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Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985)

post #1 of 25
6/1/10 at 1:59am
Thread Starter 
The first 17 minutes or so are just about the most irritating of any movie I've ever seen.

This set me up to hate it but somewhere around the fortune teller scene I began to fall under it's charms and the movie began to pick up. Which is good because it keeps getting better and better all the way 'til the end. I'm still not in love with it like a lot of you seem to be, but if I saw this when I was 8 it'd probably be the best movie I've ever seen. Which is exactly what a kids movie should be. As it is, I grew up watching Burton's Batman instead.

Seriously though, those first 17 minutes, Good Christ.
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post #2 of 25
6/1/10 at 2:08am
IS THERE SOMETHING YOU WANT TO SHARE WITH THE REST OF US, AMAZING LARRY!?
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post #3 of 25
6/1/10 at 2:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll View Post
The first 17 minutes or so are just about the most irritating of any movie I've ever seen.

This set me up to hate it but somewhere around the fortune teller scene I began to fall under it's charms and the movie began to pick up. Which is good because it keeps getting better and better all the way 'til the end. I'm still not in love with it like a lot of you seem to be, but if I saw this when I was 8 it'd probably be the best movie I've ever seen. Which is exactly what a kids movie should be. As it is, I grew up watching Burton's Batman instead.

Seriously though, those first 17 minutes, Good Christ.
As a kid those first 17 minutes were my favorite part. I wanted Pee-Wee's house so bad.
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post #4 of 25
6/1/10 at 3:17am
This movie is not only entertaining, it's educational. Having lived in Texas most of my life, I've found it to be true that, while not always effective, you can often get the appropriate response from yelling "The stars at night are big and bright..." into a crowd. Got a whole diner to do it once.
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post #5 of 25
6/1/10 at 4:47am
Love this movie from go to whoa. I love the hiss he gives that scares off the street toughs before he goes into the Fortune Teller.
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post #6 of 25
6/1/10 at 1:16pm
A simple quest plot like this, stringing together random weird encounters and madcap adventures, renders Burton's usual story-handicap moot. I was a Tim Burton, Danny Elfman, and Pee Wee Herman fan from day 1.



I felt like 80s Joe Dante and 80s Tim Burton were making movies just for me. Weird, creepy, and fun.
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post #7 of 25
6/1/10 at 1:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll View Post
I'm still not in love with it like a lot of you seem to be, but if I saw this when I was 8 it'd probably be the best movie I've ever seen. Which is exactly what a kids movie should be.
Yet I liked it more the older I got. It's not as adult as his HBO special but there's still some level of... irony? to it. Not quite the right word as I think Pee Wee is mostly intended to be an earnest character. Maybe I just appreciate its bizarreness more as an adult.
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post #8 of 25
6/1/10 at 1:33pm
Yeah, this is about as perfect a movie as your gonna get.
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post #9 of 25
6/1/10 at 9:22pm
I'm a loner, Dottie. A rebel.

I find the first 17 minutes to be one of the funniest openings to any movie I've seen. Seeing Pee-Wee's wacky manchild ways at peak level just destroy me every time. I really hope Reubens can someday make the Pee-Wee biopic he's been talking up for the last ten years.
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post #10 of 25
6/1/10 at 10:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dross View Post
Yeah, this is about as perfect a movie as your gonna get.
Absolutely. Some grew up with Ghostbusters or The Goonies (poor bastards) but as a kid, I watched this movie countless times.
So I know I'm as biased as it gets but is there really anything really wrong with it? If you're keyed into the silly, slightly weird tone that bounces between the childish and the surreal, it's a blast.
I don't exactly see what's wrong with the first 17 minutes. Is it his crazy house contraptions and his Mr. T cereal?

And what happened to this Tim Burton?
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post #11 of 25
6/1/10 at 10:51pm
Thread Starter 
I think it's sort of like watching Beavis and Butthead, in that you have to sort of get used to the fact that every 5 seconds one of the characters makes an obnoxious grunting noise. In this it's an obnoxious laugh, but it can grate on your nerves in the same way.

Everything before Pee-Wee's bike gets stolen is Paul Reuben's laughing and being obnoxious to various people. I understand it can be difficult to judge a childhood favorite objectively, but surely you can understand how that could irritate someone.
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post #12 of 25
6/1/10 at 11:10pm
I remember taping this movie off of Showtime when I was a kid, and literally watched it so many times that the VHS tape completely broke. I bought the DVD and now my kids love it. I'm sad that they cleaned up some of the really poorly done things (originally you could actually see the chain coming up through the bottom of the container on his bike when he pulls that endless length of chain out, and during the scene with the road signs in the dark of night it was brutally obvious that the signs had wheels and were on a track, but these things added to the charm imo). All in all I don't think Burton has ever made a better movie though.
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post #13 of 25
6/1/10 at 11:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nicholas View Post
Some grew up with Ghostbusters or The Goonies (poor bastards) but as a kid, I watched this movie countless times.
I love Big Adventure, but what the hell is wrong with Ghostbusters or the Goonies?
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post #14 of 25
6/1/10 at 11:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll View Post
I think it's sort of like watching Beavis and Butthead, in that you have to sort of get used to the fact that every 5 seconds one of the characters makes an obnoxious grunting noise. In this it's an obnoxious laugh, but it can grate on your nerves in the same way.

