Product Details

• Actors: Jan-Michael Vincent, Gary Busey
• Format: Color, Dolby, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: April 1, 1992
• Run Time: 120 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (57 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6300269450
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,724 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
John Milius charts a decade of social change as three surfing buddies use the sport as a personal touchstone for their lives while growing up in the turbulent 1960s. Irresponsible hot-dogging legend Matt (Jan-Michael Vincent), serious and stable Jack (William Katt), and mad misfit Leroy, a.k.a. "Masochist" (Gary Busey), are teenage surf bums in 1963, living at the beach in a perpetual summer under the sway of surfboard-maker Bear (Sam Melville), guru, mentor, and keeper of the lore. But the times they are a changin' and boys grow up in the shadow of Vietnam while adulthood pushes them into hard decisions. John Milius mixes the nostalgia of American Graffiti with the reverence of a John Ford cavalry drama. Surfing becomes a kind of spiritual quest spoken of in awed mythic tones and photographed with the epic grandeur of a rite of passage. Milius's heavy-handed direction and reverent attitude slows the films and will turn off some viewers, but Milius fans will appreciate his macho stylings and philosophical musings, and surfing fans will love the spectacular surfing footage, including the dazzling stylings of world champion Gerry Lopez (who Milius later cast in Conan the Barbarian). Lee Purcell costars as Matt's supportive wife, with Patti D'Arbanville, Barbara Hale, and Robert Englund in supporting roles. Look for Ford stock player Hank Worden in a small role and Milius himself in a cameo selling marijuana in Tijuana. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars DANGEROUS UNDERCURRENTS, May 28, 2002

By	Robin Simmons (Palm Springs area, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Big Wednesday (DVD)

John ("Conan the Barbarian") Milius wrote and directed this underrated, but significant beach movie that is much more than first meets the eye.

What is most memorable is the terrific second unit big wave cinematography by famed Imax and surf photgrapher Greg MacGillivray. But the undercurrent (no pun intended) is a troubling tale that grew from Milius' memories about his own surfer buddy friendships on the day -- a big Wednesday -- when Watts was going up in flames and the surf was peaking.

Almost a great film that in retrospect was far and away more prescient than given credit at the time. Jan Michael Vincent, Gary Busey and William katt are perfect as the friends seeking meaning and purpose as they move through ten turbulent years starting in the mid-60s.

This title, like Monte Hellman's "Two Lane Blacktop" and Dennis Hopper's "Easy Rider" is a legendary film with a devoted cult following that looks at a specific time in America through the eyes of lost innocence.

"Big Wednesday" is finally available in a pristine widescreen DVD transfer with an insightful, witty, and at times almost poetic commentary by writer director Milius.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SURF MOVIE OF THE CENTURY!, January 3, 2000

By	John Moulis (Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This movie is regarded as a surf classic and rightly so. Slickly produced, consisting of a series of vignettes over 13 years it gives a non-surfing person a revealing insight into the surf culture. The still-thorny issue of the Vietnam War is dealt with and the transition from the swinging sixties into the seventies is handled very well (a technique John Milius perfected in his 1983 classic Uncommon Valor which incidentally pre-dated the much hyped Rambo First Blood II by nearly two years). The climax of the film is the surf footage at the end depicting the legendary day of a lifetime, Big Wednesday. The only negative is the thought that the two stars, Jan Michael Vincent and Gary Busey threw away their lives after this movie due to drug addiction (Busey almost died from an overdose in 1994). Another negative is that some of the surfing terminology in the book didn't make it to the film. In the book, the car is referred to as "The Makeshift" - it isn't in the film. Still, if you cast these things out of your mind for 100 minutes you will experience something truly special. You won't be disappointed.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true cult classic for surfers, July 5, 2002

By	Jay M. "Oliver" (Appleton, Wi United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Wednesday (DVD)

At the risk of sounding like a total pot-smoking burn out type who sits around all summer and eats cheetos and plays Nintendo I have to start out this review with a very loud and resounding "This movie rules!". Anyway if you are a surfer and are interested in a bit of history on a fictional level about some of the pioneers of the sport then this is the movie to see. Because this movie is unlike any of the other surf movies out there I can't really compare it to them in terms of whether or not it was better than them or not. It's in a class all it's own. From the first rate story-line to the spectacular big wave scenes at the end (spectacular for it's day that is), this movie holds much nostalgia from the 60's surf era. If you wanna go back in time a few decades for a couple of hours and get caught up in what it was like to be part of the surf scene "back in the day" then this is the movie to see. From the old wine cooler beach parties late into the night to the trips down the California coast to Tijuana searching for the right surf conditions this movie captures it all and freezes it in a time capsule in the from of a two hour cinematic documentry of sorts. Two thumbs up and then some is all I can say to end this review.