cablooie An all time classic. Great surfing, good acting (apart from William Katt, a tad woody). Very touching acting by Jan Michel Vincent and Gary Busey funny as hell. They are both absolutely outstanding, the highlights of the movie. Lovely characters by Sam Melville and Lee Purcell. A great story of friendship, coming of age and perpetual summer life in the 60' and 70', through transition, social change and Vietnam war on the backdrop of their love of surfing. The coming of age is slightly simplified and a few stereotypes appear here and there, but the movie is constructed with great skill and it never gets cheesy. One of those films where pacing, character description, filming, editing and soundtrack have no technical flaws. Unlike a lot of stuff coming out today, badly written, badly shot and filled with useless CGI in the attempt of replacing the absence of a good script.The story is full of love for the characters, you feel empathy with every single one of them all along. I need to watch it now and again, it just makes me feel good.

ifyougnufilms Panned by most critics when it first arrived, Big Wednesday has won the belated praise of many viewers. It still may seem contrived and hokey to some. It's sentimental. As the director admits, he likes it that way. Opinions about this film may vary according to the age of the critic and the degree to which he or she is a surfing enthusiast. For viewers like me, who rushed out to the California beaches to "live the life" in the early sixties, served a tour in Vietnam, then returned to start a family and steady job, it has visions and music that evoke strong, bittersweet memories. Showing the gradual intrusion of the real world and its effect on the dreamlike freedom of the younger surfers, Big Wednesday can be appreciated as a successful coming-of-age film. Having lived through those changes in American culture, a viewer can easily overlook the film's sometimes melodramatic nature and enjoy the emotional ride. For younger viewers, especially surfers,it still will have great appeal,especially as a depiction of the golden age of youth as represented by breathtaking, magnificently filmed footage of the riders of the Banzai Pipeline and Sunset Beach in Hawaii. The surfing scenes are excellent throughout, with none of the annoying back-projection studio shots as seen in lesser surfer films. The film is not flawless. The houseparty brawl goes into Peckinpah length for no real plot purpose. The let's-fool-the-drafters segment breaks from an accurate portrayal of the times in order to elicit cheap laughs. Even Busey's typical manic-comic madness doesn't save this segment. For characters who are usually portrayed as sympathetic and even respect-worthy, there are some jarring contradictions such as when Leroy brags about making a living as a "candyman" selling drugs to kids, and Matt(who has a child) and Jack (who is supposed to have matured) act as if this is a great joke. Bear seems a contrived and uncharismatic character a la "The Big Kahuna" though he is supposed to be the conveyor of wisdom to Matt. But these less successful aspects can be forgiven for the overall power of the film's emotional impact and its successful capturing of a dramatic decade of American history. It has some great moments as when Matt goes out for his last ride, and his wife,a tough and empathetic character, sends him off with an understanding smile. Perhaps that's a little unrealistic, but it says a lot about the joy and freedom a couple can share. Milius is capable of writing and directing some very subtle, effective moments in this film. (Note: Milius, an accomplished surfer himself, in his voice-over commentary on the making of Big Wednesday offers interesting biographical details and a fascinating view of American culture of the sixties.)

beaconb I first saw this when it came out. As a surfer, I looked forward to it, and was disappointed. I just watched it today on Netflix and was even more disappointed! The unbelievable house party scene was probably what really highlighted how Hollywood fantasizes too much about how they think either the world is, was, or should be. It was kind of funny to see Gary Bussey play essentially himself in this movie, after rewinding in my head the news stories of the past 30 years about him. The Endless Summer movies still are the best at depicting what surfing is about, despite the many corny scenes thrown into them. The attempts of Big Wednesday to depict teens maturing into adults just fell flat. I wish I hadn't wasted another 2 hours watching this movie again.

aimless-46 "Big Wednesday" (1978) is a film that was made for baby boomers. Writer/director John Milius was born in 1944 and the material draws on a ten year span of his life from the early 1960's to the early 1970's. Aside from needing a span of time to qualify as a coming-of-age saga, it was hoped that the long time span would enable it to connect with the entire range of boomers (birth dates from 1945-1963). Almost anyone born during those years will find things in the film they relate to-even shadow boomers with just the second-hand exposure provided by their older siblings. Younger viewers should enjoy the spectacular surfing sequences and might find the other stuff an interesting history lesson. Milius is one of the so-called young auteur directors of the 70's (Coppola, Lucus, Spielberg, Scorsese, De Palma). Unlike the others he did very little after 1984, the year he released "Red Dawn", an embarrassingly moronic and histrionic right-wing propaganda film that alerted an unsuspecting world to his extremist political views. Hollywood insiders already knew about this and the Coen Brothers would use him as a model for John Goodman's character in "The Big Lebowski". But "Big Wednesday" is his masterpiece and it is unlikely that any other writer/director could have brought this story to the screen this effectively. Unfortunately its surfer subject matter did not draw many non-enthusiasts to the theatre; even though the film is a lot more than surfing, containing a very original universal message about the process of living and changing. Low box office led to a re-edit for pay- television, with the more philosophical content was taken out. The current DVD and VHS are of this shorter version, so if you saw the "Big Wednesday" during its theatrical release you will be somewhat disappointed. Structured like a four act play with each transition moving the action ahead a couple of years, "Big Wednesday" follows three young surfers in the LA area (Jan-Michael Vincent, William Katt and Gary Busey). Each plays a talented surfer with Vincent's character approaching legendary status. Surfing plays a big part in their lives (Bruce Surtees' cinematography provides some of the most stunning views of the sport you are likely to ever see) but much of the film takes place away from the beach; with scenes of parties, the military induction center, Tijuana, family life, and romance (a full range of what growing up in southern California was all about). Milius' treatment of surfing is reverential and sometimes even mystical, with a sweeping musical score and a local character (Bear) who is a kind of guru for the sport. In a scene cut from the television version Bear explains the origin and significance of the "Big Wednesday" title. Somehow Milius gets all this right and the film transcends what might have been a pretentious exercise in sport glorification. Milius pays homages to John Ford, initially with the appearance of Ford regular "Hank Worden" as the shopping cart man. Later you see Ford's "The Searchers" (1956) reflected in the relationship between Jack and Peggy, including a scene where Peggy cradles Jack's army uniform in the same manner Martha cradled Ethan's coat. A man and a woman who have had to subordinate their love for each other because of an overriding loyalty.The final scene is truly special as the three main characters manage a convergence for a final day of surfing together, a scene that recalls the freedom and awe of their teenage years, contrasting it with how removed they have gotten from this former way of life. Anyone who has had to choke back their emotions after a nostalgic rush reminds them of what they will never have again, will be moved my this wonderful sequence. Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.