After a sitting United States senator dies, this rallies corrupt Political Boss James Bailey(Sam Wanamaker) and surviving senator from the same state Joe Paine (E. G. Marshall) to action to find a replacement so they can push through approval of the Willet Creek Nuclear Power Plant project. While the governor can't appoint Taylor's handpicked replacement without committing political suicide, he is soon inspired to choose Billy Jack (Tom Laughlin) believing his popularity will keep him safe politically, while his disinterest in politics will allow the passage of the dam project. As Billy unsteadily enters the halls of political power along with Jean (Delores Taylor) and several members of the Freedom School, he is taught the ins and outs of the process by his jaded secretary Saunders (Lucie Arnaz) who is initially placed their by Paine to keep Billy Jack away from the Nuclear Power Plant in the legislation. As Billy attempts to push through his own legislation for a Youth Camp for impoverished children. Billy soon finds himself face to face with the insidious political machinations that he soon fights against (sometimes literally).
Billy Jack Goes to Washington is the fourth and final film in the Billy Jack series of films written by Tom Laughlin and wife Delores Tayor, and starring and directed by Laughlin. The impetus of the project actually came about from Frank Capra Jr. Who had been trying to get a remake of his father's film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington made, including at one point a musical version with John Denver as Smith, but being met with disinterest. Capra had a meeting with Laughlin sometime after the failure of Laughlin's larger budgeted western The Master Gunfighter with the prospect of remaking the film with the Billy Jack character and Laughlin was receptive believing stepping into mainstream politics was a natural evolution for the character. Laughlin handled both distribution and production of the film independently including with his ill-fated Taylor-Laughlin Distribution, and following production overruns Laughlin was sued by his financial backers which lead to the film missing its intended Christmas 1976 release due to the film being tied up in litigation despite being completed. When the film was released it only made it to a handful of theaters (mostly grindhouses and porn theaters by Laughlin's account) which Laughlin attributed to political pressure by the Nuclear industry. Watching Billy Jack Goes to Washington is a strange experience because it is less rambling than its predecessor, but it's also so heavily built upon the original Capra film that it just keeps reminding you of a better version of the movie.
Billy Jack Goes to Washington despite a name change of who is going to Washington is not really a Billy Jack movie and is instead just the Capra movie with Billy Jack crudely inserted into the proceedings. While I can't say anything of the extended cut which seems to be unavailable (Laughlin cut out 40 minutes of footage for its home video release and redubbed the filibuster to include references to Three Mile Island), the home video cut features the same plot beats and much of the same dialogue from the 1938 film with only very minor adjustments for either inflation or replacing the subject of contention as a Nuclear Power Plant in place of a dam. The way Billy Jack is portrayed in this film he's often playing the line reads the same way Stewart played Smith in the original Capra film, and even overlooking the headscratching logic of why Bailey and Paine thought they could control Billy Jack given the character's history the character so doesn't align with this role that when something more in line with a Billy Jack film comes into play, like a fight sequence halfway through the story, you really get a sense of just how incongruous this two elements feel together especially since they've just lifted wholesale sections of dialogue that weren't designed for this character.
In terms of the actual content in the movie (at least in the abridged version that's the only one available) it is a much easier sit than The Trial of Billy Jack and at least has a central point of focus even if it's only because of a film it copied so heavily. I'll say that while Laughlin and Marshall don't quite capture the level seen by Stewart and Rains in the original, Laughlin is okay during the filibuster scene (not great but I've seen worse) and Marshall isn't a bad choice for this role.
Billy Jack Goes to Washington is an unnecessary remake of one of Frank Capra's most beloved and quoted films that's been crudely retrofitted into a fourthquel for a character who doesn't feel at place in this story. With that said however, I'll at least say it's still aligned more or less with the spirit of the Capra film. For people interested in Billy Jack I still say stick with the first two films and as for this one: completionists only, all others should just rent the classic.