Everything before Pee-Wee's bike gets stolen is Paul Reuben's laughing and being obnoxious to various people. I understand it can be difficult to judge a childhood favorite objectively, but surely you can understand how that could irritate someone.
I guess so. And you're right it is a bit difficult to view objectively. But that laugh is Pee Wee. And they did have to show him as a bit of a jerk, setting up the slight sketch of an arc.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyRockyHorror View Post
I love Big Adventure, but what the hell is wrong with Ghostbusters or the Goonies?
Nothing wrong with the former but the latter, man, I just don't think it has aged very well at all. But sorry, I should have left that comment out, as I didn't mean to bring up that argument again.
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post #15 of 25
6/2/10 at 12:04am
Aside from liking it because it's crazy awesome, I like it because it serves as a great primer for all of Tim Burton's early works. And, therefore, for all of Tim Burton's career.
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post #16 of 25
6/2/10 at 12:14am
there was a tim burton section of trivia at my local pub last week. there were at least 4 or 5 pee wee questions thrown in and I crushed them. My group was amazed and terrified at how much random details I knew of this movie. I love it to death.
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post #17 of 25
6/2/10 at 12:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nicholas View Post
Nothing wrong with the former but the latter, man, I just don't think it has aged very well at all. But sorry, I should have left that comment out, as I didn't mean to bring up that argument again.
No, I can definitely understand your POV. I just have a deep love for the Goonies and personally think it holds up pretty well. Certainly more so than other family films from that era (Though I can't think of any specific examples that don't seem like utter shit now)


But back on topic. Can't wait for a huge Blu Ray release of this. The DVD releases have been terribly underwhelming. Hopefully we'll see one this year. It being the 25th anniversary and all.

And as far as this being Burton's best? As much as I love the everything about this movie, I'm still gonna have to go with Ed Wood #1, followed by Edward Scissorhands for a close 2nd.
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post #18 of 25
6/2/10 at 12:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam Strange View Post
IS THERE SOMETHING YOU WANT TO SHARE WITH THE REST OF US, AMAZING LARRY!?
Best line of the whole movie, and I say that loving the whole movie.
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post #19 of 25
6/2/10 at 12:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew Woods View Post
As a kid those first 17 minutes were my favorite part. I wanted Pee-Wee's house so bad.
I still want his house.
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post #20 of 25
6/2/10 at 1:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick Ripoll View Post
I think it's sort of like watching Beavis and Butthead, in that you have to sort of get used to the fact that every 5 seconds one of the characters makes an obnoxious grunting noise. In this it's an obnoxious laugh, but it can grate on your nerves in the same way.

Everything before Pee-Wee's bike gets stolen is Paul Reuben's laughing and being obnoxious to various people. I understand it can be difficult to judge a childhood favorite objectively, but surely you can understand how that could irritate someone.
As I said, I liked it well enough when I was a kid, but I appreciated it more when I watched it five or six years ago. It wasn't really one of my favorite movies when I was little so I don't think nostalgia is coming into play. Pee-Wee was everywhere when I was growing up, though, so it's possible I was way more used to him than you are.
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post #21 of 25
6/2/10 at 2:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeI View Post
Aside from liking it because it's crazy awesome, I like it because it serves as a great primer for all of Tim Burton's early works. And, therefore, for all of Tim Burton's career.
Talk about a near-perfect melding of character with director. Any doubts you may have about how much Burton brings to the table, just go watch Big-Top Pee-Wee and see how flat the character can be without a steady hand behind the scenes.

Still, as for favorite Burton, I'm still sticking with Beetlejuice. He still really hasn't topped that, in my humble.
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post #22 of 25
6/7/10 at 5:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by A-Pathetic View Post
I remember taping this movie off of Showtime when I was a kid, and literally watched it so many times that the VHS tape completely broke. I bought the DVD and now my kids love it. I'm sad that they cleaned up some of the really poorly done things (originally you could actually see the chain coming up through the bottom of the container on his bike when he pulls that endless length of chain out, and during the scene with the road signs in the dark of night it was brutally obvious that the signs had wheels and were on a track, but these things added to the charm imo). All in all I don't think Burton has ever made a better movie though.
Originally on FULLSCREEN video, you mean. Wasn't intended to be seen, as the film was shot for matted widescreen IIRC. The sneak peaks at the chain and rail wasn't intended by Burton, but it is hilarious and the way I remember it.
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post #23 of 25
6/7/10 at 6:13pm
We just touched on this in the new Beetlejuice thread, but how refreshing it is to return to this film and see Burton tell a story without the goddamn Daddy Issues!

And yeah thanks, guys, I'm going to be humming "Breakfast Machine" all day at work now.
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post #24 of 25
6/7/10 at 6:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DARKMITE8 View Post
The sneak peaks at the chain and rail wasn't intended by Burton, but it is hilarious and the way I remember it.
Yeah, I always remember it being that way.
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post #25 of 25
6/7/10 at 6:41pm
When Pee-wee is dressed as a woman in the car, and Mickey looks over at him and grins. Hilarious. You'd never see something like that in a PG movie nowadays.
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