type of movies; westerns and war movies, film noir and heist flicks. Any and all, I'll give them a shot. How about a new addition? In 1,000 plus reviews, I've never really wrote a review of a true outlaw biker film, but there's a first for everything. Here's 1968's The Savage Seven.

At a tiny, isolated desert shanty town, a young Indian man, Johnnie Little Hawk (Robert Walker Jr.) is one of many poor Indians under the thumb of a very greedy, very sinister American businessman, Fillmore (Mel Berger). There is a constant back and forth as Fillmore consistently keeps the people down, but there could be a solution for all involved. One day, a biker gang led by Kisum (Adam Roarke) rides into the town and immediately starts to wreak havoc. The bikers don't seem too interested in getting involved with anyone else's problems; instead they want to booze, drink and party before moving on to the next town. Kisum is drawn though to Johnnie's younger sister, Marcia (Joanna Frank), and the gang sticks around. All bets are off though when Fillmore tries to cut a deal with Kisum and the gang to rid himself of the Indian villagers. Let the chaos and violence ensue.

The outlaw biker genre was a perfect time capsule of its era, the late 1960s and early 1970s. Rebel groups of motorcycle riders terrorizing towns and populations......well, because they can. Who wants to stick it to The Man? We do!!!! Who wants to take what we want and forget about the consequences? We do! We're bikers so who cares?!? These are low-brow, cheap flicks that were meant as part of a double-bill at a drive-in on the weekend. We're not talking Shakespearean scripts here. We're talking about a biker gang with characters called Joint (Larry Bishop), Stud (John Garwood), Bull (Richard Anders), and Wolf (Walter Robles) among others. Cliches, stereotypes, cheesy one-liners, 'Savage' has it all, and let me tell you.....it's an entertaining mess of a movie that kept me entertained from beginning to end.

So like any sub-genre, know what you're getting into, and that will go a long way in determining what you take away from it. Director Richard Rush knows exactly what he's working with here and in its own oddness, delivers an almost perfect genre flick.

The formula here is as simple as they come. A movie that runs just 94 minutes is full of fistfights, brawls, drinking, riding and bizarre male bonding. Seriously....no more than five minutes go by at any point where someone doesn't get punched in the face. This isn't the type of flick that stimulates your brain, making you think for hours and days later about what you've just watched. You sit back and let it wash over you. Then, because the movie is pretty dirty -- literally dirty in terms of actual dirt, not sex -- you want to go take a shower. The story of bikers fighting Indians, Indians fighting bikers, Indians and bikers teaming up to fight the Man, it's always on the move and never slows down. It's incredibly stupid, but boy, is it fun.

Though he's buried a bit in the cast listing, Roarke is the star here as biker leader Kisum. He's the perfect roguish anti-hero. His mindset is simple; take what you want, and if you can't take it, take it anyways. In this case, he wants Joanna Frank's Marcia. At this isolated little Indian village, he sees some chances for fun and entertainment, becoming almost a biker Robin Hood (almost, he's still a dirty biker). A familiar face of the biker genre, Roarke is a scene-stealer. Walker Jr. is all right in a smaller part as an Indian (and he doesn't look the part at all), but he plays second fiddle to Roarke's Kisum. Playing the evil Man, Berger is a perfect evil, dangerously overweight, corpulent bad guy while Charles Bail is his karate-kicking enforcer, Taggart. The enforce announces one his attack intentions, yelling 'KARATE!' to which Bull answers 'CHAIR!' and hits him with a chair. You couldn't make up that type of quality script-writing if you try.

Without a lull along the way, 'Savage' still manages to ratchet things up in the final act in a battle royale at the village. After a brutal incident pits the bikers versus the Indians, Kisum's gang descends on the barricaded village, throwing themselves and the bikes at the heavily-guarded barricades. It's an extended action sequence that features some truly impressive biker stunts and jumps, not to mention some pretty rough hand-to-hand violence. It goes on for at least 15 minutes, not too bad for a cheap drive-in flick. 'Savage' is pretty low-brow and requires no heavy lifting in the brain department, but I enjoyed it from the start. Even Eric Clapton and Cream sing the theme! Listen HERE.

