I seldom read other reviewer's comments before I add my own two cents' worth, but I did for this one..don't know why. Anyway, it seems that this film is being judged against the films of today instead of with others from the early 70's. Much of what made the film a blockbuster then seems so dated now. Judged against other films of the day, Billy Jack was BIG and Billy Jack was IMPORTANT. The acting in this film is not great, but most of the cast is made up of relative unknowns. The story, as I said, is definitely passe (by today's standards). But Billy Jack was a "social consciousness" film, designed to put forward the cause of pacifism. The Vietnam war was still raging in 1971 and the antiwar juggernaut was steamrolling. This film, while not strictly an anti-war film, advocates peace, love and all that other hippie stuff. Oh, yeah...HIPPIES. When's the last time you saw a real, honest-to-God Hippie? The film is pretty much full of hippies. They espoused peace and love and sharing, a message that just wouldn't cut it today. But mixed in with the peace movement is the beginnings of the growing need to reconnect with one's ancestry. Billy Jack is an Indian. No, they don't call them Native Americans in this film, they call them Indians. Everything has changed in 30 years and that's why it's not fair to judge this film by today's standards. This film is very violent, has nudity in it and would certainly be rated "R" today. Billy Jack's martial arts sequences are actually realistic, with no one flying 20 feet through the air, turning a dozen back flips and then kicking 13 people in a quarter of a second. Somehow, it wound up with a PG rating. It's a 30+ year old film but one that deserves to be judged fairly, so judge it against other films of the time. I think you'll find it can stand on its own.
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grahamsj316 December 2002
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AlsExGal28 March 2020... and you have to love the anti-violence screeds followed by onscreen massacres.
The start of the film really has nothing to do with Billy Jack. It is a deputy in the town having his runaway teen daughter returned to him. She tells him she is pregnant and she has been with so many guys she doesn't even know the father's race. Dad explodes in anger and beats her. The deputy panics and dumps what may be her "body" for all he knows out in the wild. Billy Jack finds the girl and hides her at The Freedom School - a counterculture alternative school with mainly native students, but the school is open to any kid with problems.
So the rest of the movie is based on the deputy's lie that his daughter ran away again, that she is pregnant, and that a boy at the Freedom School is the father. And weirdly enough, deputy dad never recants this story, and seems to come to believe it himself.
Now things were never great between the counterculture pacifist school and the traditional townspeople, but the story of the deputy's daughter brings things to a boil.
And in the middle of all of this is Billy Jack, a half native American ex special forces vet who protects the school - as best as one guy can - with physical force when he has to, and plus he really seems to enjoy it too. And the film gives you two hissable villains, town political boss Posner and his bullying cowardly son Bernard, always retreating to the safety of dad's shadow when his misdeeds get him in bad with Billy Jack.
This film only cost 800K to make yet raked in 33 million with largely wooden acting, a script that meanders and often contradicts itself, and lots of on location shooting so that expensive sets were not needed. So why did people flock to this little indie in droves? Because if you want to understand the Vietnam era and counterculture movement of the late 60s/early 70s I would say watch this film rather than the more famous and acclaimed "All In the Family". The hypocritical and racist townsfolk - often to the point of being cartoonish - actually symbolize how the oldest crop of the boomers saw the establishment. Billy Jack really did symbolize a hero as he had to be, where Jean was a hero/heroine the way people would have liked to be. And it had much to say about the ugliness of racism practiced by everyday people.
For film history buffs, I would say this film is worthwhile. It also has many quotable quotes, and if you look carefully you'll see Howard Hesseman (Doctor Johnny Fever of WKRP in Cincinnati) in a very small and early role as a drama teacher at the school who shows up at a hearing about closing the school and recites a speech that he at first claims is by George Washington, and then reveals it was written by Adolph himself. Not that this speech had anything to do with what the hearing was about, and such is the disorganized symbol of an era that this film became. -
jellopuke14 September 2019What you have here is a revenge movie with pretensions. About 30 minutes needed to be cut out as this drags heavily in places, particularly any scene where Billy Jack is not on camera. He's great, everything else is like amateur hour. Why did we need to see so much of the lame skits? Ugh, for a classic, this was tough to watch.That said, the character was great, he just needed a better movie that wasn't so high on itself.
