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There’s also the small issue of Billy intervening when Posner’s gutless son Bernard (David Roya) mistreats a group of Jean’s students. And by “intervening” I mean “kicking everyone in the face”. Billy has appointed himself guardian and protector of the Indian way of life, but this put him at odds with just about everyone in town. Being part of the reservation can only protect the school from Posner for so long, and Bernard seeks revenge against Billy on a much more personal level. If Billy Jack were the garden variety revenge flick it sounds like, it would easily be one of my favorite movies.

But it’s not. Laughlin and Taylor (who were husband and wife) co-wrote the story, and their myriad political leanings turn out to be the driving force behind the film. I applaud their desire to draw attention to the social issues of the day, but there are so many messages in this movie it’s impossible to get anything meaningful out of it. Billy’s violent temper is certainly at odds with the way of life he’s chosen, but contrary to some, I find this to be a valid source of narrative conflict. I like the idea of a peaceful man who is driven to violence by a massive abuse of power.

What I don’t like is the sprawling second act, which attempts to humanize things by detailing the school’s attempt to build bridges with the town. I’d like to say the point is to lull us into a false sense of security for the explosive third act, where Billy fights a phalanx of Posner's rednecks on top of a burning train. Instead, it’s an excruciating half hour of anti-establishment doubletalk and philosophical grandstanding. Billy Jack boasts a few memorable scenes, and some truly iconic moments – but by and large the entire movie is peppered with such incongruities.

When Billy first encounters Posner and his cronies he suggests that when the police break the law, then the laws no longer apply - which seems like an unnecessarily bleak leap of reason. At another point Billy invokes the Kennedy brothers, lamenting the lack of gun control in America - as he loads up for another shootout. And near the end of the film, he swears to never hurt anyone again if Jean can name one place on earth where people truly love each another - and she misses an excellent chance to say “How about the Freedom School you’ve spent this entire movie defending?”

Billy Jack was marketed as an action film, but it's really a counter-culture passion project that's content to evangelize in circles until you throw your hands up and agree that everything is fucked. I'm not so sure there's a message here as much as a nihilistic streak of anger. I’m sure they meant well, but the Laughlins would have done well to provide the broad strokes and let a competent screenwriter craft their script. They created a truly memorable character, and stuck him with a clunky, meandering story. Ironically, that's just the sort of injustice that would prompt Billy Jack to kick you right in the face.

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