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Billy Jack | Year: 1971 Directed: - Tom Laughlin Actors/Actresses: - Tom Laughlin One Of The Greatest Movies Of All Time! The movie Billy Jack was a film industry phenomenon when it was first released. It still retains just as much a powerful psychological and emotional impact today. It is a "hippie western" that preaches the message of peace, love and individualism. Unfortunately this philosophy can be greatly thwarted by bigotedly intolerant, narrow-minded and arrogant people in a very small town.<BR> The "Freedom School" contains many minorities of people: American Indians, long-haired hippies, blacks, socially and emotionally dysfunctional youths, etc. The "redneck" townspeople in this very small southwestern town verbally harass, physically abuse and mentally torture these youths with illegally discriminating behavior.<BR> The half-breed Indian Billy Jack defends these defenseless people by utilizing his wonderful martial arts skills. Billy Jack wreaks righteous revenge on the perpetrators of these injustices. A message that this fantastic and always timely film evokes is this: that the wrongdoing of warped bigotry, devastatingly horrible slander, etc. is not always cured by "turning the other cheek". Sometimes malevolent force has to be destroyed by benevolent force.<BR> The movie Billy Jack has attained a mythic cult classic status. When you consider the very limited budget this movie was created with and the very powerful impact it has had since its first release I would have to rate this film as one of the greatest movies of all time. Its message: " that the majority over the minority and might makes right " can be toppled and corrected by righteous revenge defending the meek is just as vital today as it was thousands of years ago. "The meek shall inherit the earth". The half-breed Indian Billy Jack assisted the meek and weak to inherit their rightful part of the earth in that very small redneck town.<BR> There have been some social instances similar to this social scenario in the movie Billy Jack that have occurred in reality. I can empathize with this movie because I have witnessed a similar situation in my hometown. Admirably Violent Non-Violence Any film whose main thread is that it takes an extremely violent advocate of non-violence to truly protect the non-violent, immediately has my full attention and respect. If I could have only been around in the early seventies to watch hordes of stringy-haired American middle to upper class youth cheer, in all seriousness, a denim-clad white guy kicking the living hell out of (and in some cases even kill) anyone who doesn't practice the appropriate level of peace and understanding, I would have truly been in heaven. This movie and it's enduring popularity have confirmed what I have always suspected: disagree with a pacifist and they would like nothing more than to place your head on a pike. If a person could have jammed anymore sixties clichés into an hour and a half, I'd like to watch their movie, too. Leading the pack would be the connection to "Indians", followed by ear-ringing singalongs at the school.....being bitten by rattlesnakes in a "purification process"....guerilla theater.......expressing yourself......"squares"......and on and on. Jean is the lady that runs the school and, despite a notable lack of physical contact, is Billy Jack's lady. She is the good cop to his bad and spends a great deal of time doing one of two things: trying to talk Billy Jack out of collapsing your windpipe OR sneering with satisfaction once he actually does it. Jean's philosophy is plain and straightforward: there isn't a problem in the world that couldn't be solved in a peaceful manner if people would just love one another....and if that doesn't work, I'll un-cage Billy Jack and set him out to snapping your limbs like twigs. She also has the most unusual set of sideburns I've ever seen in my life. There's not been a movie made that I'd rather watch than this one. Buy it. Quickly. For A 1971 Film It Still Makes The Grade I love this movie the first time I saw it, and I still love it today. This movie portrays a time when racism was really rampant; when people were searching for meaning in their lives, and when people still believed that good might triumph over evil. Tom Laughlin turns in the performance of a lifetime in this film. I plan on checking out the other Billy Jack movies, but I doubt any will match up to this one. If any of you amazon.com reviewers can think of one, let me know, please. God Bless! Happy movie watching and book reading everyone. www.therunninggirl.com Buy Billy Jack at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Billy Jack Search with the Priority Search Engine on Billy Jack This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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