I had heard about this movie many years ago when I was interested in hapkido (a Korean martial art) and read about Bong Soo Han. Grandmaster Bong Soo Han was responsible for bringing this art in the 60ies to the western world. I read back then that he and hapkido became famous in the western world through a movie called "Billy Jack". The text said that this movie was some of the best martial art movies ever made. Back then I never thought I'd ever see that movie and I did not even want to.
A year ago I accidentally saw "Billy Jack" at a local store and couldn't resist..
After seeing it a few times :-) here comes my review..
Story
The movie portrays a town in the Southwest, with an Indian reservation and a "Freedom School". The white "town's people" have prejudice against the Indians, hunt mustangs on Indian's land (for dog-food) and have issues with the Freedom School.
There's Billy Jack, a halfblood and an ex-Green Beret who lives with an Indian and protects both the Indians and the Freedom School. If Billy wouldn't stand up for them, the pacifist Indian's rights would not be respected.
I don't want to give away the plot.. but something happens and the town's people demand closing the school; driven by fear of foreign things. There is a very impressive scene when the students of the Freedom School meet the town's council.. see below.
More things happen (.. see the movie yourself!) and Billy Jack cannot remain calm an pacifist but returns violence with violence. Police gets involved and ultimately it comes to a showdown between the police and Billy.
The outcome of this showdown is a surprise as well, and it is a happy ending, very emotional and untypical.
My opinion
Within less than 5 minutes, the movie had made a good impression on me. The scenes in the beginning show beautiful landscapes, the songs and whole production is kind of amateur-like (no Hollywood-perfection). And it is definitely not a martial arts movie but - I would say - a political movie. When I saw it the first time, I thought it was kind of a school project!
Indeed it is something like a family production. Tom Laughlin wrote the script with his girlfriend/wife(?) Delores Taylor. They also play the two main characters, Billy Jack and the teacher at the freedom school. One of Laughlin's daughters plays the character of 'Carol' who reads the Hitler quote to the council. There are no other - to my knowledge - "famous" actors in this movie, except Grandmaster Han.
Filmmaker Tom Laughlin had met Bong Soo Han at a martial arts demonstration. They became friends and the very impressed Laughlin decided to include Han's art somehow in his project. Han directed the fight scenes and doubled Laughlin in them.
Violence
This movie has to be judged with knowing that it was made 1971.
I think almost any action movie released today is way more violent than Billy Jack. There is a fight scene that where Billy gets a bloody nose, and in the end some people die. In all cases the violence is not shown glorified and there are even scenes where one would expect something to happen but conflicts are handled with words, like "You drive your car in the lake or I break your arm!" (the guy chose to drive his car in the lake which made his daddy real unhappy).
But for 1971 this movie was violent, I guess.
The political claim
Tom Laughlin claims to have made a political movie and I agree. Again, you need to see that this movie was released in the Vietnam era. People were fed up with government, society was polarized left-right.. and this movie definitely leans to the left side.
Some examples?
There is some improvisational theater play. One scene brings the message "God is black", another scene shows the hypocrisy of the establishment towards marijuana (alcohol is accepted). The most controversial scene is when young student Carol (played by Laughlin's daughter) asks the town council for permission to read a historical quote.
"The streets in our country, are in turmoil. The universities are filled with students rebelling and rioting. Communists are seeking to destroy our country. Russia is threatening us with her might, and our Republic is in danger -- yes, danger from within and without. We need law and order. Without law and order, our nation cannot survive.
[pause]
You want to know who wrote it?"
[pause]
"Adolph Hitler wrote it in 1932, and everyone from Nixon's cabinet to your council is repeating it today."
These 3 statements are not mainstream material today and just think of the reference to Nixon - they were dynamite 30 years ago. Twentieth Century-Fox did not want to publish this but asked Laughlin to cut them out. Laughlin had to buy his rights back and the movie was later distributed by Warner Bros.
A believable Message?
Yes, there is stuff to criticize. This movie shows a view of a world that is easy, an adolescent view. Here are the "bad", there are the "good". The peace-loving Indians. Pacifism everywhere. The student Martin, he is an idealist, pacifistic, loves without requiring anything and has finally to pay for it as a martyr. (on a side note, is that accident? Martin, martyr?)
There is Bernard, the son of the town's rich man (Posner). He had his problems with his dad but plays the role of the mean bully. There is the bad deputy who follows Posner instead of the law and so on..
The students from the Freedom school were in their way just as conformist as the town's people. Both sides fear each other (but come closer over time.)
Conclusion
Yes, it is a simplified, adolescent view, and yes, it does not have the perfection of Titanic, but it was made sincerely and - I assume - it does show how people felt in those years. I can recommend to see it and I would have liked to see it on a big theather screen instead of a TV.
Product DetailsOriginal Title:Billy JackActors: Bert Freedq - Clark Howat - Delores Taylor - Ken Tobey - Tom LaughlinCondition: NEWFormat: DVDDirecto...More at iNetVideo.com
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