The Return of Billy Jack (1)
Billy Jack returns to bring down a child pornography ring headed by the Godfather of Godfathers. The Return of Billy Jack is an unfinished theatrical film that was in production from December 1985 to early 1986 in New York City with additional scenes filmed in Toronto.
Watch Trailer
Cast
Similar titles
Reviews
Very disappointing...
Undescribable Perfection
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.
Over two dozen ratings for a film that has zero reviews. Obviously someone went to the trouble to pad those ratings.Tom Laughlin made some of the worst films of all time, loved mostly by those who want to hear preaching to the converted. His only hit was the original Billy Jack, and that because of blind luck. It happened to coincide with the first wave of martial arts films to be popular in the US.That's gone in the rest of his movies. All of Laughlin's later films were incredibly preachy, appealing mostly to those who naively romanticized the Weather Underground but never had the guts to join. This film is no exception. It also features Laughlin's bizarre race baiting: Himself as very obviously white...but playing a laughable stereotype of a Native...while posing as a champion of Natives...yet choosing causes that are far and away from actual Native issues. Got that?The Billy Jack character is also based on the lies told by a white New Age imposter. John Pope was a retired white railroad worker who posed as Cherokee and had a cult following of white hippies. Among those he fooled were the Grateful Dead. The film went thru half a dozen changes in subject and script before settling on the cheapest easy target, mobsters and child abusers. And still it manages to be so irritating and preachy that you start to root for the villains.Thankfully, Laughlin passed away without ever getting funding for a Billy Jack remake. There were plans to get Keanu Reeves to star in it (!?) that were luckily ended by Native protests.For all but Laughlin's three or four remaining fans, save yourself the pain of watching this.