Review of Big Wednesday (1978) by Ben Z — 24 Sep 2007

During the featurette of this film director John Milius said that on release in 78 the film was much lambasted and was a major flop. Itâ??s hard to see why. This is a classic. It focuses on a number of blonde young surfers, Michael Katt, Jan Michael Vincent and Gary Busey who plays a memorable character called â??The Mashochistâ??.

Katt plays Jack, the sensible one, Vincent is the talented surfer with a drink problem and Busey the reckless joker, all based on real characters that Milius knew during his years as a young surfer himself.

Itâ??s set during the early sixties through to 1974 in which Vietnam plays a major part in their growing up along with the arrival of marriage and children. Itâ??s a poignant film with some fantastically memorable performances from all involved, the footage of the big swells is breathtaking to behold and you canâ??t fault the films heart, even when thereâ??s the odd sentimental bits.

A film that features some of the best mass brawls put on screen and the sequence where they try to escape the draft is a particular classic. The ultimate surfer and buddy movie.