Share:                           
Permalink:       

DVD Review: BILLY JACK (BLU-RAY)

Studio: Image Entertainment
Year: 1971
Cast: Tom Laughlin, Delores Taylor, Clark Howat, Julie Webb, Teresa Kelly, Victor Izay, David Roya, Bert Freed, Ken Tobey, Cisse Colpitts, Howard Hesseman, Ed Greenberg, Allan Meyerson, Richard Stahl, Stan Rice, Lynn Baker, John McClure, Susan Foster, Susan Sosa, Katy Moffatt, Gwen Smith
Director: Tom Laughlin (as T.C. Frank)
Release Date: September 29, 2009
Rating: PG for (violence, brief nudity, rape)
Run Time: 01h:54m:22s
Genre(s): drama

"Bernard, I want you to know that I try. When Jean and the kids at the school tell me that I'm supposed to control my violent temper, and be passive and nonviolent like they are, I try. I really try. Though when I see this girl, of such a beautiful spirit, so degraded. And this boy, that I love, sprawled out by this big ape here. And this little girl, who is so special to us we call her "God's little gift of sunshine", and I think of the number of years that she's going to have to carry in her memory the savagery of this idiotic moment of yours...I...just...go......berserk!" - Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin)

Buy Now @ Amazon

On the bloody morning after, one tin soldier actually does ride away in the cultural curiosity known as Billy Jack.

Recommended.

Movie Grade: B-

DVD Grade: B-

One could write a loooong book on the fascinating history of the 1971 low-budget juggernaut Billy Jack, from its origins to its development to its distribution to its unique marketing campaign without ever discussing the plot of the film itself. But that's a tale for another time, because I'm here to talk about the film, specifically the Image Blu-Ray release of Tom Laughlin's peace-love-kicking-bigots-hippie-neo-western.

Set in the southwest circa 1970, Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin) is a half-breed ex-Green Beret martial arts killing machine with issues when it comes to controlling his temper, something that is constantly put to the test due to his relationship with extreme pacifist Jean (Delores Taylor), who runs the alternative "Freedom School".

The problem is the narrow-minded locals—including the deputy sheriff—don't take kindly to Jean and her hippie-dippy desert ways, catering as she does to peace-loving counterculture teens of all races. This means Billy is often forced to kick some revengeful ass, which only serves to make him a sworn enemy of crusty old Stuart Posner (Burt Freed), the powerful Boss Hogg of the town. Posner's son Bernard (David Roya) is the real thorn, a bratty rich kid trying to prove himself to daddy, and as the bigoty townsfolk hunt for a pregnant teen hiding out at Jean's school, the level of violence intensifies.

That makes Billy Jack very, very mad. And you wouldn't like Billy Jack when he gets mad.

The main thrust of the film is Laughlin's sometimes preachy defense of Indian rights (no PC Native American mentions here), as Billy Jack is proudly steeped in the ancient ways, even at one point taking part in some sort of get-bit-repeatedly-by-a-rattlesnake ceremony that is meant to make him stronger. Toss in more than a few point-blank swipes at the government, mix in some societal jabs at the establishment, shake liberally with a dash of eye-for-eye retribution and what comes out the other side is a movie that created a cinematic folk hero and celebrated the so-called lovenik counterculture.

The bad guys here are so bad it's a wonder they're not wearing Snidely Whiplash moustaches, so it makes Bill Jack's twirling roundhouse-kick paybacks more than justifiable. The broad strokes of badness careen wildly from a flour-induced assault in an ice cream shop (easily one of the film's signature moments) to much darker violence in the third act which then eventually lays the groundwork for the film's sequel.

Laughlin paints Billy Jack as having almost supernatural powers of awareness, and whether it's on horse or motorcycle he always has the knack of showing up at the right time (almost, that is), as if his spider senses were tingling. In fact, Jean proclaims that if there's trouble "we just want him, and somehow he shows up". Laughlin may not be the world's finest actor, but the image of Billy, in his big ol' hat spouting his words of wisdom just before he erupts, remains today as a pretty commanding movie character; he's a veritable B-movie icon.

