Movies Like Big Wednesday (1978)

Big Wednesday is a 1978 comedy, drama film from John Milius with a MovieMagicScore of 6.9/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Age of Summer and Coming Home.

Comedy Drama

Age of Summer

2018

A determined teenage boy struggles to find acceptance within the Jr. Lifeguards of Hermosa Beach while juggling relationships and challenges in the summer of 1986.

6.0

MagicScore

Coming Home

1978

In 1968 California, a Marine officer's wife falls in love with a former high school classmate who suffered a paralyzing combat injury in the war.

7.0

MagicScore

American Graffiti

1973

A couple of high school graduates spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.

7.0

MagicScore

That's What I Am

2011

A coming-of-age story that follows 12-year-old Andy Nichol, a bright student who, like most kids his age, will do anything to avoid conflict for fear of suffering overwhelming ridicule and punishment from his junior high school peers.

6.8

MagicScore

Palo Alto

2013

A lack of parental guidance encourages teens in an affluent California town to rebel with substance abuse and casual sex.

6.1

MagicScore

Paranoid Park

2007

A teenage skateboarder becomes suspected of being connected with a security guard who suffered a brutal death in a skate park called "Paranoid Park".

6.5

MagicScore

GOAT

2026

A small goat with big dreams gets a once-in-a-lifetime shot to join the pros and play roarball, a high-intensity, co-ed, full-contact sport dominated by the fastest, fiercest animals in the world.

8.1

MagicScore

Shelter

2007

Forced to give up his dreams of art school, Zach works dead-end jobs to support his sister and her son. Questioning his life, he paints, surfs and hangs out with his best friend, Gabe. When Gabe's older brother returns home for the summer, Zach suddenly finds himself drawn into a relationship he didn't expect.

7.7

MagicScore

The Tribes of Palos Verdes

2017

When the situation at her idyllic Palos Verdes home turns volatile, young Medina attempts to surf her way to happiness.

5.4

MagicScore

#10

Good Morning, Vietnam

1987

A disk jockey goes to Vietnam to work for the Armed Forces Radio Service. While he becomes popular among the troops, his superiors disapprove of his humor.

7.3

MagicScore

#11

Cutter's Way

1981

Alex Cutter is a boozy, belligerent and deeply cynical Vietnam veteran whose encounter with a landmine during the war has left him minus an eye, a leg and an arm. When his drifter playboy friend Richard Bone is falsely accused of murder, Cutter sets out for revenge in his own inimitable style.

6.5

MagicScore

#12

More American Graffiti

1979

College graduates deal with Vietnam and other issues of the late '60s.

5.1

MagicScore

#13

Riding Giants

2004

Riding Giants is story about big wave surfers who have become heroes and legends in their sport. Directed by the skateboard guru Stacy Peralta.

7.6

MagicScore

#14

Ride Your Wave

2019

Hinako is a surf-loving college student who has just moved to a small seaside town. When a sudden fire breaks out at her apartment building, she is rescued by Minato, a handsome firefighter, and the two soon fall in love.

7.6

MagicScore

#15

American Gangster

2007

Loosely based on the criminal career of Frank Lucas, a gangster from La Grange, North Carolina, who smuggled heroin into the United States on American service planes returning from the Vietnam War, before being detained by a task force led by Newark Detective Richie Roberts.

7.6

MagicScore

#16

Dead Presidents

1995

On the streets they call cash dead presidents. And that's just what a Vietnam veteran is after when he returns home from the war only to find himself drawn into a life of crime. With the aid of his fellow vets he plans the ultimate heist -- a daring robbery of an armored car filled with unmarked U.S. currency!

6.7

MagicScore

#17

The '60s

1999

The Herlihys are a working class family from Chicago whose three children take wildly divergent paths: Brian joins the Marines right out of High School and goes to Vietnam, Michael becomes involved in the civil rights movement and after campaigning for Bobby Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy becomes involved in radical politics, and Katie gets pregnant, moves to San Francisco and joins a hippie commune. Meanwhile, the Taylors are an African-American family living in the deep South. When Willie Taylor, a minister and civil rights organizer, is shot to death, his son Emmet moves to the city and eventually joins the Black Panthers, serving as a bodyguard for Fred Hampton.

6.0

MagicScore

#18

1969

1988

Two rebellious youths, Ralph and Scott, find themselves struggling with adulthood as the Vietnam War rages. Feeling trapped in their small town, Scott battles with his conservative veteran father, Cliff, and Ralph deals with his desperately sexual mother, Ev. When tragic news arrives from overseas, the entire town, inspired by Ralph and Scott's antiwar efforts, reevaluates its attitude toward the war.

5.6

MagicScore

#19

Step Into Liquid

2003

No special effects. No stuntmen. No stereotypes. No other feeling comes close. Surfers and secret spots from around the world are profiled in this documentary.

7.2

MagicScore

#20

Chasing Mavericks

2012

Surfer Jay Moriarity sets out to ride the Northern California break known as Mavericks.

7.0

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Big Wednesday?

The top films similar to Big Wednesday by MovieMagicScore are Age of Summer (6.0), Coming Home (7.0), American Graffiti (7.0). Each shares comedy/drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Big Wednesday worth watching?

Big Wednesday holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.9/10 from 186 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Big Wednesday?

Big Wednesday (1978) is a comedy, drama film directed by John Milius, starring Jan-Michael Vincent, William Katt, Gary Busey.

Where can I find more recommendations like Big Wednesday?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more comedy recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Age of Summer Movies like Coming Home Movies like American Graffiti Movies like That's What I Am Movies like Palo Alto Movies like Paranoid Park

About movies like Big Wednesday

This ranked list pairs Big Wednesday (1978), a comedy and drama film from John Milius, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Jan-Michael Vincent take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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