I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Serious, if meandering odyssey of three male surfing friends from 1962 to 1974, local legends in the beach towns of Southern California, who reunite after each has come to a personal crossroads in his life. Jan-Michael Vincent's Matt is the troubled one who drinks, Gary Busey's Leroy is the hellraiser and William Katt's Jack is the writer's conscience, the straight arrow, the only one of the trio who goes to war in Vietnam. They have ladies in their lives but no real family, and their mentor is a bearded sage nicknamed Bear who makes surfboards (he gets married and opens his own shop, but we learn that he, too, goes to ruin). Anchored by beautiful Bruce Surtees cinematography (with surfing sequences by Greg MacGillivray), this drama from director John Milius (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Dennis Aaberg) is full of personal remembrances, quiet contemplation in the midst of turmoil, sad reflection and, yes, lots of fisticuffs (what would a Milius film be without them?). Like all movies extracted from a filmmaker's past--his lazy-hazy days of youth, and all that--these people and their decisions and interactions must mean a great deal more to him than to anybody else. Milius tries making the journey a lively one--he certainly makes it a visually handsome one--but he cannot escape clichés...in fact, he appears to embrace them. Once we move past the tumultuous younger years, the boys are already being referred to as "all-timers." It's important that we see the passage of time, but this exemplifies what's wrong with Milius' approach. He's so impatient and heavy-handed, he underlines everything twice, so that we don't miss a trick. ** from ****

I was introduced to Big Wednesday through a Channel 4 series of cult films back in the 1980s, that series introduced me to the world of alternative cinema through films such as Repo Man, Eraserhead and Rumble Fish. Big Wednesday stuck with me more than the others with it's multiple story lines around friendship, alienation and society. The development of the central characters as they transition from surfing teenagers through into adulthood while maintaining their core friendship despite all the challenges they face makes you feel part of their group.The arc around the big Wednesday swell gives the film a really satisfying structure and brings the various threads to a great focal point.On the surface this film is potentially cheesy with slightly clichéd plot structures but there's a love of humanity and surf underneath which gives it true class.

An all time classic. Great surfing, good acting (apart from William Katt, a tad woody). Very touching acting by Jan Michel Vincent and Gary Busey funny as hell. They are both absolutely outstanding, the highlights of the movie. Lovely characters by Sam Melville and Lee Purcell. A great story of friendship, coming of age and perpetual summer life in the 60' and 70', through transition, social change and Vietnam war on the backdrop of their love of surfing. The coming of age is slightly simplified and a few stereotypes appear here and there, but the movie is constructed with great skill and it never gets cheesy. One of those films where pacing, character description, filming, editing and soundtrack have no technical flaws. Unlike a lot of stuff coming out today, badly written, badly shot and filled with useless CGI in the attempt of replacing the absence of a good script.The story is full of love for the characters, you feel empathy with every single one of them all along. I need to watch it now and again, it just makes me feel good.

This is the anti-Beach Blanket Bingo. The message is you CAN'T stay young and irresponsible and surfing-obsessed for your whole life. Big Wednesday starts out looking like a dramatic version of the famed surfing documentary Endless Summer, with its big waves and young, carefree surfers. But life intervenes, with Vietnam and simply the passage of time turning the surfers into embittered middle-aged has-beens. They reunite to surf giant, once-every-seven year waves and try to rediscover what it was about surfing that so fired their imaginations when they were younger. It all manages to be dramatically compelling without being mawkish. Makes a fine companion piece to any other surfing movie.