The Trial of Billy Jack (1974)

Director:

Tom Laughlin

Writers:

Tom Laughlin (writer)
Delores Taylor (writer)

Release Date:

13 November 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

It takes up where Billy Jack left off

Plot:

After Billy Jack in sentenced to four years in prison for the "involuntary manslaughter" of the first film...

Plot Keywords:

Hapkido | Sequel | Bat | Cave | Child Abuse

Cast

Tom Laughlin	...	Billy Jack
Delores Taylor	...	Jean Roberts
Victor Izay	...	Doc
Teresa Kelly	...	Carol (as Teresa Laughlin)
Russell Lane	...	Russell
Geo Anne Sosa	...	Joanne
Lynn Baker	...	Lynn
Riley Hill	...	Posner
Sparky Watt	...	Sheriff Cole
Gus Greymountain	...	Blue Elk
Sacheen Littlefeather	...	Patsy Littlejohn
Michael Bolland	...	Danny
Jack Stanley	...	Grandfather
Bong Soo Han	...	Master Han
Rolling Thunder	...	Thunder Mountain

Runtime:

170 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

4-Track Stereo | Mono

Certification:

Sweden:15 | USA:PG | South Africa:(Banned)

Filming Locations:

Bandelier National Monument - 15 Entrance Road, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Taylor-Laughlin Productions

Trivia:

Delores Taylor claims that the lyrics of "The Theme from 'The Trial of Billy Jack'" came to her in a dream.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: There is a scene in which the Freedom School kids are watching a Freedom School TV interview with Posner on a television atop a tower of equipment. The interview footage had been grafted onto the larger image. In one shot, when the camera pans, the grafted interview footage moves completely off of the TV set and into another part of the shot, then back onto the (originally white-noised) TV screen.

Quotes:

Prosecuting attorney: Do you expect us to believe that you have absolutely no fear of the death penalty.
Billy Jack: I have a lot of fear, but I have a lot more respect. Long ago, I learned that he's my constant companion. He eats with me, he walks we me, he even sleeps with me.
Prosecuting attorney: (not understanding him) I'm sorry, I must have missed something back there. Who is this faithful companion of your?
Billy Jack: Death.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Dusk to Dawn Drive-In Trash-o-Rama Show Vol. 4 (1997) (V)

Soundtrack:

The Theme from 'The Trial of Billy Jack'

AS VOLATILE AS THE TIMES IT REPRESENTED

A lot of people just don't get the point of the BILLY JACK movies. They are not condoning violence, they are showing us other ways of getting our points of view across. Tom Laughlin was and is an expert in Jungian psychology and he weaves the elements of the Shadow and Persona in all of his films. This movie especially is a mini-dissertation in Jungian concepts. The title is ambiguous in that there is a court trial for Billy Jack because of the violence he is guilty of in the movie BILLY JACK (this is the sequal to that movie). But, the real trials are between Billy and his inner self. The constant struggles that Billy Jack undergoes mirrors everyone's own personal battles. In these days and times, we need a role model like Billy Jack.