1970 Directed by Jack Starrett
Some bikers are hired by the CIA during the Vietnam War to rescue a captured agent from the clutches of the Red Chinese army. After a round of drinking, fighting, and whoring around, the cycle gang, led by Big Bill Smith, fix up their Yamahas with machine guns, grenades and armor plating, and storm the enemy camp.
Mean Combat, Hells Angels - Verdammt in Vietnam, The Losers - Verdammt, verkommen, verloren, Verdammt, verkommen, verloren - The Losers, Les machines du diable, Un mucchio di bastardi, Os 5 Guerrilheiros, Nam's Angels
William Smith and Paul Koslo in a 70's drive-in fave directed by Jack Starrett (Race with the Devil, The Gravy Train) and one that I had never seen. Time to rectify that...
"It's The "Dirty Bunch" On Wheels!" (Poster Tagline)
A colorful array of Motorcycle Gang members (led by Smith), several of whom are Vietnam veterans, are recruited to head to Cambodia to assist in the safe return of a captured American CIA agent. Once they arrive, some of the men spend time partying, visiting the local whorehouses, and getting into brawls before the team initiates the actual rescue attempt. Before they raid the enemy camp, they're going to trick out a bunch of bikes (with the help of a…
What a winning premise, but padded out to feature length with flaccid character development scenes. While I liked how briskly it opened, as it went on I felt that strangely missing in action were the expository scenes that would have been more interesting to see (the recruiting of the bikers, for example) than the ones they went with. Pretty sure that William Smith never wore a shirt with sleeves from 1965-1975. But with those guns, who needs 'em? Vic Diaz makes his obligatory appearance (as do many exploding grass huts) signaling that this was a Philippines-for-Vietnam production.
Ever wondered what movie Butch and Fabienne were watching in "Pulp Fiction"? Well, it was "The Losers". Or "Nam´s Angels". A biker-film set during the Vietnam War. This flick stands out because of its great action-scenes and the heavy amount of comedy. Not that it´s a very funny movie, it is still very serious. But there are some one-liners every now and then....but as i said....the action-sequences are amazing. These scenes alone are worth watching.....
THE LOSERS (aka 'NAM'S ANGELS) seems like it's going to be an awesome, action-packed exploitation flick from the early 70s. Look at the poster art. Tricked-out motorcycles with huge-ass blazing guns! Aggressive-looking bikers! A huge fireball behind them! I was most eager to check this one out. The first ten minutes or so did not disappoint, as we get gunfire and explosions and bodies flying across the screen. What followed suit was unexpected.
There is quite a dramatic element running through this movie, as a couple members of the biker gang develop relationships with some of the local women. William Smith, king of the 70s b-movie exploitation flicks, leads the Devil's Advocates, providing a stoic and stable example to the…
This film sags quite a bit, but when it's on track, it's on fire! William Smith abducts a crippled boy (in heroic fashion), Bernie Hamilton beats a man with a tree, explosions galore. That's just the tip of the iceberg. Fun drive-in fare!
Great idea for a Drive-in movie. Terrible idea for a military operation. Charlie don’t surf, and Charlie don’t ride a hog. Apparently John Milius seeing them drive Harley’s thru the jungle in one of his favorite “guilty pleasures” got the idea for the surfing scene in Apocalypse Now.
A better title would have been “The Irregulars.” US wars have a long tradition of Irregular military units who get to dress the way they want to and play be a different set of rules to get the job done. But these irregulars really suck, and the film ends up making a strong case for the central importance of military discipline.
This movie is the one Mark Hartley (director of Machete Maidens Unleashed) names as the hidden treasure of Filippino exploitation in interviews. I've spent all day trying to figure out why out of all the movies he had to watch while preparing for the doc he'd name this one over movies like Death Force or Savage Sisters or Beast of the Yellow Night.
I haven't really been able to come up with an answer.
Don't get me wrong. It's a fun movie if you can get past the constant racial slurs and the weird character development, which I can when crazy modified motorcycles with guns are involved.
This is such a brilliant premise. Take some bikers, send them to Vietnam,…
An amazing exploitation premise, A group of bikers hired secretly by the CIA seizing a communist Chinese camp in the Vietnam war with modified war bikes. The film itself takes a long time to get going but the final half hour is great. Really cool squibs too.
I know Milius loved this movie, but surprised there's no trace to Romero? Seems like there would have to be...
A bit slow but the stuff that’s good is pretty great, especially in the last third or so. Machine guns and grenade launchers on wheels!