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WeepingGodFilms26 August 2001It is true that Tom Laughlin does not look like an Indian, half-breed or otherwise. It is true that some of the scenes, particularly the scenes improvised by the committee, are unnecessary (though extremely funny) and the film itself is too long. It is true that the martial arts scenes in this film are few and far between. However: The film is not a martial arts film and it deals more with the spirit of being an Indian, a true American, than it is about the looks of one. Often dismissed as a cheesy karate movie, BILLY JACK is in fact an excellent study of conflicting idealogies, of violence as a quick but by no means correct solution, and of the different varieties of love. Though it is much too long a film, the sheer enthusiasm and love for the children that Jean (Dolores Taylor) expresses gets the viewer involved on an emotional level. While we cannot justify Billy Jack's (Tom Laughlin) actions, we know he is doing it out of love for Jean. We feel the rage he feels towards Bernard, a character that is surprisingly deftly acted. At the start of the film, we sympathize with him; by the time he has raped Jean we, like Billy, want to rip him a couple of new orifices. His well-deserved death is quick and pathetic, like the shooting of the dog. Billy Jack himself is an American icon, the true definition of a hero, presented in such a way that the audience questions their own ideas about heroism. The characters are well-drawn, the cinematography breath-taking, the improvised scenes much funnier than anything to hit SNL in a long time. So why is it that this film, the most financially-successful independent film to EVER exist, is so often dismissed as nothing more than a bad karate movie? Because of bad marketing, for one thing; the other is the way it's often described: "A half-breed Indian Vietnam Vet played by a white guy protects a 'hippie' school from bigotry." Much like the Freedom School that Billy seeks to protect, the film itself is marred by such bigotry and misconceptions.
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romanorum12 December 2013The movie's theme song "One Tin Soldier" was covered by Coven from the original 1970 tune by Original Caste. In it, the valley people covet supposed riches of the mountain kingdom. The latter wish to share, but the valley people, wanting it all, attack and slay their neighbors. But they find no riches. One tin soldier rides away, the legend of Billy Jack.
Billy Jack (Tom McLaughlin) martial arts expert and ex-Green Beret, is a "half-breed" who has authority to uphold the law on an Indian reservation in Arizona or New Mexico. Billy Jack's girl is a strong- willed woman, a pacifist, Jean Roberts (Delores Taylor, his wife in real life) who runs the Freedom School. This progressive reservation school for troubled young folks welcomes all youth regardless of ethnicity; it is a rainbow. There are three main rules: (1) no drugs, (2) everyone must pull his/her own weight, and (3) a student must create something, like a painting about his/her heritage, weaving a blanket, creating a film, etc. One may surmise that the Indian reservation and school represent the mountain people of the song.
In contrast to the school is the nearby town outside the reservation. The folks who live and work there are hostile to the reservation school as they cannot relate to its unorthodox teaching methods. As they consider the kids to be outcasts, they make no attempt to hide their various prejudices. In reality the deck is stacked: all of the virtues belong to the school population with the exception of one or two oddballs. By contrast, all of the negative qualities are possessed by the narrow-minded townsfolk nearly without exception. They do not like "long-haired weirdos." Chief among the town-folk are the Posners, businessman father and purposeless son. The former, Stuart Posner (Bert Freed), is plain rotten; the latter, Bernard (David Roya), is a disdainful rich kid. At the beginning Stuart Posner thinks there is nothing wrong about illegally rounding up wild mustangs on Indian land and slaughtering them for profit. Although Bernard initially seems to stand up to his father, he later shows his vile side as he degenerates into murder, rape, and even near-pedophilia. Although Sheriff Cole (Clark Howat) is decent enough, his deputy Mike (Ken Tobey) is a snake. One may surmise that the town represents the valley people of the song.
As pacifist Jean tells Billy, he needs to control his violent temper. In turn, Billy feels he needs to use violence to get justice for his people. An example relates to a group of Freedom School teens who take the school bus to town for shopping. At an ice cream store they suffer an intolerable injustice that goes beyond the owner not serving them. By the way, if a store-owner wants to make money, why does he not sell to everybody? This attitude has always seemed self-defeating. Anyway Billy Jack throws the biggest bully ("Dinosaur") through a plate glass window. Pow! The store owner merely stands by and watches. After that someone tampers with Billy's jeep. Then Billy Jack is outnumbered 12 to one in fight with some townsmen. In the course of the film, tensions will escalate until the inevitable conclusion of the struggle between the townsfolk and the school (Billy Jack).
