''The Losers'' released on video as ''Nam's Angels'' is a 1970 American biker

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about navy, naval, air force, air, or army, land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle s ...

directed by Jack Starrett.

Plot

The plot involves a gang of

Hells Angels The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is an international outlaw motorcycle club founded in California whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells ...

-type bikers called "The Devil's Advocates" involved in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. They are sent to the

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

n jungle on Yamaha bikes in order to rescue an American

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

/CIA Agent, Chet Davis. The biker gang is led by Link Thomas, a Vietnam veteran and the brother of an Army Major who has recruited them. His gang consists of Duke, also a Vietnam veteran, Limpy, Speed, and another Vietnam veteran, Dirty Denny. They are under the orders of Army Captain Jackson. The gang modifies their motorcycles in a garage run by Diem-Nuc. They weld armor plating with submachine guns on the handlebars. Limpy drives a three-wheeler modified from a Harley-Davidson frame with a Volkswagen rear end, that is armed with heavy .50 caliber machine guns and a multiple rocket launcher from a helicopter. In order to open fire on enemy soldiers in trees or towers the gang do

wheelie A wheelie, or wheelstand, is a vehicle maneuver in vehicle acrobatics in which the front wheel or wheels come off the ground due to sufficient torque being applied to the rear wheel or wheels, or rider motion relative to the vehicle. Wheelie ...

s whilst firing their weapons.

Cast

* William Smith as Link Thomas *

Bernie Hamilton Bernard Hamilton (June 12, 1928 – December 30, 2008) was an American actor. He is best known as Captain Dobey in ''Starsky & Hutch'' (1975–1979). Biography Hamilton was born in East Los Angeles; his brother was jazz drummer Chico Hamilto ...

as Captain Jackson *Huston Savage as Dirty Denny * Adam Roarke as Duke * Paul Koslo as Limpy *Gene Cornelius as Speed *John Garwood as Sergeant Winston *Ana Korita as Kim Sue *

Vic Diaz Victor Sunico Diaz, popularly known as Vic Diaz, (July 29, 1932 – September 15, 2006) was a Filipino character actor who mostly portrayed villains. He was also the father of Teddy Diaz, the founding guitarist of the Filipino Rock band The D ...

as Diem-Nuc * Alan Caillou as Albanian

Production

On November 19, 1965, Sonny Barger the "Maximum Leader" of the

motorcycle club sent a telegram to President Johnson offering the Angels as "gorilla fighters" (sic) in the

. Though the President turned them down, the idea became a Vietnam War movie made in the Philippines using sets and crew from '' Too Late the Hero''. William Smith stated that the original ending had the rescued diplomat die whilst the gang lived, but Jack Starrett and Smith rewrote Alan Caillou's screenplay. Smith also stated that the earring he wore in the film was given to him by the Hells Angels during another motorcycle film he made. Paul Koslo was taught to ride by the film's stuntman Gary McLarty. Originally titled ''Nam's Angels'', the title was changed before release to the more generic ''The Losers'' with composer Stu Phillips writing a song incorporating the title. "The Devil's Advocates" gang also appears in the films '' Run, Angel, Run!'' and '' Werewolves on Wheels''.

In popular culture

A glimpse of the movie appears in

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, actor, and author. Quentin Tarantino filmography, His films are characterized by graphic violence, extended dialogue often featuring much profanity, and references to ...

's ''

Pulp Fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; It tells four intertwining tales of crime and violence ...

'', which Fabienne was watching, then had said "A motorcycle movie; I'm not sure the name.

John Milius John Frederick Milius (; born April 11, 1944) is an American screenwriter and film director. He is considered a member of the New Hollywood generation of filmmakers. He rose to prominence in the early 1970s for writing the scripts for ''The L ...

said this film was a "big inspiration for ''

Apocalypse Now ''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American psychological epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr, is loosely inspired by the 1899 novella '' Heart of Darkn ...

''."

References

External links