Billy Jack
Warner Bros. | Release Date: May 1, 1971 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
50
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 7 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
4
Negative:
1
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
70
The New YorkerPauline Kael
There's a sweet, naive feeling to the movie even when it's violent and melodramatic and atrocious, and when it's good it's good in an unorthodox, improvisatory style.
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
There are a lot of things in Billy Jack that are seriously conceived and very well-handled. Some of the scenes at the school, for example, with real kids experimenting with psychodrama, are interesting. Some of the action scenes are first-rate. But the movie has as many causes in it as a year's run of the New Republic. Read full review
50
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
Screenplay attempts to encompass too many story facets. Result is that the action frequently drags. Read full review
50
The DissolveNathan Rabin
Billy Jack is a film of violent contradictions. It is a fortysomething über-square’s tribute to the promise and potential of the hippies, as well as an intensely violent homage to non-violence. Read full review
50
The New York TimesHoward Thompson
The whole picture nicely conveys a Southwestern atmosphere. But much too often, at the cost of plain credibility, it stacks its cards, characters and even credo like any rootin', tootin' Western. Read full review
40
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
A down market youth pic with Laughlin as the half-breed Vietnam veteran who stands up for America's misunderstood youth and operates a sort of one-man Countryside Commission. Read full review
25
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
The material played upon all the best aspects of the socially conscious movements of the 1960s, and then perverted them by preaching that violence is indeed the solution to problems as long as it's for the right cause. Read full review
More From This Movie

50 Critic Reviews

6.8 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL