Billy Jack was the story of a half-Indian ex-Green Beret hapkido master kicking people in the head, occasionally stopping so some hippies could talk about their memories of the '60s and hope those same movements would progress into the '70s. If you hit the mute button while the hippies are on screen, it's a thoroughly entertaining flick.
That was followed by The Trial of Billy Jack, which turns up the volume on the hippie-talk and really only gives you a couple fights. There's even a theme about how Billy Jack needs to stop resolving problems by kicking people in the head. I'd like to note, however, a number of these hippies later take several rifle rounds to the torso and are walking around the hospital in the next scene, so maybe they're tougher than they look. The hippie headmistress even learns hapkido, so perhaps there's at least a bit of give on the hippie side as they acquiesce to the basic need which is self-defense and take a step back from non-violent solutions to everything.
That brings us to the fourth entry in the series, Billy Jack Goes to Washington. I searched for the subtitle "To Kick Congress 'Cross the Right Side of Its Face with His Left Foot," but I couldn't find it anywhere. I assume it was dropped shortly prior to release.
Synopsis:
A Congressman dies on the floor of the Senate, prompting the governor to appoint someone to the post for the last two months of his term. Thinking he can score some minority votes next election for his party, the gov chooses Billy Jack to become ... Senator Billy Jack.
Review:
This movie had every chance to be epically bad.
1) anti-nuclear theme from the '70s in the wake of Three Mile Island
2) only one fight scene, and it's not on the Congressional floor
3) Tom Laughlin (Billy Jack) trying and failing to do his best Jimmy Stewart from Mr. Smith Goes to Washington ... yes, it's even during a filibuster
4) third sequel to a little known cult film with no actors of any notoriety
5) second sequel was three ... fucking ... hours ... long
However, to my utter amazement, the anti-nuclear theme is superficial at best, and the cynicism with which DC and Congress are dismantled hits my radio frequency pretty damn well. Run time clocks in at about two hours, and while Billy Jack is clearly representing some hippie ideals, the writers refrain from giving him any real allies in Congress, thereby painting them all as the corrupt, wasteful douchebags they are. They're portrayed as assholes who are in the biz of being reelected and use national legislation as the means to do so. It's astonishing how applicable political commentary from four decades hence is to today's aristocracy. Hell, I think Billy Jack is even fighting a "required" funding bill with an insane, unrelated rider.
Naturally, he's smacked down in much the same way I assume real politicians are -- bribery. A whole Congressional committee is bought, expert witnesses with manufactured opinions are brought in, the media editors get paid off, members of Congress walk out during critical votes to avoid having to make real decisions, they hire explicitly African-American muscle to intimidate Billy Jack by trying to assault and rape his hippie friends.
His exact quote is something like, "Kunta Kinte would be rolling over in his grave if he knew you were selling out to the man like this." I can't think of another '70s flick where a white dude lectures a group of brothers about black solidarity, then goes Superfly TNT on their asses.
But perhaps best part is that this came out during the "Schoolhouse Rock!" era, in particular the famous short cartoon of how a bill becomes law (I'm Just a Bill). If you contrast that fable with how Billy Jack's aide/secretary/handler goes on about the process, it's a work of goddamned art. She's best described as a disillusioned hippie with no idealism, and the plot also gives her an axe to grind, easily making her the second-best character besides the protagonist.
This is actually a movie worth watching, if nothing else to note that politicians in this country have been playing the same game for 40 years. You can probably extend that calibre of debauchery and dishonesty to every politician everywhere ever. If I had to pin a theme on this film, it might be that people who think they'd make the best leaders rarely do. Unfortunately, the only way to keep them out is to fill that power vacuum somehow.