Billy Jack, an appreciation (films, greatest, coming, life)
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Billy Jack isn't a "bad movie" in any way, shape or form. It's message transcends the lack of acting skills or other technical shortcomings. The opening of the film is extremely powerful, and the message carries through to the end.
Scumbag people chase down and corral wild horses so they can massacre them to make a few bucks selling them to the glue factory. If that isn't evil, I don't know what is. This same evil force, which symbolizes mainstream society, continues through the film, and Billy Jack, once a part of it now an outsider, stands against it all.
Look at factory farming and the way mainstream society treats the environment and each other in general, yes - mainstream society is evil.
It's a brilliant film and should never be put in the category of bad movies.
Billy Jack isn't a "bad movie" in any way, shape or form. It's message transcends the lack of acting skills or other technical shortcomings. The opening of the film is extremely powerful, and the message carries through to the end.
Scumbag people chase down and corral wild horses so they can massacre them to make a few bucks selling them to the glue factory. If that isn't evil, I don't know what is. This same evil force, which symbolizes mainstream society, continues through the film, and Billy Jack, once a part of it now an outsider, stands against it all.
Look at factory farming and the way mainstream society treats the environment and each other in general, yes - mainstream society is evil.
It's a brilliant film and should never be put in the category of bad movies.
What you're describing is a sermon. Even if the message of BILLY JACK is a good one --- personally, I think it's muddled at best --- as a movie it is at best inept.
The leads can't act.
The writer has no sense of dialogue at all. "When policemen break the law, then there isn't any law. Just a fight for survival. " Seriously. Who talks like that???
The story tries to honor Native American culture, but gets almost all the major details completely wrong. Maybe the library was closed the day they were writing those scenes? 'Cause I think they just made most of it up.
It's preachy.
All that said ... I love every second of it. If I made a list of my favorite movies from the '70s, BILLY JACK would definitely be in the Top 20. Might even crack the Top 10 if I'm in the right mood.
But a well made movie? It isn't. It's a film that succeeds in spite of itself, not because of it.
What you're describing is a sermon. Even if the message of BILLY JACK is a good one --- personally, I think it's muddled at best --- as a movie it is at best inept.
The leads can't act.
The writer has no sense of dialogue at all. "When policemen break the law, then there isn't any law. Just a fight for survival. " Seriously. Who talks like that???
The story tries to honor Native American culture, but gets almost all the major details completely wrong. Maybe the library was closed the day they were writing those scenes? 'Cause I think they just made most of it up.
It's preachy.
All that said ... I love every second of it. If I made a list of my favorite movies from the '70s, BILLY JACK would definitely be in the Top 20. Might even crack the Top 10 if I'm in the right mood.
But a well made movie? It isn't. It's a film that succeeds in spite of itself, not because of it.
Again, it succeeds despite horrible acting, writing exaggerations and inaccuracies because of it's message. It's a classic because all of it's technical shortcomings are overlooked for the greatness of the story and the message. Underneath it all there is a lot of truth in this movie, and Tom is one of my favorite movie heroes of all time. Ironically trained to fight by the military, he felt empathy for powerless and discriminated against people as well as animals, and was willing to defend them with his life. A character like that could only come from the mind of an individual rather than the movie industry, it's a minor miracle the film got made at all.
Billy Jack isn't a "bad movie" in any way, shape or form. It's message transcends the lack of acting skills or other technical shortcomings. The opening of the film is extremely powerful, and the message carries through to the end. Scumbag people chase down and corral wild horses so they can massacre them to make a few bucks selling them to the glue factory. If that isn't evil, I don't know what is. This same evil force, which symbolizes mainstream society, continues through the film, and Billy Jack, once a part of it now an outsider, stands against it all.
Look at factory farming and the way mainstream society treats the environment and each other in general, yes - mainstream society is evil.
It's a brilliant film and should never be put in the category of bad movies.
The bold sentence is exactly why it's such a bad movie. Selling horses to the glue factory (actually it was a dogfood plant) was not a profitable venture in 1971. Occasionally an order buyer from the dogfood plant would come through and offer to buy any aging, lame, or otherwise unwanted horses for a few pennies a pound, but there wasn't enough money in it to justify taking a crew out and rounding up wild horses to sell for dog food. It would have been more realistic if he were shooting them to keep them from eating the grass.
The bold sentence is exactly why it's such a bad movie. Selling horses to the glue factory (actually it was a dogfood plant) was not a profitable venture in 1971. Occasionally an order buyer from the dogfood plant would come through and offer to buy any aging, lame, or otherwise unwanted horses for a few pennies a pound, but there wasn't enough money in it to justify taking a crew out and rounding up wild horses to sell for dog food. It would have been more realistic if he were shooting them to keep them from eating the grass.
You don't understand. That represented people who would destroy someone's wild and free spirit, just for personal gain.
The bold sentence is exactly why it's such a bad movie. Selling horses to the glue factory (actually it was a dogfood plant) was not a profitable venture in 1971. Occasionally an order buyer from the dogfood plant would come through and offer to buy any aging, lame, or otherwise unwanted horses for a few pennies a pound, but there wasn't enough money in it to justify taking a crew out and rounding up wild horses to sell for dog food. It would have been more realistic if he were shooting them to keep them from eating the grass.
It's been a long time since I saw this movie, but dogfood or glue factory, what they were doing was atrocious - and Billy Jack stopped them. The way people treat animals bothers me even more than the way they treat each other, probably because I dislike the human race in general. There are some good people, but most simply suck.
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