Big Wednesday

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Wayne K When we think of John Milius’ films, we tend to think of gung-ho machismo, fervent patriotism or some combination of the 2. But Big Wednesday, one of the biggest financial disappointments of his career, not about any of these things. As a man who loves surfing and who was ineligible for the Vietnam draft himself, it’s easily his most autobiographical. It deals mostly with the theme of male friendship and all the things that come along in life that challenge it. There’s such a strong bond built up between our 3 leads and the emotional moments are given a lot of space to breath, rather than just being cut down for the purposes of moving on as quickly as possible. It’s a film that respects its audience and their need to connect with characters, not undercutting the emotionality of a scene out of a fear that viewers are uncomfortable with it. The climactic surfing scenes goes on a bit long, but the director was so passionate about the sport that he likely would have had it be twice as long if he could. The movie works because its full of people you care about and events that make sense and are dealt with organically. It might have been largely ignored back in its day, but it’s a film I have no problem recommending now. Just make sure you have a few tissues handy. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/07/25 Full Review David M Accurately depicts Southern California surfing scene during the 1960s and 1970s. Even the Tijuana trip was an accurate experience, although many surfers continued south to Ensenada, and rural Baja surf spots, bypassing Tijuana. I was a college student in Los Angeles in the mid 1960s, and surfed through the 1970s-80s, so the movie for me depicted the reality of that time. Many of us tried the same tricks to get out of being drafted, and actually made it until the draft lottery in 1969 where if we were assigned a number higher than 190, we were not drafted. It is easy to see that the movie only resonated with the surf culture, specifically the Los Angeles surf scene. Favorite line: "No one surfs forever." Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 05/05/25 Full Review portiuncula m Big Wednesday is a somewhat controversial movie in terms of its perceived merits. It was not an initial success. No more than its principal star, Jan Michael Vincent it had its flaws but had its virtues too. The virtues exceed the vices in incredible cinematography and outstanding performaces by a young cast. This movie gets better with time and I thorougly commend it to all - especially in our newly troubled times. Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 11/24/24 Full Review Dave S Spanning a 12-year period starting in 1962, Big Wednesday is the story of three friends (Gary Busey, Jan-Michael Vincent, William Kaat), all of them surfers and each of them trying to navigate their way from their teen years into early adulthood. Their story is told by bookending life events with surf footage, which turns out to be both a blessing and a curse. Some of the surf footage is spectacular, but the constant montages eventually feel repetitive and suck the narrative flow out of the movie. On the other hand, some of the life events are nicely handled and touchingly nostalgic, but many feel either pointless or idiotic, including a lengthy house party brawl and a moronic attempt to dodge the draft at the induction center. It’s by no means a bad film, but by the time things wrap up you may find that you couldn’t care less about any of the characters or their circumstances. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 11/03/24 Full Review CodyZamboni Z Surprisingly nostalgic and emotional, a tale of friendship, spanning 14 years, bonding around surfing, Lot of solid surf footage, Nice use of Hawaiian music, Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/26/24 Full Review C.C. R Best movie! A classic! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/31/24 Full Review Read all reviews

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