1970 - da war "Easy Rider" gedreht, die Hippie Szene und all das kurz vorm Ende. Waren "Motorrad-Rocker" Filme erst hauptsaechlich dazu da, "anderes" oder "freies" Leben zu zeigen, so wurden die Stories nun bizarrer, und nur noch auf Effekt aus. Dieser Film ist ein ganz schlimmes Beispiel. Der Film spielt im Vietnam-Krieg, zu anfang werden Schlachten im Dschungel gezeigt, wie sich Soldaten gegenseitig niedermachen. Dann ploetzlich kommt ein Truck mit Unterstuetzung. Heraus kommen: Rocker.
OK, muss man mehr sagen? Spaetestens da muss jedem klar sein: Oh gott, das kann nur Muell sein. Naja, jedenfalls werden die Rocker dann auf eine Mission geschickt. Sie sollen einen Regierungsbeamten aus einem Camp befreien. Ein Haufen Rocker macht sich also auf. Nun hofft…
I kept trying to go see this at the New Beverly when I was in LA but never could make it at the right times. Finally rented it instead and in the end it was only okay. I could do without all the racism but I suppose that was some kind of attempt at provoking people in the 70s. Like they weren’t already provoked enough by the war or something.
The explosions and shootouts were cool.
This movie makes very little sense but I can tell it doesn't care about what anyone thinks and just goes for it anyway. Hells angels trying to save a presidential aid in Cambodia?! Still it's got some moxie while trying to throw in romance, lost loves and a bro's forever mentality.
In my own country I am in a far off land.
I am strong but have no power.
I win all yet remain a loser.
At break of day I say goodnight.
When I lie down I have great fear of falling.
- Francois Villon
The Losers opens with a brutal ambush of a US platoon then time jumps to five Bikers emerging from the back of an army truck in the middle of the jungle. There are bikers in Vietnam, now let's get on with the story. From the very start, this movie is not fucking around.
The Losers could easily be dismissed as a mashup of a Dirty Dozen ripoff and a low-rent biker flick. But what we…
I know Milius loved this movie, but surprised there's no trace to Romero? Seems like there would have to be...
Der Krieg in Vietnam tobt und Szenen wie amerikanische Soldaten, die sich entspannen und sich um ihre eigenen Angelegenheiten kümmern, nur um vom Vietcong überfallen zu werden, sind allzu häufig zu sehen und bringen auf beiden Seiten Verluste mit sich, obwohl die Amerikaner nicht so gut abschneiden, wie sie es gern getan hätten. Deswegen rekrutiert der C.I.A. einige ungewöhnliche Truppen in ihrem Kampf gegen die Kommunisten, in diesem Fall fünf Mitglieder der Hell’s Angels, angeführt von Link (William Smith), der seinem neuen Chef, Captain Jackson (Bernie Hamilton), die Zusicherung gibt, dass seine Angels nicht aus der Reihe tanzen werden. Doch warum sind die überhaupt hier? Nun ja, um einen US-Regierungsbeamten zu befreien, der hinter die feindlichen Linien gegangen ist, um…
It has it’s virtues I suppose. You can see the seeds of Apocalypse Now in this.
An amazing exploitation premise, A group of bikers hired secretly by the CIA seizing a communist Chinese camp in the Vietnam war with modified war bikes. The film itself takes a long time to get going but the final half hour is great. Really cool squibs too.
A mash up of biker films and the War movie, The Losers (aka Nam's Angels), is better than it needed to be. Shot in the Philippines, Starret had the crew of the Robert Aldrich war film Too Late the Hero (1970), and it shows. It looks more like a first run film than an exploitation film, in terms of visual style, editing, etc. This being only Starret's 3rd feature as a director, he pulls it off quite well while pulling double duty as the character the bikers have come to rescue. He went on to direct Cleopatra Jones (1973), Race with the Devil (1976), the underrated Hollywood Man (1976, and A Small Town in Texas which is also quite good,…
THE LOSERS (aka 'NAM'S ANGELS) seems like it's going to be an awesome, action-packed exploitation flick from the early 70s. Look at the poster art. Tricked-out motorcycles with huge-ass blazing guns! Aggressive-looking bikers! A huge fireball behind them! I was most eager to check this one out. The first ten minutes or so did not disappoint, as we get gunfire and explosions and bodies flying across the screen. What followed suit was unexpected.
There is quite a dramatic element running through this movie, as a couple members of the biker gang develop relationships with some of the local women. William Smith, king of the 70s b-movie exploitation flicks, leads the Devil's Advocates, providing a stoic and stable example to the…
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