(1971)
3
Michael Betzold
A dated phenomenon of the late-'60s counterculture, Billy Jack is a crude 1971 yarn about a half-Indian Vietnam veteran who uses his martial arts skills to protect wild mustangs and a runaway teenager from backwards Arizona citizens. The townsfolk are racist, and don't like a progressive school in town catering to non-whites, so Billy Jack fights them and blows them away. Championing a violent approach to pro-Establishment attitudes, the movie was a runaway cult hit, along with its theme song, "One Tin Soldier." Virtually a one-man show, it was written and directed by its star, Tom Laughlin, who created the Billy Jack character in a 1966 motorcycle movie, The Born Losers. Billy Jack also stars Laughlin's wife, Delores Taylor. In 1974, Laughlin followed up with The Trial of Billy Jack, which together with the original had huge box-office receipts. Two more attempts at Billy Jack films, in 1977 and 1986, flopped.
Billy Jack on AllMovie
Billy Jack (1971)
