Last night I revisited well loved PEE WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE '85 with mrTiki who has never seen it.
THIS original poster hangs in one of my restoration work rooms:
It's still entertaining for me and I could tell MrTiki enjoyed it as well-pointing out funny things on the set and even enjoying Pee Wee's silly antics. You have to like the charactor though, I could see where some could be put off by seeing an adult man acting like a child.
The movie is simply an episodic tale of a retro US road trip, if you like that aesthetic. Revisiting the clothing, architecture, cars & tourist attractions of the US in the 50's was very popular in the 80's, similarly to the popularity of early pre-code & silent films in the 70's.
I didn't find the film dated at all, it was harmlessly cute & entertaining. It was fun spotting all the cameos, seeing Milton Berle was a bit of a shock!
Since familiar with the story, my mind wandered more to the direction, Tim Burton and Danny Elfman's music.
I find Tim Burton rather self-indulgent but that's OK, it's really just a result of excersizing your strong "voice", so I roll along with him for the most part. His storytelling was very good here, although I did think the editing was a bit too quick, but then again I'm watching with older eyes, heh!
My beef with Burton's style is it seems more a crutch than communicative but you only see that looking at his entire body of work, this is his first.
And boy I have never liked Danny Elfman's music & realize it's a very unpopular opinion.
I think Elfman's a hack but for this movie, his plagiarism is so extreme it is evidently an "homage". (Elfman gets to use ONE real Morricone tune)
Otherwise, we picked out several tunes, using the original instruments & style of familiar soundtracks with just a slightly altered melody-like the PSYCHO strings denouement as a chase slows.
There was an LA Company that would make "soundalike" tunes for film/TV/commercials. Their slogan?
"Close enough for them to sue, but not close enough for them to win!" That's what's going on here.
Elfman has gone on to make very popular soundtracks of original music, but somehow they still seem contrived and clunky. Guess he's just not my cup of tea.
(JJG, I'd love to hear your 2¢)