The Savage Seven (1969): ***/****

Dirty Mary Crazy Larry

Cars are pretty cool, huh? Yes, another sterling lead courtesy of Just Hit Play, and you're welcome. It's a simple truth though, one that the movie industry has believed in for years. My car can go faster than yours. What are you going to do about it? There's something primal and stupid about watching a souped-up car gunning it down the road, typically with cops or gangsters or any number of random bad guys on their trail. From the decade of the car movie, here comes another gem, 1974's Dirty Mary Crazy Larry.

A stock car driver who's never quite made it to the big time, Larry (Peter Fonda) is convinced all he needs is a car and the equipment to make it big but no one will back him. With his longtime friend and down-on-his-luck mechanic, Deke (Adam Roarke), Larry has a plan. The duo concocts a plan though, robbing a grocery store that just received its payroll in a tiny, backroads town. The job goes off smoothly....until they try to get away. Waiting inside their getaway car is Mary (Susan George), a one-night stand (at the time) of Larry's who secretly tagged along. With no way to get rid of her -- without her turning them in -- she tags along on the getaway. Their plan comes together nicely, even when the local police, led by ridiculously persistent Captain Franklin (Vic Morrow), catch wind of them and aren't far behind.

Made on the cheap and the definition of a B-movie that thrives in its cheapness, 'Crazy' is a gem of a car movie. From director John Hough, it makes no bones about what it is. This is a movie about badass, souped-up cars with V-8 engines going wheel-to-wheel on the open road. Are you interested in a movie with well thought-out characters that develop over time? A story with twists and turns and an Oscar-caliber script? You should probably check out a different movie. It clocks in at 93 minutes and never truly slows down. In the vein of Thunder Road, Bullitt, Smokey and the Bandit, Vanishing Point, Two-Lane Blacktop and many more car flicks, 'Crazy' more than belongs in the conversation.

This is a movie to watch the cars drive and drive ridiculously fast. It was filmed in the California countryside away from the big cities, including some great locations in and around the walnut groves in Stockton and Linden, California. I'm a sucker for any car movies, and while I didn't love all of this flick -- more on that later -- the appeal is obvious. We're talking the souped-up cars (Larry and Deke drive a 1966 Chevy Impala and later a 1969 Dodge Charger) doing battle with similarly souped-up police cars, and in the coolest development? The Charger going up against an obsessed Franklin in a police helicopter on an isolated road. All the driving stunts are impressive in their own right, but this extended sequence is something else. The helicopter looks to be flying at top speeds just feet -- maybe inches -- away from the Charger. Great story this is not, just sit back and admire the truly impressive stunt work and driving.

This is a fun movie, but there are stretches that tested even my limits. That issue comes from the title characters. A rebel icon of the 1960s and 1970s, Peter Fonda is and always will be pretty cool. Playing crazy Larry though, he's just annoying. His character is hard to like even a little, and the cocky stock car driver gets old quick, especially his cackling laughter. Unfortunately, he's not the most annoying person here. That title belongs to Susan George as Dirty Mary. Around because the movie requires some eye candy and little else, Mary is beyond shrill. Larry affectionately calls her 'Dingleberry' after their magical one-night together so clearly it's a classic movie romance on par with Casablanca. George does look good, rocking low-rise jeans and a denim bikini top, but the shrillness is unreal, and the character's down right stupid.

That's all unfortunate because when Fonda's Larry and Roarke's Deke are together, we've got a good thing going. I especially liked Roarke as mechanic Deke, an expert in everything motor and gearhead. He just wants to get away with the money and is less than appreciative of Mary tagging along on the getaway. Even he grows a little tired of Larry's act though. A star of biker flicks, Roarke was my favorite actor here. As Capt. Franklin, Morrow continues to establish himself as the face of the evil Establishment, just like Bad News Bears. It's a funny part though, a cop who doesn't care about rules or appearances, just catching the bad guy. Also look for Kenneth Tobey as Donahue, Franklin's by-the-book superior, and Eugene Daniels as Hank, one of Franklin's cops who gets his hands on a police interceptor with a cranked-up V-8 engine.

The movie is a hot mess overall. Larry and Deke take the grocery store owner (an uncredited Roddy McDowall) captive, holding his family hostage at their home while they pull off the robbery. Unsympathetic characters to say the least, but thankfully that rights itself a little bit. Sure, there are flaws a-plenty here in this cult classic, but it's fun throughout. Enjoy it, and don't blink or you'll miss the shocker of an ending.

Dirty Mary Crazy Larry (1974): ***/****