I love this movie so much

How sad is this?

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

I'm not a fan of the hippie movement. Mostly drug abuse, promiscuous sex, and bad personal hygiene. But there was also a message of peace, self expression, and an awareness of racism and political corruption in the early 70's. This low budget film gives viewers a glimpse into this aspect (from a small town local perspective).But that passive (peaceful) mentality gets thrown out the window for Billy Jack when local punks, a spoiled rich kid, and a crooked police deputy push things too far. Tom Laughlin plays a quick-tempered green beret Vietnam vet that puts his martial arts skills to work on these corrupt antagonizing locals.Again, this is a low budget early 70's film. So Rambo it is not, but it does give you quite a bit of satisfaction seeing Billy Jack whoop some tail to those who had it coming.

There is not much more that I can say about this film that hasn't already been said, so far as the plot and overall production is concerned, so this will be more of a personal observation.I saw this movie during its original run in my local movie theater and it made a huge impression on me as a young teenager. I grew up in a place that was very much like the one in Billy Jack, where the small-mindedness of the townspeople was acute, and serious hatred and violence was directed at anyone who did not conform. This movie instilled in me a life-long desire to fight against injustice by standing up for the underdog. It also left me with a serious dislike of The Man in general and those people in authority who act in an arbitrary manner, while carrying prejudice and hate in their hearts.Watching this movie later as an adult, I am well aware that this film is essentially a B-movie and that the acting is very amateurish in places, but for me personally, that only adds to the enduring charm. The most valuable aspects of this film should never be overlooked and that lies in the messages that this movie imparts, among them, the duality of human beings and the psychologically confusing nature of mankind, demonstrated most vividly in the personal conflicts embodied in the character of Billy Jack. Thank you Billy Jack for being a great role model who stood for something I still believe in: The importance of taking care of, standing up for, and defending those less fortunate than you are.

The 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).

I doubt anyone born in the 80's and 90's could appreciate this "message" movie made in 1969 and released 2 years later..when Billy Jack came out, I had already been to war in Vietnam..and I didn't understand the Hippie movement or the peace movement and it took quite some time for me to come to grips with the other opinions that began to pervade American culture..I eventually realized that for a lot of US or American involvement in other countries' affairs has been going on for longer than anyone can remember..most of our wars are unnecessary..with that said..Billy Jack had studio financing problems..and Jean was not the first one cast to play that part..however..a lot of people complain that it looks cheap or amateurish..you have to realize..$800,000 doesn't go very far..and still made $65 million at the box office and $ 32 million in rentals..but back to Billy Jack..a guy who would much rather just live his life in peace..but the bigots just won't live and let live..and he is faced with a few situations where his training takes over..instinct..self preservation..he does his best to no avail..there are some classic scenes and memorable dialogue..one which has been quoted..when the deputy holds a gun to the girl's head and Billy levels his Winchester at the deputy.."you mean you'd kill her, just like that?" Billy replies.."You"ll kill her..then I"ll kill you..just like that.."..anyone who lived through that time will see similarities to events around them growing up as depicted in the movie..anyone looking for a CGI special effects..30 explosions per half hour will not find them here..but what they do find here will be thought-provoking and sincere..the characters are NOT stereotypes..I have known folks JUST LIKE THESE ..and hopefully you'll enjoy this minor classic..JUST LIKE THAT..