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Big Wednesday on DVD (1978)

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Average rating: 71%
11144131020511
3.5
from 374 members
 
Starring: Jan-Michael Vincent, William Katt, Gary Busey, Patti D'Arbanville, Lee Purcell, Sam Melville, Robert Englund, Joe Spinell
Director: John Milius
Studio: WARNER HOME VIDEO
Run time: 114 mins
Certificate: PG
User collections: Surfing Flicks, MOVIES THAT MATTER, 50 Cinematic Gems
Genres: Action/Adventure, Thriller
Languages: English
Released: 26/05/2003

Brief synopsis of Big Wednesday

Set in the 1960s and early 1970s, BIG WEDNESDAY follows the lives of Matt (Jan-Michael Vincent), Jack (William Katt), and Leroy (Gary Busey), three young Californians who live to surf. Together, the boys ride the waves, throw beach parties, and, of course, get into scrapes. However, as the years go by, the trio must contend with the escalating war in Vietnam and embark on the painful road to maturity.
Although director and screenwriter John Milius usually dwells in a macho world of action, his meditation on the waning of youthful dreams is surprisingly heartfelt and partially based on his own childhood. While the film depicts the close friendship shared by Matt, Jack, and Leroy, it also does justice to their favorite pastime with stunningly photographed surfing sequences. Widely considered to be one of the best surfer movies of all time, BIG WEDNESDAY pinpoints a specific era with pitch-perfect skill and nostalgia.

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Critics Reviews

Rating of 4 stars out of 5 Radio Times

It's easy to dismiss this Malibu surfing saga as pretentious nonsense, with beach bums Jan-Michael Vincent, William Katt and Gary Busey forever seeking the great Californian wave that will give meaning to their lives. However, director John Milius — who went on to script Apocalypse Now — shows a personal commitment to all the mystical bonding. The result rises above the pseudo-intellectual twaddle to make a poignant statement about the lack of purpose in the 1960s, and the way Vietnam forced even infantile hunks such as these to take on responsibility.

Rating of 1 stars out of 4 Halliwell's Film Guide

It isn't clear whether the intent is to extol or deride the mystical camaraderie of surfing, but for those who can stand rumbustious beach behaviour this curious movie may have at least as much to say as The Deer Hunter (qv).

Time Out

With the passage of time, both the strengths and flaws of Milius' 'coming of age' epic are even more immediately... Read more on www.timeout.com

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Members Reviews

Reviews Voted Most Helpful

Rated - 5 starsIt's 70's and it's American

SimmyMartin from W Yorks , 21/01/2004

The finest surfing flick ever made, the finest rights of passage film ever made, the finest era of American film. What can I say? The leads are cool, the message is good, the music is perfect and the girls are beautiful. Spot a very young Robert Englund. Makes you wonder why William Katt didn't go on to better things. If it's 70's and it's American it's OK with me.

  2 out of 3 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 5 starsLife Affirming

shaunx from birmingham , 14/09/2005

In an age which has jettisoned sentimentality it is refreshing to see the re-release of this life-affirming film. The halcyon days of surfer life juxtaposed with the harsh realities of growing up and war.

From the Wagnerian surf scenes and comedic chaos of youthful abandon to the funereal depiction of an ended youth at the last surf, this gem has an interesting cast of what-could-have-beens. Maybe too sentimental for some, but it is definitely in my top 10.

Superb!

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Rated - 4 stars

YakAttack#1 from HASLEMERE , 15/10/2003

MovieLover?s review is accurate in that character development is limited and there are some corny scenes. And yes the pace is slow. However, as a ?passage of rites?/ ?end of innocence? movie and as comment on the massively changing social structure of the 60?s (the emergence of young adult culture in particular) it is a classic.

And the surf scenes are fantastic and serve as an allegory for ?growing up? on many levels.

Rent it and enjoy.

  1 out of 1 person found this review helpful
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Rated - 2 starsBig Memory

A customer from Portsmouth, UK , 20/03/2005

Having watched Big Wednesday as a kid, it inspired us to surf, and to look up the word carmeraderie in the dictionary to find out what those old guys were going on about.

Growing up in South Wales the water and weather is a little colder the southern California, where the film is set, but that did not deter us, such was the power of the film. It made us want to be surfers.

Watching it 20ish years later I still recalled just about every major scene - possibly because the movie seems to go through a series of set plays that are actually almost predictable.

Ultimately, having spent much of the intervening time in the water, I now watch the surfing footage with a quizzed look on my face, wondering how on earth I was ever fooled by the hacking together of several waves to make each ride appear so magnificent.

It's still worth watching, but only if you're a kid, or if you watched it when you were a kid.

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Most Recent Reviews

Rated - 5 starsLife Affirming

shaunx from birmingham , 14/09/2005

In an age which has jettisoned sentimentality it is refreshing to see the re-release of this life-affirming film. The halcyon days of surfer life juxtaposed with the harsh realities of growing up and war.

From the Wagnerian surf scenes and comedic chaos of youthful abandon to the funereal depiction of an ended youth at the last surf, this gem has an interesting cast of what-could-have-beens. Maybe too sentimental for some, but it is definitely in my top 10.

Superb!

  2 out of 3 people found this review helpful
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Rated - 2 stars

A customer from HOVE , 11/08/2004

Good period piece; fantastic scenery but marred by somewhat mediocre acting and a slow

start.

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