Big Wednesday (1978)

Director:

John Milius

Writers:

Dennis Aaberg (writer)
John Milius (writer)

Release Date:

May 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Three friends. Twelve Turbulent Years. And One Day We All Must Face.

Plot:

The lives of some California surfers from the early '60s to the '70s. |

Plot Keywords:

Party | Vietnam Era | California | Wave | Surfboard

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Jan-Michael Vincent	...	Matt
William Katt	...	Jack
Gary Busey	...	Leroy
Patti D'Arbanville	...	Sally
Lee Purcell	...	Peggy Gordon
Sam Melville	...	Bear
Darrell Fetty	...	Waxer
Gerry Lopez	...	Himself
Hank Worden	...	Shopping Cart (as Hank Warden)
Joe Spinell	...	Psychologist
Steve Kanaly	...	Sally's Husband
Barbara Hale	...	Mrs. Barlow
Fran Ryan	...	Lucy
Dennis Aaberg	...	Slick
Reb Brown	...	Enforcer

Also Known As:

Summer of Innocence

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | USA:PG | Singapore:PG | Norway:16 | UK:A | UK:PG | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Banzai Pipeline, Ehukai Beach Park, O'ahu, Hawaii, USA

Company:

A-Team

Trivia:

The role of the "Enforcer" was loosely based on longtime Malibu icon and waterman Ray Kunze who looked out for John Milus (director) and Dennis Aaberg (co-writer) in the late 50's.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: It is 1965, but 1970s cars are visible as they drive to the military entrance processing station.

Quotes:

[Leroy the Masochist pretends to be insane to avoid being drafted]
Psychologist: I see here they call you a masochist.
Leroy the Masochist: I like pain.
Psychologist: Can you be specific? What kind of pain do you like?
Leroy the Masochist: Any kind of pain.
Psychologist: Such as?
Leroy the Masochist: I like fights, I've dove through windows, I've eaten light bulbs, I like sharks, any kind of blood. If you gave me a gun, I'd shoot you in the face just to see what it looked like when the bullet hit.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Death Proof (2007)

Soundtrack:

Three Friends Theme

Spectacular surfing sequences and very hazy 60s lives

The surfing sequences are what make this movie, some of the waves on Big Wednesday at the end look too huge and powerful to be real, and the sight of these men standing at the foot of them on their puny little boards, battling to outrun the awesome power of the water crashing down, is real heart-gripping stuff. The tale of a group of friends drifting through the sixties and seventies, getting into scrapes, having parties, trying to avoid Vietnam and doing all that stuff sixties movies live for, is well enough done, though the script gets a bit cliche-heavy at some points. The episodic format, a series of brief snapshots taken from various moments over a spread of ten years or so, helps capture the rambling nature of these people's lives, and gives an insight on how much things change and yet stay the same between a gang of old friends as the times move on and the world turns. Katt fares well as the narrator and core, as is Stringfellow Hawk as the former champ surfer, and Busey gives his normal crazy shouty brilliance, but the surf takes the honours.