Badmovies.org Forum

Folks, I am feeling seriously beat.  My head hurts and my emotions are a massive shifting sand.  That being said, a few days ago I watched "The Trial of Billy Jack" and started working on the review.  Writing the article is like having to relive it again.  This film is, to say the least, completely kicking my ass.

The entire thing is one big hippie wet dream, while every member of "The Establishment" is incapable of anything resembling normal humanity.  Everyone on Billy's side is right; anyone not directly in support of their cause is a devil wearing a human shell.

Ken Begg and myself are going to do a collaborative review (one on each site).  Our target is sometime in April.   I just wish I had him around while I was working on this behemoth.  Anything to have a little help.

Also, Ken, if this is what watching "Prayer of the Rollerboys" felt like, I am really sorry.

It was a rough movie to watch and I can't begin to imagine the torture associated with actually writing about it, but I believe in you.  You're a survivor and I know you can get through it.  Stay strong!

I've actually never seen any of the Billy Jack films.  I was in WalMart recently and they have the original on DVD for 5.50 so I'm considering picking it up the next time I swing by there.

If the films are as truly awful as it has been said, then I'll love it.

Well, except that Trial of Billy Jack is like the extended, three hour director's cut of Prayer of the Roller Boys.

With more hippies.

I saw "Prayer of the Roller Boys" starring the great Cory Haim years ago on cable. I remember it being bad in a sort of "Class of 1999" kind of way. There seemed to be a teenager of the future trend in movies in the early 90s.

Hey Andrew maintain bro! I bombed out halfway though Mortuary and I'm less of a man for it.

Ken Begg wrote:

> Well, except that Trial of Billy Jack is like the extended,
> three hour director's cut of Prayer of the Roller Boys.
>
> With more hippies.

True, it is like a marathon.  I mean, "Sextette" and "Candy" are both awful, but they are two hours or less.  Once you get past the two hour mark, things (like your brain) start going numb.

By the way, the Marines all think that this is very funny.  They are also glad I did not pick this for movie night at any point, because all of them still remember "Candy."

Can it be that I'm the only man alive who appreciates the art and craftmanship of the Billy Jack films? Okay, they're crappy....crappy like a fox!!! Crappy in a meaningful, life-affirming sort of way! Can you honestly say that you didn't get chills when Billy Jack jumped his bike over like twenty cars in front of Al's Diner? Wait...sorry...wrong motorcycle riding, platitude spouting anti-anti-hero. Still, what about when when Billy gave Chachi his first mechanics hat? Oh, s**t....sorry.

Anyway, they're is much to be gained from viewing The Billy Jack Canon! Think of all the strained yet pithy one liners you can learn, only to later use constantly to the embarassment and consternation of friends and family. Remember...."When policemen break the law....then there isn't any law....only the fight for survival!!" Deep, right? The fight for survival....I have chills!!

It also just struck me that my review might end up being, like, twice as long as yours, or something.  Maybe even more than that.

"twice as long"?!?!


Ken, the only way your review is merely twice as long as Andrew's is if you stop after the opening credits

This is the one with the fake Hitler quote that keeps getting repeated as real, isn't it? I think that's what I was looking for when I first found this site, let's see if I can find that post on my blog:

http://davemunger.blogspot.com/2004/01/heres-that-bushhitler-ad-that-got.html
http://davemunger.blogspot.com/2004/01/i-had-my-first-tamarind-few-days-ago.html

Just noticed a link right in that same area of my blog that I'm going to have to change if I can figure out how to change things buried that deep in my archives. If my blog ever becomes so huge that the archives become a high traffic area, I'd be stealing mass bandwidth from this here site.

Was that the same quote that pops up in the TV debate scene from "The life of David Gale"? I remeber something similar, but I'll be damned if I watch that film again. I never imagined that a film that features Laura Linney nude for several minutes could be so boring.

Well, my tongue *may* have been slightly in cheek.

I think I originally read about this in "The Dictionary of Misinformation". If I recall correctly, the Hitler quote originates in this movie, but has been falsely attributed to Hitler elsewhere.

Dave, I did not note that quote in this movie.  I'll try to check the DVD again, during the short court scenes.  However, I think that the quote in question must be from either "Billy Jack" or "Billy Jack Goes to Washington."  I am thinking, if memory serves, that it was "Billy Jack" and I do remember something like that in there.

I also cannot verify the quote at this time.  I dropped a line to the fine folks at Snopes.com, maybe they can help.

Cool, I was just checking Snopes to see if they had done anything on it. It seldom occurrs to me to actually send email.

Definitely the Hitler stuff comes from the first "Billy Jack".  The high-school kids quote it when they're in a sort-of "trial" at the time with their teachers -- "Law and order/Law and Order . . ." etc.  The teachers & principal(?) or maybe it's a town-councilman -- maybe the mayor & co. -- all nod in agreement & say what a good quote it is -- "oh, I agree with that" -- and then the hippie-weirdo kid drops the culture-bomb that it's a quote from "Adolph Hitler, 1935!" -- all gasp.  Confusion and hubub . . .
It's been decades since I've seen the film, but I do (sort of) remember that bit.
peter johnson/denny crane

Because Hitler only EVER said things you would disagree with. He was evil, therefore everything he said, on any topic, was wrong. If you discover you happen to hang the toilet paper the same way Hitler did, you should be worried that you too might be a murdering fascist.

Geez, Hitler played a big part in designing the Volkswagen Bug. What does that make all those hippies who drove one?