Pee-wee's Big Adventure

PG

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1 hr. 30 min.

Kids & Family

Comedy

List

88%

51 Reviews

Tomatometer

79%

100,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Pee-wee Herman (Paul Reubens), an eccentric child-like man, loves his red bicycle and will not sell it to his envious neighbor, Francis (Mark Holton). While Pee-wee visits his friend Dottie (Elizabeth Daily), the bike is stolen. Thinking his bike is at the Alamo, Pee-wee sets off on a trip, where he meets many remarkable people, including waitress Simone (Diane Salinger) and a motorcycle gang. Eventually, Pee-wee discovers that his bike is being used in a movie and tries to recover it.

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Critics Consensus

Pee-Wee's Big Adventure brings Paul Reubens' famous character to the big screen intact, along with enough inspired silliness to dazzle children of all ages.

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James R

I called it a classic and it said, “I know you are, but what am I?”

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/28/23

Full Review

Bluesideup

Just a great story about a boy and his bike. And by the way, the cast is excellent, brilliant director and writers, the perfect score and lots of wonderful low budget effects.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/09/23

Full Review

marlen m

A true joy to see on the big screen. Non stop nostalgia and Pee Wee with his cooler than you devil may care attitude make it difficult to look away. All the quotes, so many by the time this is over you'll find yourself saying can we do this again?

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/04/22

Full Review

John D

Classic scenes and lines from a talented cast.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/19/21

Full Review

Jeff M

I think it's sometimes easy to be snobbish when you're reviewing movies. Sure, I like art house films and foreign films and depressing documentaries. But a good movie is a good movie - and this is a GREAT movie! Fun, inventive and imaginative, 35 years later it still retains the magic of what makes going to the movies such an enduring legacy. Has there ever been a movie with such a gallery of supporting characters who are on screen for brief moments but remain in our minds and hearts decades later? My personal favorite is the late great Jan Hooks as Tina, the Alamo tour guide. But take your pick! If this isn't Burton's best film, it certainly belongs among the upper echelon of his achievements. There are individual scenes too numerous to mention that remain as fresh in my mind today as when I saw it in the theater in 1985. This is a movie that is probably way too easy to dismiss, but in my mind, it creates a world as eccentric and memorable as THE WIZARD OF OZ and WILLY WONKA AND the CHOCOLATE FACTORY. God bless Pee-Wee Herman, and God bless the crazy minds that came up with this wholly original and practically perfect movie that still resonates with me to this day in a way few other movies have done.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/11/24

Full Review

Alec B

It's such an imaginative comedy and one that exists entirely in a realm of big, goofy, unapologetic fantasy. Ruebens' performance is utter perfection.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

12/13/23

Full Review

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Tim Burton

Director

Paul Reubens

Pee-wee Herman

E.G. Daily

Dottie

Mark Holton

Francis

Diane Salinger

Simone

Tony Bill

Terry Hawthorne

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James Berardinelli

ReelViews

The movie gets weirder and more divorced from anything resembling reality the longer it runs but that (I suppose) is part of its charm.

Rated: 2.5/4

Jan 16, 2023

Full Review

Paul Attanasio

Washington Post

"Pee-wee's Big Adventure" isn't a movie but a collection of found objects from the garbage heap of low culture...

Jan 2, 2018

Full Review

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Reubens always lets us feel superior to his creation, and when his character slips, as it does more than once in this first feature outing, his own condescension shows through.

Feb 9, 2010

Full Review

Erica Peplin

Vague Visages

The gender play, sexual politics and physical comedy shine as brightly as the 100-watt headlight on its star’s beloved bike.

Dec 5, 2023

Full Review

Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

Not exactly indie, but definitely reflecting an independent spirit...

Aug 21, 2023

Full Review

Eileen Jones

The Jacobin

It demonstrates not only Reubens’s unique gifts, but also the fact that Tim Burton really was a talented filmmaker once upon a time.

Aug 18, 2023

Full Review

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Synopsis

Pee-wee Herman (Paul Reubens), an eccentric child-like man, loves his red bicycle and will not sell it to his envious neighbor, Francis (Mark Holton). While Pee-wee visits his friend Dottie (Elizabeth Daily), the bike is stolen. Thinking his bike is at the Alamo, Pee-wee sets off on a trip, where he meets many remarkable people, including waitress Simone (Diane Salinger) and a motorcycle gang. Eventually, Pee-wee discovers that his bike is being used in a movie and tries to recover it.

Director: Tim Burton
Executive Producer: William E. McEuen
Screenwriter: Phil Hartman, Paul Reubens, Michael Varhol
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Production Co: Warner Brothers, Aspen Film Society
Rating: PG
Genre: Kids & Family, Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 19, 1985, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 19, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $40.9M
Sound Mix: Surround

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