Although Tom McLaughlin is heavy-handed, his screen presence is huge. Reserved and athletic, he represents the ideal Caucasian-Indian hero: tough, unshakable, and aware of his Indian roots. He is at ease whether on horseback or motorcycle. Delores Taylor, slender and with long hair, but also sad-eyed and plain-faced, is appropriate as the school administrator. Although her acting is uneven, she is a central figure of the story in many ways. For it is she who began the school and both encourages and relates to the young people. It is she who helps Billy Jack come to his senses at the end. The independent film could have used experienced editing, especially for the school skits, and the script could have been tighter. The singing and guitar-playing are sometimes difficult to take. And it is understandable that Stan Rice, the actor who plays the Indian Martin, has no other silver screen credits. The movie running time is too long, and some of the dialogue and attitudes are outlandish. For instance, at the board meeting the young girl credits the "law and order" quote to Adolf Hitler. Thus the inferred message is that anyone who supports upholding our laws extols that dictator. Despite amateurish acting, the film does display a charm of its own. White-booted Susan Foster (Cindy/"Up Yours") is very attractive. Always beautiful are southwestern USA shots. The Paiute Wovoka friendship dance is colorful, while the Shoshone Indian snake ceremony is most unusual. The Billy Jack story line does maintain interest and the theme song is well done.
By the way, note the yellow-colored Dr. Pepper poster advertisement on the ice cream store door when Billy Jack enters. It illustrates the upcoming school football schedule for 1969, the year when filming began. "Billy Jack" was released in 1971 and again in 1973. A movie costing under a million dollars to create grossed many times that number. This popular cult film even resulted in two sequels; its predecessor was "Born Losers" (1967). -
Killer_Bee7 July 2000I attended this movie when it was first released and though times have changed, some of the movies elements are still being copied in films today. You have to take into account that back then we called the police "Fuzz" and long hair and bell bottoms were the dress of the period. Karate movies were popular but few and far between and the awful Bruce Lee knock offs were too much to stomach with all that bad dubbing. Enter an American who could take his foot and hit the town's leading redneck upside his face with it, Dance with rattlesnakes and save the hippie commune on a bad day. During the Ice cream parlor scene when Billy Jack's Jeep came into view, The theater crowd went into a frenzy. Though the movie was meant to be a sort of propaganda film for the peace movement, it gave mixed signals due to the violent nature of the main character.
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Kakueke15 December 2001"Billy Jack," eponymously titled for the lead character, is an entertaining movie, but without much substance -- that is what you get when you have caricatures -- a peace-loving, basically American Indian "Freedom School" versus the conservative redneck bad guys.
Billy Jack is played by Tom Laughlin, who does not look much like a half Indian. Also, altho he has martial arts fluidity against the villains, he is quite rigid in posture, the white man that he is. Like his split background, I thought his acting performance was uneven -- at times good, at times wooden. Let me comment that he was not impressive in the final scene, which was not moving to me. Jean Roberts (Delores Taylor), sort of Billy's love interest, runs the Freedom School. She is the passionate figure of the movie, but certainly only platonically.
One curiousity is what the director is trying to do with the character of Sheriff Cole, a compromising personality, but who overall seems to be presented favorably. A good man rather than bad like the rest of the town, he is unable and unwilling to mount an effective resistance to the bad guys tho he serves as a go-between, helps Billy and the Freedom Schoolers behind the scenes, and yes, once, rescues Billy, by, sort of, standing up against the beaters. Like Billy, he is totally outnumbered by pretty much an entirely bad white community, like the prosecutor in the Mississippi civil rights murder cases trying to convince the jury. But I say, his is a refreshing role to me, because he is, well, the most normal person.
So, American Indians have been mistreated? We all know that, but what does this movie tell us about it, the background, the problem as it exists today (OK, 30 years ago), the solution? So we have peace-loving hippies and Indians, whining, whining, directed at the bad guys, nothing else. So?
What was the Freedom School all about? Well, it opposes the establishment. We know. But what does it do, what do you learn, what do you accomplish, what are you prepared for? Well, we hear diatribes, but where are we going? Maybe inherently nowhere.
Thus, "Billy Jack" mainly functions for its superficial visual (and audio) images, spirit of the '60s. But the storyline still captures the viewer. There are the abusive bad guys, we are worked up against them, the guy in the white hat (sort of) comes to the rescue. And if we don't totally understand what the Freedom School is all about, we at least know some of its political stances, and something of its style, even if the way the movie presents them is silly.
