Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)

Stars	User	Rating
6	Barthalen	69 _51%
My first Pee-wee outing, and I could not imagine the character as anything other than a sociopath who was treated using hypnosis to regress him to a safe, child-like state, where the hypnotist died of a heart attack 90% into the proceedings. It would at least explain my constant fight-or-flight responses while watching; often couldn't tell whether P.W. was amused or about to murder the shit out of someone. Some fun gags and characters (Large Marge!) but I didn't really get a lot out of this.
4	pilgermann	99 _99%
For some reason I've always been in love with this movie. I watched the DVD three times in a row when I first got it (it's also the first DVD I ever bought). It never fails to crack me up and make me happy.
3	Hawkins	73 _52%
Carnival unease. I get the sense that when Burton and Elfman hang out all they ever talk about is dilapidated merry-go-rounds and tattered circus tents and dutch angles. For once I think their shtick actually works, the technicolor joy of Herman's world is effectively augmented into something vaguely sinister without its comedic tone being compromised.
2	KasperL	30 _10%
I didn't like it at all. But I think it's definitely safe to say that I've never seen anything quite like it. So that's something, I guess.
2	Baburusu	74 _54%
Watching this movie was like getting a flashback of the mental wondrous adventures we would conjure up in our childhood. It's a childlike surreal experience in a bizarre world where the strangest things happen and everyone just goes along with it, without it being overwhelming. However, underneath the cartoonish silliness, there's some deranged and even creepy moments, that give it that unique touch associated with Burton. At times it's a bit clunky and excessive, but nevertheless a good debut.
2	Yiannos	70 _71%
Ruebens' iconic man-child creation was both timely and forward looking: he was almost proto-hipster with his nebbish retro attire and passive aggressive demenour. Burton claims his inspiration was Bicycle Thieves, but Pee Wee's attachment to his bike is emotional rather than material (i.e not borne out of economic necessity) which is a perfectly perverse update for the 1980s. Burton, unlike Reubens, went on to bigger and better things, but together they created a one-of-a-kind film experience.
2	TinyBonanza	25 _28%
mothafucker wheres my breaksfast machine?
2	Tony Irwin	95 _94%
Reuben's gags and character are incessantly funny and it actually makes for a better comedy road movie than others I've seen that are pitched at adults. The problem is Burton as director - he brings a distant eeriness to it that on the one hand turned a likable kid's movie into something weird and unsettling, and yet on the other hand turned a likable kid's movie into something wonderfully surreal and absurd. The result is a mesmerising and timeless comedy art-house movie for kids.
2	adouble	85 _76%
I love this movie, probably because I've always really enojoyed Pee-wee as a character. Random and bizarre in the best possible way, with some fantastic comedy moments.
2	TripleSH	85 _80%
Come on now. It's Pee Wee's Big Adventure. No review will either discredit it or do it justice. It stands alone, as the better of the two Pee Wee movies.
2	Paxton	73 _73%
I remember...I remember the Alamo!
2	skiewulfy	85 _98%
A surrealist rampage of an introverted agoraphobic's effort to recapture his violated sense of security. Tim Burton's direction gives even the warmest landscapes a sense of menace and foreboding and, as ever, plays upon the popular fear of clowns. Paul Reubens makes a committed and iconic performance of a man in arrested development. This is the opus of all parties involved, including Burton.
1	Lord Moe	85 _60%
"Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" is about a man and his bike. Yep, that's it. Pee-Wee's bike gets stolen, and he embarks on a big adventure to find it! He travels all over the world looking for it, meeting people along the way and getting into all kinds of trouble. It's a simple story, but it is done very, very well. I don't know how Paul Reubens thought of creating the character of Pee-Wee Herman but he is a genius. Pee-Wee is so likable, silly, and funny that he makes this big adventure a lot of fun.
1	billkerwin	82 _52%
Burton brings out the perverse in Peewee, and Peewee brings out the child in Burton. Not that either was that far from the surface.
1	misterlizard	20 _22%
As a debut for Tim Burton it shows some of the bizarre style and humour he'd later become known for. Probably not the film the studio had in mind when they gave him the project. The Pee-Wee character however is one of the creepiest and irritating manchildren in film history and sucks any fun out of this.
1	fudgieb	95 _89%
A classic bit of post modern madness. One must draw the line between high art and low art exactly where Pee-Wee draws the line between man and boy. And by the way...tell em Large Marge sentcha....
