juanmuscle The Most important thing I learnt from the incredible tale of Billie Jean - cool red scooters are very, very, very inspirational! Especially in 1985! Secondly, if your scooter gets trashed by a bunch of unduly ruffians and unwieldy scallywags in the greater Texas expanse in the ripping 80's, and if you just happen to have a sister named Billie Jean, your in luck! Cause 80's producers will make the coolest style over content movie ever! Thirdly, a puerile Christian Slater really really really loves red scooters! and Vermont! Fourthly, in the 80's if you are a very cute blond rebelgirl on the lamb, you can go into underground dank where-houses anywhere in the greater USA expanse and meet up with tons of your fav fans, how VERY! And if you are on the lamb and a member of your seditious gang is Billie Jean, cute lil' bebe gingers can be a great asset! And if you are on the lamb and need help, don't worry if you are like Billie on any street in any state, across the country, there is someone just like you who savors your plight and is always, always ready to save you! God Bless Billie forever!

Woodyanders Feisty lower-class teenager Billie Jean (a strong and charismatic performance by Helen Slater) and her brother Binx Davy (a solid and likable Christian Slater in his film debut) become celebrity fugitives after a dispute between affluent jerk Hubie (a perfectly obnoxious turn by Barry Tubb) and his no-count father Mr. Pyatt (a splendidly slimy portrayal by Richard Bradford) about Hubie trashing Binx's scooter gets out of hand.Director Matthew Robbins keeps the engrossing story moving along at a quick pace, vividly captures the humid atmosphere of rural Texas, and manages to prevent the potentially campy story from degenerating into totally laughable kitsch. The astute script by Rick Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner offers a pointed and powerful social commentary on how the rich exploit and push around the poor and disenfranchised, the way the media can mold someone into a martyr, and the basic necessity to see that justice gets served after something wrong goes initially unpunished. This film further benefits from fine acting by a tip-top cast: Yeardley Smith as excitable third wheel Putter, Keith Gordon as the helpful Floyd, Martha Gehman as loyal gal pal Ophelia, Peter Coyote as sympathetic cop Lt. Ringwald, and Dean Stockwell as Flloyd's estranged bigwig politician father Muldaur. However, it's Slater who really keeps this picture on track: She looks absolutely stunning with close-cropped hair and brings a fierce conviction and winning sense of pure integrity to the character of Bille Jean that makes her real easy to root for and side with as she becomes a symbol of defiant rebellion and female empowerment to the adolescent public at large. Jeffrey L. Kimball's slick cinematography provides a neat polished look. Craig Safan's moody score and the pumping rock soundtrack both hit the stirring spot. A super cool movie that's deserving of its avid fan following.

ersinkdotcom The mid to late 1980s and early 1990 were the golden age of television for me. Every Summer I would go to my dad's for three to four weeks to visit. I loved hanging out with him as much as I could. However, after he went to bed around 9:00PM every night, the TV came on and the world of cable was waiting for me to ferociously engulf anything I possibly could in the late hours of the night.This period of my life molded my healthy appetite for movies about renegade robots, slashing killers, deadly monsters, troubled teens, and any number of classic actors taking pratfalls for my own pleasure. "The Legend of Billie Jean" just happened to hit HBO and Cinemax around the particular time I was most ready for it.When "The Legend of Billie Jean" was playing every few hours during the Summer of 1986, I had just embraced skateboarding culture and discovered the world of punk rock music. Helen Slater's transformation from homegrown Texan good girl to rebel outlaw really hit home for me subconsciously. Being 13, I highly doubt I put together the fact that I mirrored what I saw on the television. I was in the middle of finding my own identity at that time.There's two ways people should judge the movie. One is as an example of pop and teen culture in 1985. I would say it should get at least an "A" for this aspect. The second way to look at the movie is to gauge whether its message still stands up today. The recurring themes throughout the movie were "Always stand up for yourself no matter what" and "Don't let people walk all over you, no matter how old you are." I believe those principles are just as important today as they were some thirty years ago."The Legend of Billie Jean" is an accurate depiction of PG-13 films made for teens in the early and mid-eighties. There are a lot of kids using bad language. Helen Slater wears some skimpy clothes to attract the "target" audience. We also get some adult situations and violence to top it all off.

moonspinner55 Teenage siblings in Texas are wanted by the police after one of the kids shoots and wounds an auto mechanic--this following a sexual proposition on Billie Jean (who is nearly raped) and the beating of her brother by a group of peers, which the cops have shrugged off. Teen-rebellion with a low-budget, candy-coated sheen. Screenwriters Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner occasionally have tongue in cheek, and display a curious penchant for oddball character names like Binx and Putter, but too often fall back on melodrama (which helps to derail the entire final reel). Despite constantly flashing her bright, nice-girl smile playing Billie Jean, Helen Slater is a fairly convincing rabble-rouser until the script gives her too much to handle. The film has a misshapen feel, with yahoo comedic moments targeted at the drive-in crowds. Far from being a teenage variant of "The Sugarland Express", which may have been fascinating, the movie instead takes the low road. It is unambitious and amateurish--and seems perfectly satisfied with being both. ** from ****