Big Wednesday

Looking back at the strong, young cast, the evocative sense of time and place and the thrilling ocean imagery, Big Wednesday certainly deserves a spot among the pantheon of classic surfing films.

While all in all I prefer Milius' directorial debut Dillinger, it's hard to argue against the idea that his surfer epic "Big Wednesday" isn't his classic.

A poorly made film that lacks ambiguity and results excessively evident. [Full Review in Spanish]

[VIDEO ESSAY] Milius constantly revisits the ocean's churning surf as a literal and metaphoric yardstick to underscore the movie's themes of personal responsibility, loyalty, and the pressures of unpredictable social change.

Remains noteworthy as a cult film.

Ambitious in goal, John Millius' tale suffers from an inconsistent tone, trying to be elegiac, nostalgic, and mythical in depicting the impact of Vietnam and aging on a clique of three surfers between 1962 and 1974 but the acting and imagery are good.