1	NothingsGood	85 _93%
Tim Burton's feature debut brings the zany humor of Pee Wee's Playhouse to the big screen in this charming and quirky comedy about a man in search of his stolen bicycle. A terrific ensemble cast and dazzling unique set pieces build around Paul Reuben's phenomenal Pee-Wee Herman character, delivering one of the most inventive and enjoyable films of all time. If you don't like this, you don't have a soul.
1	Leonardis	87 _56%
Creative, wacky, and silly, Tim Burton's Pee-wee's Big Adventure is a solid strange comedic start for the bizarre director.
1	SirStuckey	65 _45%
Hey Pee-Wee, you know what's better than your bicycle? Dottie's sweet sweet lovin'.
1	kuntainspace	92 _55%
Tim Burton's only legitimately great movie. Timeless, classic.
1	HavingFun!	85 _77%
The best cross country road trip comedy ever made. I know that isn't much of a hallmark, but Pee Wee is is a boatload of joy. Small children should be wary as a monster is hidden in this movie.
1	thesleepwalk	94 _96%
One of my favorite movies. Absolutely clever and funny. So many good moments.
1	oldgoat	75 _66%
Charming, and has a lot of surprisingly well done jokes.
1	moraesfelipe	68 _68%
This is the strangest film produced by Hollywood in 1985, one that tells the story of a creepy, androgenic grown-up-kid looking for his bike. He eventually becomes the subject of a major but cheesy action feature by Warner Bros. Burton's cartoonish extravaganza would never be matched in his career, but is undeniably unique: both repulsive -- Pee-wee is really a scary loner -- and refreshing -- Burton's rebellion would impact Hollywood in the following years, and it all began here.
1	janus	75 _64%
Pee-Wee runs the gamut of road-movie cliches, from escaped cons and creepy truckers to hobos and biker bars. A bit grating at points but mostly fun and always weird. Highlights: Francis' oversized bathtub, Large Marge, Pee-Wee's dream in the hospital, the denouement at the drive-in.
1	cult_of_same	85 _98%
I still fast forward through the Large Marge scene...should be included in the horror genre.
1	chemical404	42 _28%
Pee-Wee's character is utterly unlikable, annoying creep. The kind of a retard that believes he's 'special' just because his mom said him so (sorry for being politically incorrect). Burton makes this film more enjoyable than it deserved to be with his distinguishable style (that became a caricature of itself by now) and lots of smart references.
1	loofitube	94 _98%
Funny, engaging, and endlessly creative. Tim Burton and Paul Reubens created magic here. Pee-wee Herman is hilarious, odd, and so subversive!
1	BillyShears	100 _98%
de·light d??l?t/
1	LookingLand	10 _15%
yuck.
1	msprague	70 _61%
Exactly what you would expect from Pee-wee. We hate bike thieves!
1	Shmendrek	4 _83%
Fucking awesome. If I had kids I'd show this to them all the time. One of the best road movies ever made, with wall-to-wall gags and a bizarre cast of characters.
1	Suture Self	6 _54%
It rather make fun of movies than be a movie itself, so the self-referential angle and the whole movie within a movie dealio at the end seemed a little lazy. But I liked the upbeat-nonsense vibe and the quick pace of the story. The scenes in Texas along with the "everyone always has a big but" line are probably my favorite moments.
1	Alex Watkins	5 _91%
A distinctly American comedy, lampooning the road movie and having fun with all sorts of national cliches: biker gangs, Texan patriots, rich snobs, truckers, small-town diner habitués, convicts. And it's wonderfully light-hearted and goofy throughout, never losing its optimism and still managing to be laugh-out-loud funny without being crass, crude or profane.
1	TheDiceman	40 _18%
Strange film.
1	lifeandall	45 _12%
How can something be so annoying and mysteriously funny at the same time?
1	TheDenizen	70 _63%
I'm a loner, Dottie. A rebel. Nonstop silliness and sight gags.
1	PianoSama	65 _45%
If you can get past the sometimes more annoying than funny quirks of the Pee-Wee persona & appreciate the core values of the character, there's quite a bit to enjoy about this. Reubens does as solid a job as ever, the supporting cast play their parts well, & a lot of the sets and scenes are a whole lot of fun. The biggest negative is that those scenes don't often link up very well, leading the plot to feel pretty disjointed. Overall, though, it's a harmless family comedy that's worth a look.

Average Percentile 50.48% from 3209 Ratings