Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Tom Laughlin | ... | Billy Jack | |
Delores Taylor | ... | Jean Roberts | |
Clark Howat | ... | Sheriff Cole | |
Victor Izay | ... | Doctor | |
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Julie Webb | ... | Barbara |
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Debbie Schock | ... | Kit |
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Teresa Kelly | ... | Carol |
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Lynn Baker | ... | Sarah |
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Stan Rice | ... | Martin |
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David Roya | ... | Bernard |
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John McClure | ... | Dinosaur |
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Susan Foster | ... | Cindy |
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Susan Sosa | ... | Sunshine |
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Katy Moffatt | ... | Maria |
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Gwen Smith | ... | Angela |
Billy Jack is a half-Indian/half-white ex-Green Beret who is being drawn more and more toward his Indian side. He hates violence, but can't get away from it in the white man's world. Pitting the good guys, the students of the peace-loving free-arts school in the desert vs. the Democratic bad guys in the near-by town, the movie plays definitive late-60s themes/messages: anti-establishment, make love not war, the senseless slaughter of God's creatures, the rape of society (figuratively and literally), two-sided justice, racial segregation and prejudices. Written by Nic Cage <2cool@zebra.net>
I was a teenager when this movie came out. I've not seen it in years and found it on a bargain DVD the other night. While the matter of whether or not this is great film-making may be up for debate, there is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the most accurate records on film of what is was to be a hippie (or a freak) in the early 70's. If all you know about this is from watching "That 70's Show", this movie should be an eye-opener. I just have to make a few comments about some of the other reviews here. The musical performances were not polished and professional, however, in 1971, we weren't looking for that. We loved to sit around with other freaks and sing songs together. We liked that better than listening to the radio. We didn't play CDs at our parties, we sang for each other. Some of us had bad voices, but we didn't care. It wasn't karaoke, we wrote our own songs. This movie portrays what it was all about. The drama scenes were excellent. I was doing that kind of improv in my Jr. High Drama class. We did those kind of skits at summer camp. This again, was very common back in the day. I remember the redneck as well. I grew up in a western town and part of being a freak was that you got a lot of harassment from the rednecks. They'd gang up on you and try to cut your hair. This was really not an uncommon thing. This movie showed some contradiction of violence and the peace movement. Most of us had all of that inside of us at the time. We were influenced by Gandhi and Bruce Lee. We listened to Joan Baez and Black Sabbath. This movie hit home with so many of us because it's two main characters (Billy & Jean) were the two sides of our own psyche trying to make sense of the world around us. While the acting talent may be in question, I found the characters to be very real and many reminded me of people I grew up with. If this movie was to be remade, I doubt they could find an actor to deliver such authenticity. For anyone interested in knowing what the world was really like in 1971, this film will take you there.