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Actor/auteur Tom Laughlin created the character of Billy Jack in the motorcycle flick The Born Losers. Wandering Christlike through the Southwest, Native American Vietnam veteran Billy Jack -- soft-spoken, but well-versed in martial arts -- champions the cause of a progressive school run by Jean Roberts (Delores Taylor, Laughlin's real-life wife). The bigoted white townsfolk don't cotton to Jean's minority-group students, so they do everything they can to humiliate and physically abuse the kids. When one of her charges is cruelly coated with white flour, Billy Jack goes berserk. Thus begins an orgy of self-righteous violence, culminating with our hero being hunted down on a murder charge. Hal Erickson

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One of the first recognizable "vigilante" films in American cinema, The Born Losers tells the story of Billy Jack (writer-director Tom Laughlin), a half-breed ex-Green Beret and Vietnam veteran who makes it his business to rescue a cute mod girl from a crew of vicious bikers. Much to his chagrin, however, he finds his lethal training gets him in as much trouble with the racist cops as with the bikers, and he soon becomes embroiled in a violent struggle against all parties involved. There is blood-letting and bone-breaking to burn in The Born Losers, not to mention lots of preaching on the part of Laughlin. However, it still tops the more famous sequel, Billy Jack, and it qualifies writer-director-star Laughlin for the status of true auteur. Jeremy Beday

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After Billy Jack belatedly became a box-office smash two years after its original release and The Born Losers, the biker film in which Tom Laughlin created the Billy Jack character, had enjoyed a highly successful re-release, Tom Laughlin brought everyone's favorite martial arts hero turned Native American mystic back to the screen for a third go-round in The Trial of Billy Jack. As Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin) awaits trial for murder, Jean Roberts (Delores Taylor) continues to operate her "Freedom School" on an Indian reservation, where the student-operated television station comes under fire for airing a series of hard-hitting political exposes (just how an alternative school run by threadbare hippies obtained cameras, broadcasting equipment and an FCC license is not explained here). The attempts to silence the student journalists and run Billy Jack out of town lead to a deadly confrontation between the kids and the National Guard. Tom Laughlin wrote and directed The Trial of Billy Jack, though on-screen credit is given to his son, Frank Laughlin; similarly, Laughlin also directed the first two films under the name T.C. Frank. Mark Deming

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The fourth film starring Tom Laughlin as Billy Jack, Billy Jack Goes To Washington was a loose remake of Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes To Washington. The story begins with Billy receiving a pardon for the trumped-up charges that put him behind bars in The Trial Of Billy Jack. To curry favor with youth and minority voters, Billy is appointed to a vacant seat in the U.S. Senate. However, while Billy is told to not makes waves, he discovers Washington D.C. is a hotbed of rampant corruption, and he makes it his mission to bring honesty and justice back to our government. As with his other Billy Jack vehicles, Tom Laughlin wrote and directed the film as well as playing the title role; his wife Delores Taylor also appears again as Jean Roberts, and E.G. Marshall and Lucie Arnaz round out the supporting cast. Billy Jack Goes To Washington never received a theatrical release outside of a few scattered preview screenings, though Laughlin himself recently released the film on home video. Mark Deming

Product Details

• UPC: 014381450026
• Source: IMAGE ENTERTAINMENT
• Presentation: Wide Screen
• Time: 8:34:00
• Sales Rank: 3,863

This set contains DVDs which may be available separately:

• The Born Losers
• Billy Jack
• The Trial of Billy Jack
• Billy Jack Goes to Washington

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