ABSTRACT
Billy Jack is a film that defies description, melding biker exploitation and rape-revenge narrative with eastern mysticism and socially committed progressive politics. However, most notable is the history of its distribution. Director/star Tom Laughlin waged a legal battle against Warner Bros. to regain the rights to its distribution and proceeded to orchestrate a four-wall release and targeted marketing campaigns in carefully selected regional locations. When it became a huge hit upon its re-release in 1972, the major Hollywood studios took notice, and many of Billy Jack’s innovations were soon incorporated into the emerging blockbuster formula in the mid-1970s.
