NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Image Entertainment Blu-ray - January 10': Firstly, I can appreciate the film's cult appeal but it still seems a bizarre choice to bump up to 1080P resolution. It's somewhat laughable today but one can't deny it's popularity (cost $800,000 to make and grossed over $65 million!). It has it's own grassroots charm that is embodied in the lead (and writer/director) Tom Laughlin whose honest convictions spill over gratuitously via the film's cloying narrative.

This is a little strange - the 4:3 DVD is abnormally green but the color improves as the film runs along. Son Frank Laughlin has put the effort into the cleaning and minor restorations that resulted in the 1.78 widescreen Blu-ray. It's much smoother, less artefacts and supports some decent grain structure. My eyebrows raised a bit on the colors but I honestly have no knowledge of how it looked originally. On the Blu-ray the sky is extremely blue and other colors adeptly saturated. For the most part it looks very impressive - skin tones are warm, detail isn't pristine and there isn't much depth but one has to recall that there wasn't an 'unlimited' production budget. There may have been some digital filtering here and there but this is easily the best Billy Jack has looked for home theater digital presentation.     

The DTS-HD Master with a 5.1 bump at English 3360 doesn't sound unnatural and is quite crisp. Along with the video this was remastered in 2009 and supports the film to a decent level - certainly more audible than the mono 1.0 channel track on the ancient DVD. Neither have subtitle options and My Momitsu has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

There are no extras on the single-layered DVD. The Blu-ray commentaries (Tom Laughlin, Dolores Taylor ('Dodi') and, included on the second commentary Frank Laughlin is included) were recorded in 2000 and 2005 also found on the The Ultimate Billy Jack Collection. Laughlin is honest but often humble with his wife supporting him. His charm flows forth and he brings up multiple topics including various causes that he now shows concern as well as enjoyable memories of production. In the 15-minute mini-documentary Laughlin narrates, with amusing inter-cuts, his struggle to get 'Billy Jack' to the screen. Short story - it succeeded well beyond expectations despite the limited marketing. 'Billy Jack' was a cultural phenomenon. It's a perfectly paced little story, with some bragging, and well worth the watch although it utilizes some of the testimonials from the TV commercials which are, comparatively, in very poor shape.

So Billy Jack hits Blu-ray and it looks as good as the film every will for your home theater. For the minions of loyal fans, fighting the good battle against prejudice, here it is... and the price is right.      

Gary W. Tooze