BIG WEDNESDAY

You know……surfers need entertainment too. After a long day in the surf there's nothing like a good flick to watch while relaxing and when there's a military connection with surfing, the movie is a total bonus. For many years I have watched Big Wednesday and if you want to enjoy a classic…you should too. It's not your typical surf movie, it's not the 45 minutes of surf footage with cutting edge music, it's not packed with interviews of "rad" young surfers who are tomorrow's champions. Simply put….Big Wednesday is a movie that anyone can enjoy.

Big Wednesday was filmed in the mid 1970's and has a cast of familiar actors such as Jan Michael Vincent, William Katt and Gary Busey. The story line follows several young surfers growing up in Southern California in the midst of the Vietnam era. The trials and tribulations of these youngsters as the Vietnam War intensifies and they graduate from high school makes for a great story and some of us "old timers" may even be able to remember some of the events that take place.

As the characters in the story develop, you also witness the evolution of surfing from the classic long board days back in the 1950's and 1960's to the newer progressive short board heyday of the 1970's. This short board revolution was spearheaded by none other than surfing legend Gerry Lopez who makes a cameo appearance. No matter what rolled in on the waves of time, these three California surfing buddies…Matt, Jack and Leroy knew they would always stick together. The three of them would someday come together to surf that rare 20 ft swell, that their old surf guru "BEAR" insisted would arrive only once in a lifetime, hit the California coast.

This flick has it all……turbulent relationships, lives in turmoil, our country at war and our youth in many phases of maturity. So ask yourself…..is this your typical surf movie???? I think not. This is a 5 "Bar of Wax" surf flick that can be enjoyed by everyone. Now get out to your local movie rental store and watch this classic. You will not regret it.