Billy Jack is the classic story of peaceful, back-to-harmony-with-nature good folk being put down by the man. Or in this case, rednecks. It seems that the “Freedom School” has run afoul of the local banjo-boys who want it shut down, bulldozed over, and replaced with a Wal-Mart. (I’m making the Wal-Mart part up because Wal-Mart had not, by the early seventies, penetrated as far as the desert southwest where the movie takes place.) The local ruffians, with the half-hearted help of the local constabulary are intent on running Jean Roberts and her subversive school out. They are being bankrolled by the big rancher who represents American greed and capitalism. Exactly what the school teaches (aside from Freedom) is never actually explained, nor is the vehement opposition to the school. Wait, it has to be that the school helps the local tribe and the bad guys are even worse than we thought because they are kicking the Native Americans when they are down and out and are perpetuating racial stereotypes and prejudice. Little do they know that their kids will someday be begging the tribe for janitorial jobs in the Bear Runs With Cash Casino. Maybe the “Freedom School” is teaching the finer arts of the gaming industry. We’ll just never know. To this maelstrom of bad feelings and violent sentiment is introduced Billy Jack. He’s a half-Indian half-White tribal policeman who just happens to have been a Green Beret and who just happens to be a martial arts expert and who just happens to be really messed up because he just happens to have been over in Nam. Since he is also doing a fairly decent Robert Blake impersonation, we know he is not to be trifled with and that sooner or later all that pent up rage is just going to boil over and erupt and it ….. Ooops, I’m rambling nearly as badly as the monosyllabic dialogue. Billy Jack knows injustice when he sees it and, wouldn’t you know it, sometimes the only way for peace loving touchy-feely types to flourish is to get a genuine Bad Ass like Billy Jack to do their dirty work for them.

Pretty soon, the rancher’s son up and kills somebody (but not before raping his victim). Billy Jack can no longer rely on words. Sometimes an avenging angel’s gotta do what an avenging angel’s gotta do. With the help of his trademark Funky Hat, he kills the damnable miscreant. Oh yeah, the rape victim was Billy’s love buddy. Since he has stepped over the line, he seeks sanctuary in a church (call him Quasimodo) but he gives himself up to an angry throng in order to prevent further death and chaos. I knew that Mel Gibson got that movie idea from somewhere, now I know where. We’re left with the quick wrap and set-up for a sequel, The Trial of Billy Jack…..followed by the three-quel, Billy Jack Goes to Washington. Hey, a felony is no barrier to public service. Damn right.