Big Wednesday is a 1978 American
coming of age film directed by
John Milius. Co-written by Milius and Dennis Aaberg, it is loosely based on their own experiences at Malibu and a short story Aaberg had published in a 1974
Surfer Magazine entitled "No Pants Mance." The picture stars
Jan-Michael Vincent,
William Katt, and
Gary Busey as California
surfers facing life and the
Vietnam War against the backdrop of their love of surfing.