This all adds up to an annoying sanctimoniousness that serves as a turnoff. Tho the conservative characters are stereotyped, they are developed better than the Freedom Schoolers, who are poorly acted, cheesy, and certainly not compelling.
The true irony of "Billy Jack" is that the pacifist Freedom School contradicts what made people go see the movie. How many went, or would go, to see it, and how many went to see the fight scenes? Anyway, the score is quite good. -
garybny5 August 2010First, I just want to mention that I used to like Billy Jack. Then something strange happened....I grew up. Where should I start. Maybe with the main reason that I used to be a fan, the martial arts action. Never mind that taken through a hindsight perspective, the action is quite limited. Also Tom Laughlin has no martial arts training at all (unknown to me during my ignorance at the time) and all of his karate scenes were performed by a Asian karate master stunt double. Also, I believe that one of the main reasons that no major studio would touch this, was Laughlin's insistence that Delores Taylor (his wife)play the female lead. Not only was she far from attractive, she was devoid of any acting ability whatsoever. If anyone doubts this, please name a non-Billy Jack film that she has appeared in. I must also mention the complete hypocrisy of the whole hippie, non-violence premise of the film. You see Billy Jack preaches pacifism and non-violence, while busting heads. I guess violence is only justifiable when it is considered "righteous liberal rage". Let this one tin soldier ride away.
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hacness18 January 2006Well, Billy Jack was not at all what I had expected. I had heard of the movie and thought it was some kind of kung fu cult movie, but really didn't know what to expect. The movie blew me away! OK, so the acting can be a little cheesy at times, but how many movies from that era are not cheesy in some way? At any rate, Billy Jack is a true American hero. What I love about the movie is that it is focused on very important subject matter, but portrays it in such an unconventional and unique way. Billy Jack is a character of all characters. His mannerisms are hysterical. He shows such intense frustration when he knows he's going to have to kick someone's butt, and that makes his character what it is. He's an ex-green beret and he can surely kick some serious bad guy butt if he has to, but he is also a man with a big heart and his life's mission is to protect the native Americans and hippies who are either too weak or too peaceful to fight for themselves. And he loves Jean, loves her with all his heart and knows that he is the only one who can protect her and protect what is important to her. His character is portrayed in such a way that you can see the internal struggle in his eyes and hear it in his voice when he is faced with a situation where some biggot butts need kickin'. Billy Jack is a true classic and a movie that will stick with me for the rest of my life.
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carlsez_121 March 2012Before the smug heroics of Steven Segal's characters there was Billy Jack, the original self proclaimed savior with an attitude. If you like to see self-righteous jerks stylishly beating up even bigger jerks then this is your movie. Each fight scene is setup explicitly for Jack to do an affected restraint merely as a taunt before dispensing his own brand of justice. The spoiled, morally depraved Bernard seems to exist only for the purpose of angering the audience and thus justifying his punishments at the hands and feet of Jack.
Ostensibly about taking a stand against a corrupt authority and abusive bigots 'Billy Jack' is mostly a guilty pleasure for pacifists who feel they've been pushed around long enough. Jack's own claims of trying to be less violent seem hollow as he relishes every punishment he dishes out. He functions as the darker id or alter ego of the peace-love generation.
If not taken nearly as seriously as it wants to be 'Billy Jack' can be enjoyed for it's low budget earnestness, in spite of its somewhat conflicted messages. -
t_k_matthews13 March 2012I don't know what made me think of Billy Jack and look it up on IMDb. Maybe in old age I'm looking back with fondness on the things of my youth that I despised. It's been forty years since I saw "Billy Jack," so be kind if I get a detail or two wrong.
A girl dragged me to see Billy Jack in a second-run theater. It'd been around the block once. (The movie, not the girl, who'd been around the block several times.) I think my female friend sensed that I was a little too conservative and judgmental and this was a movie I *needed* to see. In the end she was disappointed it had no discernible salutary effect on me other than to harden my stance against idiotic peace-and-love schlock.
Billy Jack fights violence by beating up people. Not exactly what Mr. Gandhi and Dr. King had in mind. We cheer for Billy (or Jack) while he lands crushing martial arts blows to (if memory serves) Republicans, rednecks, law enforcement officers, greedy land speculators, the anti-child lobby, and people who like their cars. Mr. Jack loves children, but probably not in an icky way, and is full of woo-woo mysticism which, as I recall, was often in those days linked to the use of pharmaceuticals. The Man, of course, is always trying to keep him down.
One previous review said the movie leans to the left. This movie leans to the left like the sun leans to hot. This movie is so socialist that by comparison it makes Obama's preacher look like Rick Santorum.
If pretentiousness and smug piety count against a movie at all (and they should, even making allowances for a film from the counterculture years), this is one of the worst ever. As I think about it, I'd kind of like to see it again, just for laughs.
To those who love "Billy Jack" and its message of peace, love, and harmony: If this review angers you, please don't beat me up. To misquote the song: Peace on earth/Is all I say. -
Dismenot2 August 2003A movie I think almost everyone should see. Billy Jack epitomizes the senselessness of blind hatred and bigotry, and, it was one of the best "B" movies ever made. I myself, went to a type of "freedom school" when I was a kid, and the song, "One Tin Soldier" almost became our school anthem. I love this movie and always will, but a word of warning, the younger generation wont find any "star-wars" special effect's, it was produced on a rather small budget, and anyone can find a filming flaw, in any movie, but if you take it at face value, and just enjoy the "John Wayne cleaning up the town(only moved into the 1970's instead of the 1870's)" and the message it convey's. then I think you will like this film.
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apfortony15 July 2002Billy Jack is not completely without some merit. If the story had focused more on Billy's Indian heritage they could have had a classic action pic. But the story, such as it is, is so contrived that the film veers toward becoming a camp classic. The character of Billy Jack is still popular today and a remake with Keanu Reeves (Keanu Reeves? whoa!)is supposedly in the works. Bad Idea. This movie seems like its a product of the times. The movie features a special school where kids are free to sing songs, paint pictures and write poetry in order to express their individualism and creativity ad nauseum. None of this sits well with the townsfolk (or viewer) and a town council meeting is called that apparently was completely improvised. As scary as this might seem, this was actually one of the movie's better parts. Tom Laughlin handles the martial arts scenes very well. Delores Taylor is quite good as the school's teacher and the woman Billy obviously loves for her mind. The movie is filled with crystal clear bad guys and good guys and was made in time when idealologies between generations were vastly different. While its striking how far to the right America has moved since 1971, one could argue that there wasn't much more room on the left. Billy Jack isn't boring but could have been much better. The opening shows wild horses being rounded up and treated in an unpleasant, mean way. In order to show people being mean to horses the actors had to actually be mean to the horses who obviously had no stunt doubles. This is most uncool.
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What good things can I say about this movie. At least I didn't pay the rental fee; someone else did and that's bad enough. This movie is film making at its absolute worst. The acting is terrible and the script is about as well thought out as an 8th Grade research paper. The picture quality is horrid not to mention you can't hear some of the dialogue in "potentially key" scenes. This film looks like a 8mm home movie of a hippie commune in Oregon. I don't know how this movie got any financing whatsoever let alone the revenue it brought in. Just let me some up this movie in one word. . . DUMB!!!!!
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Nat-218 October 1999I recall seeing this movie at the theater. At the time I was a teenager ripe for the anti-establishment theme (and thrilled with the "cool " violence in the movie). I thought it was the greatest movie ever made. On re-viewing it recently, I couldn't believe how stupid I was. This movie is so bad it is laughable. You can almost feel the characters straining to get their point across. The plot is simplistic and the acting is. Of course, things have changed in nearly 30 years. My taste in movies is one of them.
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gavin69429 September 2017Ex-Green Beret hapkido expert saves wild horses from being slaughtered for dog food and helps protect a desert "freedom school" for runaways.
Why this movie matters: Before "Billy Jack", movies contained at most brief references to martial arts, with fights portrayed by actors who had little training. With "Billy Jack", Han Bong Soo introduced authentic hapkido techniques to Western audiences. So there's that.
But the film is bogged down by a weird hippie school and politics that nobody seems to understand (what is "violent pacifism"?). Interestingly, Delores Taylor received a Golden Globe nomination as Most Promising Newcoming Actress. And yet, aside from the "Billy Jack" films, that promise was not followed through on. -
classicsoncall24 September 2018I can't remember when I first saw this film; it might have been when it first came out but I just don't know. In 1971 though, I was a college student at a liberal Northeastern university and the movie's sentiment would have resonated strongly. Today the entire concept of Jean Roberts' (Delores Taylor) idealistic pacifism comes across as very naïve, and it bothers me to think that there are actually people who believe that love and understanding will impact terrorist groups like Al Qaeda, the Taliban, Hamas, ISIS, or any other terrorist organization. Back then they didn't exist of course, so the discussion here revolved around the hippie movement and the rednecks who didn't tolerate them. It was interesting to live through those times, maintaining a wary distance from growing my hair too long, while adopting a fairly libertarian live and let live attitude.
I'm shocked to see on the IMDb credits page for this film that it was made for less than a million dollars and grossed ninety eight million! I can believe both figures because the production values look like it was made on the cheap, with an assist from the National Student Film Corporation, while the film's word of mouth cult status made it a must see movie during the era. The one thing I remember from my first viewing that has stayed with me all these years was when Billy (Tom Laughlin) told old man Posner (Bert Freed) he was going to put a boot upside his head and there was nothing the bigot could do about it. That was just way cool to me in my younger days, but unlike the martial arts flicks of today where the good guy takes out a hundred guys in opposition, Billy got his butt kicked as well for his good hearted efforts. In that respect, the story did have it's realistic moments.
The thing that made me question Billy's mental status was when he entered the circle for the Blood Brother Snake Ceremony with the uptight rattlesnake. I thought then, and still believe today, that that was an extremely stupid thing to do, no matter how dedicated one might be to one's vision. By my count, that snake struck six times, but since you couldn't actually see it connect, the anticipated terror is left to the imagination of the viewer.
One wouldn't have known it back then, but there was a fairly well known actor who appeared in the story. I recognized Howard Hesseman as one of the drama coaches; he's credited as a character named Don Sturdy though I don't recall that name being mentioned while watching. As for just about everyone else, the players perform well below professional level, and that may have been some of the charm of the film's popularity in the Seventies. Today a lot of it comes across as dated, even goofy, but it does encapsulate a distinct feeling one had during the Vietnam era and the attendant counter culture that grew in response. I wouldn't try to deter anyone from watching "Billy Jack", but be aware that it's appeal will be directly related to your age and what you were doing during that tumultuous era. For younger viewers, you may wind up scratching your head. -
LaxFan9417 January 2004I saw this film as quite inspirational since Tom Laughlin's character made it ok for whites in general who really feel for Native people to go out and literally defend them the way that Billy Jack. However, I'm very surprised that after reading another review on this film from someone else that they didn't even mention the way that Billy Jack was defending the Indians from the other white oppressors. That other review only mentioned that he was stopped the slaughter of the horses and that he saved that desert school from being shut down; but no mention of the more important point to the movie.
Well......... anyways............ all in all a good film but unfortunately it just had no jump or strong plot to it. This is why I gave it a 6 out of 10. -
I was a high school sophomore when this movie came out. It was one of the iconic movies of the period, but I managed to miss it until 2013 when I caught it on cable TV. All I knew about its content was what I learned from the Paul Simon SNL parody "Billy Paul" which ran a few years after the film's release. I had the impression that it was a sort of violent revenge film along the lines of "Death Wish."
Instead, it's a 2-hour reminder of how truly awful the hippie era was, full of pretension, naiveté, new-ageism, and horrid folk songs that make you want to pull a Belushi with the guitar player. The plot itself takes about 60 minutes to unravel; the rest is filler, featuring "music" or improvised comedy by the 60s troupe "The Committee" (including Howard Hesseman under a stage name). The clichés flow freely, and the characters are all cardboard cutouts, but at least things are livened up by a few good fight scenes featuring the "pacifist" Billy Jack. It's the kind of movie you'd expect when a husband/wife team writes a script, then give themselves the starring roles and the director's chair. With any luck, this film will cure any nostalgia you may still have for the late 60s/early 70s. -
drguitar2078316 November 2005This movie takes me back to 1969 (when it was first started) Also: note the high school football schedule for 1969 on the ice cream shop door with the school name marked out to preserve its anonymity). You really had to live through these days to appreciate the fact that some people really did think and act like the actors in this film.While all hippies were certainly NOT non-violent, this film earnestly tries to present an enlightened message to an adult audience that at that time was not the most socially aware in the world. =)And yes, people really did say things like: "Damn hippies! They oughtta get their hair cut! they're ruining the country!!"
The New Left movement which really became influential around 1972 and years following was the hippie fringe in 69.
