Big Wednesday
Warner Bros. | Release Date: May 26, 1978 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
4
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
EmpireColin Kennedy
A key film from the movie brats-era, and quite possibly Milius best. Read full review
80
The GuardianMaxton Walker
Maybe in the end it's just an exuberant collection of great scenes – but what Big Wednesday has is heart. Read full review
70
The DissolveSam Adams
There are moments when Big Wednesday strains under the weight of Milius’ ambition, but they’re balanced with lively authenticity and a brisk lack of sentiment. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
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. Read full review
70
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
A rubber stamp wouldn’t do for John Milius. So he took a sledgehammer and pounded Important all over Big Wednesday. 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. Read full review
60
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
All this, along with the tremulous romanticism, might seem unbearably portentous were it not for some lovely comic moments - notably, Busey in the draft-dodging scenes - and the sheer exhilaration of the surfing footage. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Robert Martin
Big Wednesday is American writer-director John Milius' attempt to use surfing as a metaphor for life. It doesn't work. [27 June 1978]
40
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
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. Read full review
40
NewsweekDavid Ansen
The whole movie has the air of a sermon delivered over an empty grave. In surfers' terms, Big Wednesday is a wipe-out. [14 Aug 1978, p.62]
25
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
Although Brown (Endless Summer) captured the beauty and fun of his favorite sport in his "surfumentaries," Milius, whose work always seems underlain with weighty symbolic intent, infuses Big Wednesday with heavy-handed philosophy and all-around stupidity. Read full review
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