Billy Jack

I first saw this film as a 14-yr old just getting into martial arts training. I had already been a big Bruce Lee fan and respected the ideals that he stood for. The same is true for Billy Jack, the character and the film. Righteousness, honesty, honour, fellowship, brotherhood, elder guidance, environmentalism and respect for nature, godliness, good vs. evil.

Even though the film's portrayal of these themes was dated and perhaps unrealistically idealistic, it spoke of truth and sacrifice and one man's devotion to these ideals. billly jack is a hero. sometimes evil needs to be stamped out and billy did this with his feet. He always gave fair warning of consequences and a way out but inevitably they chose to side with evil and not good. the most compelling part of this movie was the love he shared

Seeing this film back in '71 when it first came out did very much to change my attitudes and commentaries. Only in the old days would a movie like this create such a great change in a persons psyche. I'm very glad I discovered this film when I did and even though the production and acting qualities are pretty 'low' this movie definitely is a 'must see' for everyone. Enjoy.

Generation Xters will not have a chance at understanding this to the magnitude planned. Keeping things in proper perspective requires consideration of the time frame of this movie. In the real world we were still "in country"/Nam and getting very fed up with the associated atrocities both there and here. The differences between liberals and conservatives were at an all-time-high. This movie definitely leans to the left on many issues but only really to point out how important it is to not lose our humanity. It was really about a man who, disillusioned by what he saw his own country do overseas, came home to find the same thing. The fighting scenes were excellent for their time. The use of a hard style of martial arts was different and very impressive. Tom's execution of moves were both well done and in most cases reasonably realistic (maybe a few too many karate chops). The acting was anywhere between good to just adequate,,, which in some cases gave it a more realistic feel (less hollywoodlike).

This 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.

I 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.