Wonderfully offbeat film!

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

For some reason, I remember this as being the target of jokes and sneers when it was new.Making sure to avoid prejudice, wanting to see it myself and know for sure, I recorded it when it premiered on Turner Classic Movies so I could watch in the right mood.What a pleasant surprise it turned out to be.To the best of my weakening memory, I don't believe I've ever seen Tom Laughlin and now I wonder why.First, he was a really good-looking guy, and he was a very pleasant personality on screen. He should have become a major player.Elizabeth James might not have been the best actress around in the '60s and '70s, but my gosh was she a looker. She had a fit, athletic presence, and just glowed on the screen, and she should also have been a major player.And why isn't there more information about her? She seems a fascinating person.Not such a surprise, but really deserving prominent mention, was Jane Russell's performance.She has not been treated with the respect I think she deserves, having not completely recovered from the "wouldn't you like to tussle with Russell?" PR nonsense from her first movie, "The Outlaw." But she was, frankly, great in this small part. Actually, she had been turning in great performances for a long time, and she has been great because she made the effort to become an actress, and not just coast on her looks.Jeremy Slate was so good in his villainous role, his character was almost admirable, almost likable. The man is a standout in any movie he is in. He's been gone a little more than two years now, and he left a void.Let's be honest: The script could have used a good editor. There were some hokey moments that could have been fixed with just a little effort before production.But all in all, this is a good movie, within the context of what it tried to do and be.Now I look forward to seeing the other "Billy Jack" movies.

This flick was pathetic. So bad, it's still not good enough to be "so bad, it's good". Billy Jack is an Indian? From what Native American tribe? The white Irishmen? They say this guy Laughlin has a martial arts background? I know at least ten residents of an assisted living home that could mop the floor with his self righteous ass. He has the strange ability to render people helpless with feeble karate chops. And what about that biker leader with the white-framed sunglasses? Was this a fem bike club or what? And the chick riding around on a scooter with white gogo boots and a white bikini? Who the hell did she think she was? Girls who cavorted around like that were considered to be sluts anyway, so what's the point? Jane Russell hit rock bottom here. Tom Laughlin is definitely talent free. A loser indeed. This movie reeks!

This was the start of the Billy Jack Legacy as this movie hit the theaters on August 18 1967 starring Tom Laughlin as Billy Jack, Elizabeth James as Vicky Barrington, and Jeremy Slate as Daniel Carmody. A motorcycle gang led by Daniel Danny Carmody rides through the local towns terrorizing the people and the local law is afraid of them. Enters Vicky Barrington who races to the airport to pick up her dad only to find out that she was rejected again. While the gang is riding the come across a young kid who they beat up and Billy Jack comes to his rescue. Billy is arrested along with the bikers and thrown in jail. The gang ends up raping four women who they have threaten the women into not testifying. Vicki who was raped goes under the protection of Billy Jack who has also had several altercations with the gang. The gang escalates their pressure on both Vicki and Billy Jack to keep her out of the courtroom. Some facts you may not know. This picture was banned from Sweden because of its high violence rating in 1968, 1972, and 1975. When Billy Jack and Vicky go into eat at a local restaurant they are met by an astrologer. The astrologer asks Billy when his birthday is, Billy told him August 10, and that is the real birthday of Tom Laughlin. Thoughts on the movie! I thought it was a great movie that kept my interest all the way through. You can see way Tom Laughlin did all four Billy jack pictures because he was excellent in his role as Billy Jack. Elizabeth James was excellent in her role as Vicky Barrington. She was gorgeous riding around in that white bikini on her bike. Because of Vicky and the action in this movie I give this picture 10 weasel stars.

I caught this film the other (late) night on cable. As a youth I really enjoyed the karate action Billy Jack movies but I had never seen this one. The reason I had never seen it is that is was so bad, it didn't deserve the airtime back in the 70's. It's just a bad film all the way around. The editing is just horrible, Tom Laughlin is OK as Billy Jack but everyone else is horrible. It is almost a comedy it is so bad. Reminds me a bit of the Beach Blanket Bingo movies with the stereotyped, one dimensional biker characters. Jane Russel has a small part and even though she is way over-the top, it was enjoyable to watch her. Some of the dialogue seems written by a 10 year old - especially the scenes between the law enforcement officials. On top of that, I was disappointed in the action scenes. Very little Billy Jake fight scenes compared with the later Billy Jake movies.