Big Wednesday
Theatrical poster
Directed by	John Milius
Produced by	Buzz Feitshans
Written by	John Milius Dennis Aaberg
Narrated by	Robert Englund
Starring	Jan-Michael Vincent William Katt Gary Busey Lee Purcell
Music by	Basil Poledouris
Cinematography	Bruce Surtees
Editing by	Carroll Timothy O'Meara Robert L. John Frederick Milius (born April 11, 1944) is an American Screenwriter, director, and producer of Motion pictures John Frederick Milius (born April 11, 1944) is an American Screenwriter, director, and producer of Motion pictures Robert Barton Englund (born June 6, 1947) is an American Actor, best known for playing the fictional Serial killer Jan-Michael Vincent (born July 15, 1944) is an American actor most well-known for his role as helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke on the 1980s William Theodore Katt (born February 16 1951) is an American film and television Actor, best known as the star of The Greatest American William Gareth Jacob "Gary" Busey (born June 29, 1944) is an Academy Award - and Golden Globe Award -nominated American Lee Purcell (born Lee Jeune Williams, June 15, 1947 in Cherry Point North Carolina) is an American Actress who appeared Basilis "Basil" Konstantine Poledouris ( August 21, 1945 - November 8, 2006) was a Greek American film Composer Wolfe
Distributed by	Warner Brothers
Release date(s)	May 26, 1978
Running time	120 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$11,000,000
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Big Wednesday (1978) is an American coming of age film directed by John Milius. Warner Bros Entertainment Inc (or Warner Bros, Warner Bros Pictures) is one of the world's largest producers of Film and Events 451 - The Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sassanid Empire takes place Year 1978 ( MCMLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar) The United States of America —commonly referred to as the English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The year 1978 in film involved some significant events Top grossing films (U The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Coming of age is a young person's transition from Adolescence to Adulthood The age at which this transition takes place varies in society as does the nature John Frederick Milius (born April 11, 1944) is an American Screenwriter, director, and producer of Motion pictures The picture stars Jan-Michael Vincent, William Katt and Gary Busey as California surfers facing life, the Vietnam War, and use of the ever changing surf as a metaphor for the changes in life. Jan-Michael Vincent (born July 15, 1944) is an American actor most well-known for his role as helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke on the 1980s William Theodore Katt (born February 16 1951) is an American film and television Actor, best known as the star of The Greatest American William Gareth Jacob "Gary" Busey (born June 29, 1944) is an Academy Award - and Golden Globe Award -nominated American Surfing is a surface water sport in which the participant is carried along the face of a breaking wave, most commonly using a Surfboard, although wave-riders The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia Ocean surface waves are Surface waves that occur on the Free surface of the Ocean. ^[1]

Surfing aficionados consider it to be one of the better surfing-related films made, in part because of the surfing cinematography and the appearance of several world champion surfers as stunt performers, plus its verisimilitude, especially when compared to the kitschy 1960s Beach Party films. See also Filmmaking Cinematography (from Greek: kinesis κινησις (movement and grapho γραφω (to record is the discipline The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 Beach Party movies were an American 1960s genre of feature films which often starred Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon. The director, John Milius, had been a surfer in his youth. ^[2]

The film also examines the extremes which some young men went to during the Vietnam years to avoid being drafted and shipped off to war, including: faking insanity, homosexuality (which the military then equated with insanity), and all manner of medical ailments. The Draft redirects here For other uses see Draft. Conscription in the United States has been employed several times usually during Traditionally insanity or madness is the behaviour whereby a person flouts societal norms and may become a danger to himself and others Homosexuality refers to sexual behavior with or attraction to people of the same sex or to a Homosexual orientation. The term Section 8 refers to a former discharge from the United States military for reason of being mentally unfit for service The picture also illustrates the tough decision some made to enlist and the effects that decision had on their friends and families.

Plot

Gary Busey, Jan-Michael Vincent, and William Katt as the surfers.

The film tells the story of three young friends whose passion for life is surfing. The friends include: Matt (Jan-Michael Vincent) a self-destructive and has a devil-may-care attitude; Jack Barlowe (William Katt), the calm and responsible one of the bunch; and Leroy "The Masochist" Smith (Gary Busey), whose name tells a lot about his personality. Jan-Michael Vincent (born July 15, 1944) is an American actor most well-known for his role as helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke on the 1980s William Theodore Katt (born February 16 1951) is an American film and television Actor, best known as the star of The Greatest American William Gareth Jacob "Gary" Busey (born June 29, 1944) is an Academy Award - and Golden Globe Award -nominated American

Their surfing lives are traced from the summer of 1962 to their attempts of dodging the Vietnam War draft in 1965, and to the end of their innocence in 1968 when one of their friends is killed in Vietnam. The three make the difficult transition to adulthood with parties, surf trips, marriage, and the war.

The friends reunite years later after Barlowe has served time in Vietnam for the "Great Swell of '74. " With this reunion the transitions in their lives becomes the end point of what the 1960s meant to so many as they see that the times have changed and what was once a time of innocence is forever gone. The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969

Background

Raised in Southern California, Milius made Big Wednesday as an homage to the time he spent in Malibu during his youth. Southern California, or So Cal, is defined as the southern portion of the U Malibu is an incorporated city in western Los Angeles County, California, United States.

Filming locations

The surfing scenes used in the finale to Big Wednesday were not filmed in California, where the film is set. The filming of large surf conditions used in Big Wednesday were actually done at the famous Sunset Beach, located at Pupukea, Hawaii.

Other locations include: El Paso, Texas; Hollister Ranch, Santa Barbara; Surfrider Beach, Malibu; Ventura, California (all in the United States) and a little known surf heaven called La Libertad, El Salvador. The region presently known as the Hollister Ranch is defined by of fallow and fertile fields mountains and valleys along the Pacific Ocean of California between Santa Barbara is a city in Santa Barbara County California, United States. Surfrider Beach is a famous right-break that had a big impact on the Surfing culture in Southern California in the 1960s Malibu is an incorporated city in western Los Angeles County, California, United States. California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean.

Cast

The crew party at the beach.

• Jan-Michael Vincent as Matt Johnson
• William Katt as Jack Barlowe
• Gary Busey as Leroy "The Masochist" Smith
• Patti D'Arbanville as Sally
• Lee Purcell as Peggy Gordon
• Sam Melville as Bear
• Darrell Fetty as Waxer
• Gerry Lopez as Himself
• Hank Worden as Shopping Cart
• Joe Spinell as Psychologist
• Steve Kanaly as Sally's Husband
• Barbara Hale as Mrs. Jan-Michael Vincent (born July 15, 1944) is an American actor most well-known for his role as helicopter pilot Stringfellow Hawke on the 1980s William Theodore Katt (born February 16 1951) is an American film and television Actor, best known as the star of The Greatest American William Gareth Jacob "Gary" Busey (born June 29, 1944) is an Academy Award - and Golden Globe Award -nominated American Patricia "Patti" D'Arbanville (born May 25 1951) is an American Actress and former model. Lee Purcell (born Lee Jeune Williams, June 15, 1947 in Cherry Point North Carolina) is an American Actress who appeared Gerry Lopez (born November 7, 1948) aka Mr Pipeline, is a world-renowned American Surfer, shaper journalist and film actor Hank Worden (born Norton Earl Worden) ( 23 July 1901 Rolfe Iowa - 6 December 1992 Los Angeles California Joe Spinell ( October 28, 1936 – January 13, 1989) was an American Character actor, who appeared in numerous films from Steven "Steve" Francis Kanaly (born March 14, 1946) is an American Actor, best known for his role as Southfork Ranch foreman Barbara Hale (born April 18, 1922) is an Emmy Award -winning American actress known for her roles as the loyal secretary of Perry Mason Barlow
• Fran Ryan as Lucy
• Dennis Aaberg as Slick
• Reb Brown as Enforcer
• Arthur Rosenberg as Official
• Janet Julian as Party girl
• Charlene Tilton as Party girl
• Frank McRae as Sergeant
• Perry Lang as Tall kid
• Michael Talbott as Hog
• Robert Englund as Narrator, Fly
• Keith Davis as Ostrich

Distribution

The producers marketed the film using the following tagline:

A day will come that is like no other. Fran Ryan ( November 29, 1916 &ndash January 15, 2000) was an American character actress featured in television and films Reb Brown (born Robert Brown on April 29, 1948 in Los Angeles California) is an American actor Arthur Rosenberg (* December 19, 1889 - + February 7, 1943) was a German Marxist historian and writer Janet Julian (also credited under her birth name Janet Louise Johnson, born July 10, 1959 in Evanston Illinois, U Charlene L Tilton (born December 1, 1958) is an American actress. Frank McRae (born June 3, 1942) is an American actor and former professional football player Perry Lang (born December 24, 1959 in Palo Alto California, U Michael Talbott (born February 2, 1955) is an American Actor who is perhaps best known for his co-starring role as Det Robert Barton Englund (born June 6, 1947) is an American Actor, best known for playing the fictional Serial killer Keith Davis (born December 30, 1978 in) is an American football safety for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League . . and nothing that happens after will ever be the same.

The film premiered in wide release in the United States on May 26, 1978. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 451 - The Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sassanid Empire takes place Year 1978 ( MCMLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar)

The picture was screened at various film festivals, including: the Davao City Film Festival, Philippines; the Turin Film Festival, Italy; and others. The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest

Critical reception

Critic Janet Maslin, film critic for The New York Times, did not like the screenplay nor the performances of the actors and wrote, "The surprise is not that Mr. Janet Maslin (born 1948 is an American Journalist. She is best known as a film and literary critic for The New York Times Milius has made such a resoundingly awful film, but rather that he's made a bland one. . . the movie often seems even more uneventful than material like this need make it, and Mr. Milius's attention to his actors focuses more closely on their pectorals than on their performances. He encourages such stiffness in his players that Barbara Hale, for instance, is quite unconvincing as Mr. Katt's mother. This is a faux pas of no mean eminence; after all, Miss Hale actually is Mr. Katt's mother. "^[3]

Dave Kehr, writing for the Chicago Reader, was not as dismissive of the film, writing, "John Milius's paean to the art and discipline of hot dog surfing is marred by pushy philosophizing and a fair number of overripe lines, but its sincerity is deep and seductive. The Chicago Reader is an Alternative newsweekly in Chicago, Illinois, USA . . Milius can be faulted for reviving a number of ostensibly dead macho myths, but in the context of the subculture his film deftly re-creates, they take on the aura of eternal values. The breathtaking surfing footage, rather than the slightly stunted characters, makes his most eloquent argument. "^[4]

The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 57% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on seven reviews. Rotten Tomatoes is a Website devoted to reviews information and news of Movies. "^[5]

Awards

Nominations

• Awards of the Japanese Academy: Award of the Japanese Academy Best Foreign Language Film; 1980. The, often called the Japan Academy Awards or the Japanese Academy Awards, is a series of awards given annually since 1978 by the Nippon Academy-shō Association

References

Notes

External links

• Big Wednesday at the Internet Movie Database
• Big Wednesday at Allmovie
• Big Wednesday film review at Surfline web site
• Big Wednesday trailer at You Tube