I seldom read other reviewer's comments before I add my own two cents' worth, but I did for this one..don't know why. Anyway, it seems that this film is being judged against the films of today instead of with others from the early 70's. Much of what made the film a blockbuster then seems so dated now. Judged against other films of the day, Billy Jack was BIG and Billy Jack was IMPORTANT. The acting in this film is not great, but most of the cast is made up of relative unknowns. The story, as I said, is definitely passe (by today's standards). But Billy Jack was a "social consciousness" film, designed to put forward the cause of pacifism. The Vietnam war was still raging in 1971 and the antiwar juggernaut was steamrolling. This film, while not strictly an anti-war film, advocates peace, love and all that other hippie stuff. Oh, yeah...HIPPIES. When's the last time you saw a real, honest-to-God Hippie? The film is pretty much full of hippies. They espoused peace and love and sharing, a message that just wouldn't cut it today. But mixed in with the peace movement is the beginnings of the growing need to reconnect with one's ancestry. Billy Jack is an Indian. No, they don't call them Native Americans in this film, they call them Indians. Everything has changed in 30 years and that's why it's not fair to judge this film by today's standards. This film is very violent, has nudity in it and would certainly be rated "R" today. Billy Jack's martial arts sequences are actually realistic, with no one flying 20 feet through the air, turning a dozen back flips and then kicking 13 people in a quarter of a second. Somehow, it wound up with a PG rating. It's a 30+ year old film but one that deserves to be judged fairly, so judge it against other films of the time. I think you'll find it can stand on its own.
Review of Billy Jack