This movie is simply a lot of fun. To insist it be more than that is unrealistic. It was independently produced by a guy (Laughlin) who believed in his message, wrote it and called all the shots himself. Its really not bad taken in that context. The little blonde girl singing the anti-war song is Tom and Delores' real life daughter Theresa. The comedy troupes used to appear on shows like the Smothers Brothers and were considered "way out". =) (amazing how cynical we've become isn't it??) While most of America in those days was more like the townspeople than the school people, it is still very very entertaining to see those days played out again. -
lee_eisenberg3 February 2011In the late '60s and early '70s, the American Indian Movement, combined with the releases of Arthur Penn's "Little Big Man" and Tom Laughlin's "Billy Jack" drew people's attention to the plight of the indigenous peoples of the United States. In the latter movie, Laughlin plays a half-Cherokee Vietnam vet. In his inner circle, some hippies are trying to start their own school, but the rich white people in the area do everything possible to intimidate them. The bad-ass Billy Jack, who has a few hapkido skills, is forced to take charge.
Admittedly, this isn't any kind of masterpiece. The plot - peace-loving flower children and Indians vs racist thugs - is a little hokey, and the movie has a mildly amateurish look to it. One might call it an Indian blaxploitation flick. But the importance is that it called attention to how the Indians were living, along with representing how the counterculture wanted to view itself. I didn't live through the era, so I'll probably never be able to get the full experience that the movie is supposed to elicit. But I definitely recommend it. -
It has been many years since I have witnessed this nadir of American cinema so I may get some things a little out of order. That won't matter one bit. Believe me. And you will if you've seen this thing. Really.
Anytime that the same name appears as the writer, the producer, and the director, one has to at least be mildly suspicious that nobody else seemed to want to help out. Add lead actor to the credits and you have a recipe for disaster. Somewhere Michael Medved's Golden Turkey is squawking at this load of horse excrement that through it's antidisestablishmentarianism reputation became something of a cult movie. As cult movies go, it is no better or worse than most. The bad thing about this gut buster is our hero, Tom Laughlin. Some things are impossible to fabricate. Tom's contribution to the list of such things is his decision to put himself on the credits as producer under a pseudonym. What false name did he use?, you ask. Why dear reader, he used the name Mary Rose Solti. See. I could not possibly have made that up. I checked the IMDb listing for dear old Tom and found that he's used enough pseudonyms in his career to be the most wanted interstate bank robber in history. Too bad he chose another calling.
Enough about Tom! What could I say that hasn't already been said anyway. I will give him this much.....Billy Jack was an incredible investment that returned over 80 times the initial capital required to make it! It was, however, a case of a blind squirrel finding a nut. Tom just happened to be in the right place at the right time. The three (count them) movies that he made after this demonstrated even more heavy handed preachiness than Bea Arthur off of Prozac. Two of those three featured, you guessed it, Billy Jack! The other took place too long in the past for Billy Jack to have been born yet.
Okay.....really enough about Tom!
Billy Jack is the classic story of peaceful, back-to-harmony-with-nature good folk being put down by the man. Or in this case, rednecks. It seems that the "Freedom School" has run afoul of the local banjo-boys who want it shut down, bulldozed over, and replaced with a Wal-Mart. (I'm making the Wal-Mart part up because Wal-Mart had not, by the early seventies, penetrated as far as the desert southwest where the movie takes place.) The local ruffians, with the half-hearted help of the local constabulary are intent on running Jean Roberts and her subversive school out. They are being bankrolled by the big rancher who represents American greed and capitalism. Exactly what the school teaches (aside from Freedom) is never actually explained, nor is the vehement opposition to the school. Wait, it has to be that the school helps the local tribe and the bad guys are even worse than we thought because they are kicking the Native Americans when they are down and out and are perpetuating racial stereotypes and prejudice. Little do they know that their kids will someday be begging the tribe for janitorial jobs in the Bear Runs With Cash Casino. Maybe the "Freedom School" is teaching the finer arts of the gaming industry. We'll just never know. To this maelstrom of bad feelings and violent sentiment is introduced Billy Jack. He's a half-Indian half-White tribal policeman who just happens to have been a Green Beret and who just happens to be a martial arts expert and who just happens to be really messed up because he just happens to have been over in Nam. Since he is also doing a fairly decent Robert Blake impersonation, we know he is not to be trifled with and that sooner or later all that pent up rage is just going to boil over and erupt and it ..... Ooops, I'm rambling nearly as badly as the monosyllabic dialogue. Billy Jack knows injustice when he sees it and, wouldn't you know it, sometimes the only way for peace loving touchy-feely types to flourish is to get a genuine Bad Ass like Billy Jack to do their dirty work for them.