There's a strange flow to this one, with frequent rambling sequences (such as a couple of improv classes or a boisterous city council meeting) that would probably make a film editor scream nowadays. Some of the secondary characters read lines woodenly, while others carry themselves naturally. Little Teresa Kelly (Laughlin and Taylor's 11 year-old daughter) is a real scene-stealer with her song about her brother who died in the war, in a sequence that seems almost like it fell out of someone's home movie. It's sweet and genuine, and she makes the most of her minimal screentime.

The story arc is heavy-handed, but yet compelling, even if it's all fairly simplistic. Perhaps Laughlin should have tightened it up a bit, but then it wouldn't be what it is—one of those warts-and-all time capsule films that so perfectly capture an aspect of the peace-and-love period. The dramatic final scene—for all of its potential hokeyness—still carries a cornball coolness today, the kind of moment where something somewhere inside me still mutters "right on!"

If you're a film completist—one who desperately needs representative titles from all key eras and genres—then the addition of Billy Jack to your library is a given. Image has bestowed a fairly impressive restoration process on this, and it keeps all of the counterculture cool intact.

Far from a perfect film, it is a period "us vs them" snapshot of those very turbulent times (late 60s/early 70s) on one hand, and it's an example of cutting-edge marketing techniques that helped carve out its place as a cultural classic.

IMAGE/AUDIO
The AVC-encoded 1.78:1 transfer is—given its low rent roots—is really quite attractive, and it maintains the requisite "early 1970s film" look, with nearly all the grain left intact. A film like Billy Jack should really only look so pristine—I think it helps maintain the antiestablishment theme—yet the Frank Laughlin-supervised restoration clearly reflects a lot of effort to clean this one up, and the results are noticeable (even moreso from the 2005 SD release). Facial details, especially on closeups, is probably sharper than it ever looked—including theatrically—and certain elements, such as the bright blue of the desert sky or the trippy cool clothing of the kids—pops off the screen. Yet with that said this isn't the be-all-end-all of BD transfers, as a few scenes appear so soft as to almost be out of focus, but for a rebellious B-movie it really doesn't look its age at all. Very nice, all things considered.

A bit less consistent is the DTS-HD Master Audio track, which after the impressive multi-channel opening credits treatment of the song One Tin Soldier then shifts to having to work with mostly flat dialogue tracks that never achieve the same level. Voices and some sound effect cues come off a little thin, and the clarity of the track shoots itself in the foot by really accenting the moments of post-production dialogue looping, which stick out like the proverbial sore thumb here. To be fair, the original limitations of the film's audio are rendered cleanly, without any unnatural alterations.

EXTRAS
Extras include two commentary tracks repurposed from the 2005 The Ultimate Billy Jack Collection, the first (recorded in 2000) has Tom McLaughlin and Delores Taylor, while the second (recorded in 2005) has the pair again, this time teamed up with son Frank Laughlin. It is perhaps a bit redundant to have two tracks—as there is some definite content overlap between them—but there is a distinctly different spin on the second track, as son Frank provides another layer of recollections, from his time on the set as a 13-year-old to overseeing the restoration/transfer.

An SD feature lazily entitled Mini-Documentary (14m:00s) is a nice history lesson sadly packaged in a silly shell that tries to be quirky and just comes off annoying. The content is excellent, and does a wonderful job encapsulating the origins of Billy Jack, The Born Loser, the landmark marketing campaign, etc., but the attempts at visual humor seem childishly inappropriate. And the narration tends to clip often, which is equally aggravating.

A set of original television commercials runs about 8 minutes, and if anything this will make you realize just how impressive the transfer of the film is. The spots look to be about 100 years old, with all sorts of faded colors and debris, though from an historical perspective, however, it is interesting to see how this film was marketed, including one trailer that features nearly the entire dramatic final act moment between Billy Jack and Jean.

Posted by: Rich Rosell - November 13, 2009, 5:51 am - DVD Review
Keywords: counterculture, billy jack, cult classic