Billy Jack
(1971/Image Entertainment Blu-ray)
Picture:
B Sound: C+ Extras: B- Film: B-
If you
have never heard of Tom Laughlin’s Billy
Jack (1971), that might be understandable because it is an independent
production and reached DVD a few years ago.
You may have missed it, but we did cover it along with three other films
with the same character. You can read
more if you don’t know about it at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2858/Billy+Jack+-+35th+Anniversary+Ultima
Of
course, four films with the same character would now be generically called a
franchise and the first three films made money; especially this one. So why have you maybe not heard of Billy
Jack? In part, because it is one of
several films between 1965 and 1978 that were big blockbuster hits, but have
been “conveniently” forgotten by “someone” because it was part of a group of
huge box office hits we could call Counterculture Blockbusters. Billy
Jack was up there with Easy Rider,
The Deer Hunter, M*A*S*H, Midnight Cowboy, Blow Up,
Fritz The Cat, Sweet Sweetback’s Badassss Song, several Rockumentaries, several
Mike Nichols’ films and even Beatles films that did extraordinary
business. As a modern-day Revenge
Western with a Native American twist, there are still those who want to ignore
it for political reasons, but it is too important to be ignored and provides a
priceless lesson on how to make a film with great impact outside the system.
Seeing
the film on Blu-ray, it plays back much better and with more of the original
edge than you might get out of the DVD. The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image was shot in 35mm film and despite
some soft shots, has many fine ones throughout.
Many shots have great color, definition and depth for a film so old and
an independent production at that, but we still get slight motion blur
too. However, I was surprised how good
this looked at its best and it definitely makes the DVD look weaker by
comparison. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio)
lossless 5.1 mix is just a very slightly smoother repeat of the upgraded
soundmaster used (as Dolby Digital 5.1) on the DVD. Extras repeat the DVD offerings of TV Spots,
a featurette and two audio commentary tracks.
- Nicholas Sheffo
