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Pixels

Play trailer 1:31 Poster for Pixels PG-13 Released Jul 24, 2015 1h 46m Comedy Action Adventure Fantasy Sci-Fi Play Trailer Watchlist
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18% Tomatometer 205 Reviews 46% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
When aliens intercept video feeds of classic arcade games and misinterpret them as a declaration of war, they attack Earth, using the games as models. Knowing that he must employ a similar strategy, President Will Cooper (Kevin James) recruits his childhood pal, former video-game champ and home-theater installer Sam Brenner (Adam Sandler), to lead a team of old-school arcade players and a military specialist (Michelle Monaghan) in an all-out battle to save the planet.
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Pixels

Pixels

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Critics Consensus

Much like the worst arcade games from the era that inspired it, Pixels has little replay value and is hardly worth a quarter.

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Critics Reviews

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Udita Jhunjhunwala Livemint The film catalogues the worst set of performances seen in a while, particularly Dinklage's accent and Gad's pubescent antics. Aug 15, 2019 Full Review Tara Brady Irish Times It's a neat idea for a parody disaster film but it's wholly lost in this melange of underwritten characters and awful dialogue. Rated: 2/4 Mar 7, 2016 Full Review Alison Willmore BuzzFeed News There are scenes in the surreally lazy, occasionally funny Pixels in which Sandler's face slips into the exact same weary, disgruntled expression he wears in Funny People. Nov 10, 2015 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...a fun, innovative premise that is, for the most part, employed to underwhelming and frequently tedious effect... Rated: 2/4 Aug 13, 2022 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review The humor is juvenile and inane, the characters are unbelievable and over-the-top, and the overall temperament is childish. Rated: 1.5/4 Jun 9, 2022 Full Review Nikki Baughan AWFJ.org Monahan is at least given the chance to get her teeth into the role of the army specialist drafted in to help kick some otherworldy ass. Oct 4, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Ryland C Great premise, great execution, amazing CGI with the 8-Bit video game aliens, it’s great! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/10/25 Full Review Alexander S The premise was absolutely glorious, given that it was an adaptation of a short film by Patrick Jean. However, Adam Sandler’s Pixels unfortunately plummeted with the usual immature toilet humor that we’ve come to expect from Sandler. The A-list cast’s performances looked embarrassing, and the story was incredibly dumb. It was almost depressing to watch such a concept with high potential get squandered with such awkward potty humor. On the bright side, the CGI was an exceptional win. Grading: D Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 07/09/25 Full Review John M. Pixels Plot 5.0 not the dumbest movie idea ever and honestly like the idea of aliens coming in the form of nostalgic video games Characters 6.5 funny dumb characters Cast 7.8 some great one trick comedy actors gotta love Adam Sandler and the crew Pacing 4.0 god this movie just jumps right in Cinematography 5.6 for this being a comedy movie I was impressed Ending 6.8 pretty good ending Overall 5.9 Pretty good for a comedy action scfi movie definitely not anything great but also it’s uniqueness helps it out a lot though it was also hurt by the fact that for a Adam Sandler movie it wasn’t as funny as most for me Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 07/09/25 Full Review Henry D The criticisms of this movie are clearly absurd and anyone who watched it thinking it would be a cinematic masterpiece (as most critics appeared to have done) and not a silly movie targeted to kids with a few extra jokes for parents are ridiculous. Fun movie especially when you get the references and I thought that the cast was quite well put together. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 07/06/25 Full Review Yavanplayz , Great movie from my childhood Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/15/25 Full Review Guilherme M It's so bad that I genuinely like it. The CGI and special effects aren't bad at all, the fights aren't boring, and the movie had its own charm. I really thought it was an epic movie, truly underrated, but I understand the bad rating, it's not good for grown ups and people that don't game at all. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/10/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Pixels

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Cast & Crew

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Chris Columbus

Director

Adam Sandler

Sam Brenner

Kevin James

President Will Cooper

Michelle Monaghan

Lt. Col. Violet Van Patten

Peter Dinklage

Eddie Plant

Josh Gad

Ludlow Lamonsoff

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Pixels

Pixels: International Trailer 1 Pixels: International Trailer 1 1:31 Pixels: International Trailer 2 Pixels: International Trailer 2 2:31 View more videos
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Pixels

A scene from "Pixels." A scene from "Pixels." Josh Gad as Ludlow Lamonsoff in "Pixels." A scene from "Pixels." (L-R) Michelle Monaghan as Violet Van Patten, Adam Sandler as Sam Brenner, Josh Gad as Ludlow Lamonsoff and Peter Dinklage as Eddie Plant in "Pixels." View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis When aliens intercept video feeds of classic arcade games and misinterpret them as a declaration of war, they attack Earth, using the games as models. Knowing that he must employ a similar strategy, President Will Cooper (Kevin James) recruits his childhood pal, former video-game champ and home-theater installer Sam Brenner (Adam Sandler), to lead a team of old-school arcade players and a military specialist (Michelle Monaghan) in an all-out battle to save the planet.
Director
Chris Columbus
Producer
Allen Covert, Mark Radcliffe, Chris Columbus, Adam Sandler
Screenwriter
Tim Herlihy, Timothy Dowling
Distributor
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Production Co
Columbia Pictures, LStar Capital
Rating
PG-13 (Suggestive Comments|Some Language)
Genre
Comedy, Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Jul 24, 2015, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
May 23, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$78.7M
Runtime
1h 46m
Sound Mix
Dolby Atmos
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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