"When I did Big Wednesday my first impressions were that I was going to do this coming-of-age story with Arthurian overtones about surfers that nobody took seriously, their troubled lives made larger than life by their experience with the sea. And that’s what the movie is. It never strayed from that. There was a lot of pressure to make it more like Animal House, but the movie has a huge following now because it did have loftier ambitions. It wasn’t just a story about somebody trying to ride the biggest wave or something. That’s not enough."

"A story of three friends growing up in the sixties; of ten years filled with parties; weddings and uncertainties; and of the day we must all face..."

"Jan-Michael Vincent - Matt Johnson"

"Hank Worden - Shopping Cart"

"It's a surfing How Green Was My Valley the loss of an aristocracy, the end of an era, the passing of a more innocent time to a more corrupt and complex one-all growing up is the passing of innocence. It's based on the lives of three friends ten years ago. It's about their friendship, and the value of friendship. I don't think that kids today have the same kind of values that these people had then; I don't see movies being made about that kind of thing. This movie is about friendship: surfing is just the background. It's about love of a place, love of a time, love of your human contacts, and the loss of those things. It's the most personal film I'll probably ever make, and I figured I ought to do it now, before I get too far away from it. At least half the people who participated are dead now. The attrition rate among surfers is very high. A lot of them died in Vietnam and OD'd on dope."

"I don't want to be a star. Have my picture in magazines, have a bunch of kids looking up to me. I'm a drunk, Bear, a screw up. I just surf because it's good to go out and ride with your friends. I don't even have that anyone."

"Why don't you get back to Burbank!"

"He ain't no hodad Squidlips!"

"Mexico! Surfboards! Guns!"

"Bear: That's the lemon next to the pie."

"Narrator, Fly: Stay casual, Barlow."

"A roller coaster is just elemental physics, a conversion of potential energy to kinetic energy."

"They say the real fear with these rides comes from the feeling of having no control."

"I'll meet you at the end."

"You can run, but you cannot hide. This is the beginning of the end."

"This ride will be the death of you."

"It's never better staying ignorant. Willful ignorance is surrendering control."

"Four years from now, Lewis Romero goin' in the second round to Oakland... He's gonna romp and stomp. Fifteen seasons with four Super Bowl rings on his fingers. Lewis ain't afraid of no death, Fuck Death! Death is a fuckin' Denver fan. Death wear blue and orange. Real men wear black. Lewis ain't afraid of no Death. Death is afraid of me! Death fears me! 'Cause, baby, I just win. I just win, Kevin! That's all I know how to do! I just win! Uhh! Fuck Death! ... [After the hanging swords swing down and cut the pulley ropes.] Whoo! What did I tell you, Kevin, huh? Fuck death! I just win! That's all I know how to do, Kevin. Baby, I just win! [Lifts weights once again. As Lewis screams triumphantly, the weights swing down and crush his head like a ripe watermelon, splattering bloody pulp on Wendy and Kevin.]"

"[A signboard at the entrance to the Devil's Flight roller coaster.] No exit after turnstiles. I'll see you soon."

"It's not only horrible, but can you feel, can you feel how vicious it was?"

"Linda Kim as Jay"

"Ken Jenkins as Agent Moore"

"Jason George as Richard"

"Jonathan Frakes (uncredited cameo) as a bystander"

"Julia Sweeney as Jenny Gibbs"

"Lindze Letherman as Kelly Gibbs"

"Paula Garcés as Francesca"

"French Stewart as Earl Dopler"

"Jesse Bradford as Zak Gibbs"

"Michael Biehn as Henry Gates"

"adventure of a lifetime, in a few mere seconds."

"Freeze the future"

"Garikayi Mutambirwa as Meeker"