{"id":10608,"date":"2014-04-17T22:46:21","date_gmt":"2014-04-18T04:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bmovienation.com\/?p=10608"},"modified":"2014-04-17T22:46:21","modified_gmt":"2014-04-18T04:46:21","slug":"billy-jack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bmovienation.com\/?p=10608","title":{"rendered":"Billy Jack"},"content":{"rendered":"

om self-important start to self-important finish, this movie runs on all cylinders, managing to tackle every single social ill of the early 1970s that people pretended to care about.<\/p>\n

Vietnam, women\u2019s rights, Indian rights, environmentalism, alternative education, bigotry, and half-breed Green Berets that try to reconnect with their Indian heritage while practicing a unique mix of pacifism and whoop-ass are all represented.<\/p>\n

Sure, you\u2019ll cringe a bit when you hear Billy Jack talking about \u201cchecking your ego-trips\u201d and his girlfriend Jane going on about \u201cdoing something creative that turns you on,\u201d but most of the time you\u2019ll sit there stunned that this movie about one man trying to come to terms with his past, his ancestors, the world that doesn\u2019t want his kind, and the woman who can\u2019t live without him isn\u2019t recognized as one of the great films of the era.<\/p>\n

The movie grabs you as soon as that protest classic \u201cOne Tin Soldier\u201d fires up and plays in its entirety over the opening credits as we witness wild stallions being hunted down by the evil townspeople.<\/p>\n

I knew we were in for about two hours of awesome symbolism and posturing when I saw this. Still, it was with great glee that we got our first look at Billy Jack when he comes riding up on his steed, his arrival preceded by a strange wind blowing. (Is that the winds of change I hear rustling?)<\/p>\n

\"Billy<\/a><\/p>\n

He has his confrontation with the evil boss of the town, Posner, and his henchmen, including Posner\u2019s wussy son, Bernard. We know he\u2019s a wuss because he\u2019s too scared to shoot one of the stallions. The 70s though were all about personal growth so his character later develops the guts to rape Billy Jack\u2019s girlfriend and to murder one of the students of the Freedom School.<\/p>\n

Billy successfully runs off these thugs from the Indian lands, but prior to everyone\u2019s favorite Coven song playing, we get introduced to one of the storylines that will drive most of the events of the movie.<\/p>\n

One of the deputies has a rebellious daughter who keeps running away from home and ending up at Haight-Ashbury. The sheriff tells him that his daughter has been found is being brought back home and the deputy responds that he\u2019ll try and make it back from the illegal mustang shoot before Barbara is brought back home. It\u2019s probably that sort of \u201cjob comes first\u201d mentality that caused her to runaway in the first place!<\/p>\n

Once home, Barbara and her dad have a heart to heart talk that involves some give and take. She gives him that she\u2019s got hepatitis and that she\u2019s pregnant, but has no idea what color the father is. He takes his fist and punches her in the face.<\/p>\n

\"Billy