Pretty soon, the rancher's son up and kills somebody (but not before raping his victim). Billy Jack can no longer rely on words. Sometimes an avenging angel's gotta do what an avenging angel's gotta do. With the help of his trademark Funky Hat, he kills the damnable miscreant. Oh yeah, the rape victim was Billy's love buddy. Since he has stepped over the line, he seeks sanctuary in a church (call him Quasimodo) but he gives himself up to an angry throng in order to prevent further death and chaos. I knew that Mel Gibson got that movie idea from somewhere, now I know where. We're left with the quick wrap and set-up for a sequel, The Trial of Billy Jack.....followed by the three-quel, Billy Jack Goes to Washington. Hey, a felony is no barrier to public service. Damn right.
The plot is basic and emotionally charged. In the proper hands, this would have been done decently. For example, Sam Peckinpah would have had a scene in which someone has their ears torn off with vice-grips. That would have been great cinema! This train goes off the track at the outset with the theme song, "One Tin Soldier". This song is, at best, a bad parody of really really bad folk-anthem. Hint: I think the songwriter(s) really thought it was quite good, else they surely could not have slept at night.
The trademark, Funky Hat, is almost a character in and of itself. Having been ten years old when this movie came out, I endured an entire decade of seeing really "cool" dudes wearing replicas of Funky Hat. They also wore black outfits and never seemed to have girlfriends (or boyfriends for that matter). Even today, there are those who still relish its feel on the head, its broad brimmed protection from the sun, and its ability to render the wearer totally ridiculous in appearance. I suppose you could hide a lot of pot up there in that dome and the customs officers at the border would never notice.....they'd be laughing too hard to make you take it off.
In the proper hands this movie would have favored character development while blurring the lines between good and evil ala Norman Jewison. Not so in the ham fisted directorial style of Tom Laughlin (or should we call him Mary Rose?). Tom seems to subscribe to the school of cinema that holds that audiences only recognize extremely polarized characters. Either that, or Tom had some sort of experience with peyote that rendered him incapable of crafting two dimensional (let alone three dimensional) characters. Suffice to say, you are not going to find any conflicted good guys or bad guys here.
There is not a single character that I wanted to see alive at the end of the movie. As the show drug on, I was hoping for some biblical justice that would wipe all these people from the earth.
I'm not even going to delve into the total lack of production values. That would be akin to shooting fish in a barrel. Let's just say that Ed Wood put together more polished productions. I'm sorry to all of you who have such an excitement going for this movie. It is just plain bad. -
WaikikiTodd26 December 2004Without a doubt the BEST opening sequence in movie history (with the possible exception of Barbed Wire; spectacularly beautiful, tremendous aerial shots, and subject matter...whew! And from a non-Hollywood operation, no less!!! Hurrah! The horses seem almost moving on script. And the pure rawness and glory of nature is at its most striking. And, lastly, and far from least, the incredible song by Coven (who says one-hit wonders leave little legacy). The song perfectly frames the powerful/powerless relationship that is central to the movie, and the simple truth that spiritual power will always, ultimately, trump the material. A raw film it is, and that is its glory.
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kchowdry6 January 2022A strange film to be sure ...just when you are expecting a Tough Revenge movie .. it swaps over to improvised comedy Theatre ..which is a touch disjointing to say the least ...To me it seemed as if Howard Hesseman and the Billy Jack character played by Tom Laughlin were in seperate movies ...They never shared a scene together ..maybe the 'improv' was added to Lighten the tone ..and alleviate from what is essentially a pretty depressing storyline - seems that way to me ! ...overall definitely worth a view...although you will definitely say at times ..'This is weird' ...for sure !!!
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TBoldOne28 November 2009This movie is so bad on many levels. My biggest gripe. The hero preaches non-violence throughout the movie and then....
Kicks everyones you know what.
I wish I had rode away before I saw this movie. Just Listen to my review, that was told long ago. Bout a kingdom on a mountain and a valley far away....
Seriously, If you want to see an example of 70's movie making and the belief that we have to pound the message home over and over and over again then rent this movie.
HIYA - I'm running away.