Title: The friends include: Matt Johnson (Jan-Michael Vincent), a self-destructive type who has a devil-may-care attitude; Jack Barlow (William Katt), the calm and responsible one of the bunch; and Leroy "The Masochist" Smith (Gary Busey), whose nickname tells a lot about his personality. That’s not enough. "I'd lived that life since I was ten. Written by Milius and Dennis Aaberg, it is loosely based on their own experiences at Malibu. During the air war over Vietnam, a U.S. Navy A-6 Intruder bomber pilot schemes with a hardened veteran to make an unauthorized air strike on Hanoi. Jim Beaver
It never strayed from that. Press release, August 6, 2008. | Looking for some great streaming picks? "[12], Milius at one stage intended to play the role of the Bear himself. It was inspired by a short story Aaberg had published in a 1974 Surfer Magazine entitled "No Pants Mance",[3] and the lives of a group of friends who used to surf with Aaberg and Milius including Lance Carson. It's based on the lives of three friends ten years ago. The surfing scenes used in the finale to Big Wednesday were not filmed in California, where the film is set, but at Sunset Beach in Pupukea, Hawaii. "It was the most personal film I'd done," said Katt. But they also acknowledge the need to embrace adulthood and put surfing where it should be. "I've been working on Big Wednesday a long time," Milius said. And we knew how good we had it. Check out some of the IMDb editors' favorites movies and shows to round out your Watchlist. [6], "Because I surfed, I'm the only director in the world who could have made his picture," said Milius.
Barbara Hale, mother of William Katt, plays a small role in the film.
Actually seeing their faces as they stand up for a ride is a bonus. "[5], Anthea Sylbert was an executive at Warners at the time. William Kaat, Jan-Michael Vincent and Gary Busey (actually pretty big names from this era) were accomplished surfers, Busey learning for the role. This film about three Malibu surfers in the 1960s has been branded major statement and it's got Big Ideas about adolescence, friendship and the 1960s. I mean, they were all just waiting for the Big Wave. [15][16][17], The film premiered in wide release in the United States on May 26, 1978.[18]. [11], The leads were played by Jan Michael Vincent, Gary Busey and William Katt. Milius wrote the script with his friend and fellow surfer, journalist Denny Aaberg.
It wasn’t just a story about somebody trying to ride the biggest wave or something. Places One of the keys to this film's authenticity is the fact that the three stars did a lot of their own surfing. The lives of some California surfers from the early 1960s to the 1970s. Milius and his friends George Lucas and Steven Spielberg famously agreed to exchange a percentage point of Big Wednesday, Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind prior to the release of the three films throughout 1977-1978. ABOUT A SHIPWRECK THAT (RAN AGROUND IN "53" NOW A VICTIM OF THE SEA ? "The part is simply too big for me to do."[5]. That's important to me because I'm a real surfer. Big Wednesday is a 1978 American coming of age film directed by John Milius. We all knew it was special, we knew it wouldn't last. So he took a sledgehammer and pounded Important all over Big Wednesday. A lot of them died in Vietnam and OD'd on dope. The attrition rate among surfers is very high. Gary Busey: 'I passed away after brain surgery. If you ever had a group of friends who did stuff together, you'll find this film has a lot of depth and soul. And the climactic showdown between the heroic trio and the monster waves is so good it makes up for the rest (the trio's Wild Bunch-inspired walk to destiny is by far Milius's finest cinematic moment)... More than any other movie Milius directed, Big Wednesday contains the joy of filmmaking (he waited his whole career to make this movie). Four 1950s icons meet in the same hotel room and two of them discover more in common between them than they ever anticipated. The film tells the story of three young friends whose passion in life is surfing. It took an awful long time to write the script.
The lives of some California surfers from the early 1960s to the 1970s. [1], Big Wednesday was a box office flop upon its release, and was quickly pulled from theatres after taking in only $4.5 million. With Jan-Michael Vincent, William Katt, Gary Busey, Patti D'Arbanville. And that’s what the movie is. Prime Video has your Halloween movie picks covered. "A lot of the characters are me and in another sense none of them are me. Give me a break! "[13], Milius invented the Bear brand of surfboard as a fictional brand to be used in the movie,[14] and even had surfboards made and arranged for a Californian designer to create a logo. [1] William Katt explained in a 1979 interview with Roger Ebert a year after the film's release that he believed the movie's failure was due to the marketing focusing only on the fight scenes and surfing angle. This truly is Hollywood's "perfect wave", the only time the surf culture was portrayed accurately in a studio film. Which by contrast seem to contain the frustration of filmmaking."[23]. Full Cast and Crew Check out our recommendations to stream this month. Vietnam veteran Ray Hicks gets conned into helping his buddy John Converse smuggle some heroin, only to wind up on the lam with John's wife when the deal goes sour. "[7], Milius and producer Feitshans had met at American International Pictures, where they worked on Dillinger (1973). Showing all 17 items Jump to: Filming Locations (15) Filming Dates (1) Production Dates (1) Filming Locations. The brand morphed into an actual successful company after the release of the movie, producing hundreds of boards, and is still active today, with various people producing Bear-branded boards in different countries. Except for Big Wednesday, none of the Milius-directed films have a satisfying conclusion. Travel guide to filming locations. "I don't want to put it off any further but I don't want to work on it until its ready either. I worry I might lose sight of the characters. Edit. Surfing is a strange thing. Tarantino grew up in southern California and surfers, he says, were mean to him and his friends. The fine cast is rounded out by cuties Lee Purcell and Patti d'Arbanville and Sam Melville as the mystical mentor Bear. Big Wednesday (1978) Filming & Production. A documentary inquiry into the strange but true collaboration of Samuel Beckett and Buster Keaton. [22], Milius later said the film was "sort of a numb spot in my life. So's John. "It's so alluring, so easy to get lost in.
• Little Wednesday, a 10-minute Super 8 film with close-ups of the Big Wednesday cast and director, on location in 1977. After years of Frankie and Annette or, God forbid, Keanu Reeves, this is one they can be proud of.
Los Angeles Times 21 August 1977: n7. He encourages such stiffness in his players that Barbara Hale, for instance, is quite unconvincing as Mr. Katt's mother. "Big Wednesday: four decades between surfing and myth making", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Big_Wednesday&oldid=976925313, American coming-of-age comedy-drama films, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 5 September 2020, at 22:14. It is so very personal. It was inspired by a short story Aaberg had published in a 1974 Surfer Magazine entitled "No Pants Mance", and the lives of a group of friends who used to surf with Aaberg and Milius including Lance Carson. Sad but true. At least half the people who participated are dead now. "This movie is too good for surfers." This is a faux pas of no mean eminence; after all, Miss Hale actually is Mr. Katt's mother. You always feel you owe it something. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends.