Barney's Great Adventure

Polygram Filmed Entertainment | Release Date: April 3, 1998

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

44	METASCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

Roger Ebert

If you like him on TV, you'll like him here, too, because it's more of the same stuff, only outdoors and with animals and shooting stars and the kinds of balloons people can go up in. Read full review

Todd McCarthy

Arguably the most critic-proof picture of the decade, Barney's Great Adventure will delight everyone who can't wait to see it and be a grin-and-bear-it experience for those who must accompany members of the former group. Read full review

Nathan Rabin

Barney's Great Adventure will bore adults to tears. Read full review

Lisa Alspector

With very little modification, this archly innocuous children's musical could have been marketed as a sequel to Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

This spin-off from the TV series featuring the large purple felt dinosaur of awesome good nature is emetically wholesome. The screenplay doesn't stray much from the series' 'listen, sing, and rush off to the next thing' formula. Read full review

TV Guide MagazineKen Fox

The kids are fine, the original songs range from OK to wretched, and Barney is annoying as ever -- even more so, given his big-screen size and Dolby-enhanced guffaw. Read full review

Marjorie Baumgarten

It's all rather clumsy and routine. Read full review

Ty Burr

Barney’s Great Adventure is insipid, but it’s also harmless, and, besides, why shouldn’t toddlers enjoy the pleasures of their own kitsch? Read full review

David Kronke

Barney looks both more real and more magical on video; on film, he's clearly a doofus in a felt outfit. Read full review

Patricia S. McCormick

Although the film is longer than the television and video segments children this age are accustomed to, the pacing is brisk enough to hold them. Read full review

Peter Stack

The film is a fairly happy excuse to give the beloved dinosaur some room to do what he likes best -- sing kid-friendly songs and peddle a twinkly message that imagination and kindness are good things. Read full review

Michael Saunders

The film is too long for some toddlers and too dull for some older children, and anyone over 12 will likely find it as much fun as a 75-minute root canal. [03 Apr 1998, p.D9]

Leila Cobo-Hanlon

Barney's Great Adventure makes for fun watching. And you might actually be able to convince your older kids to tag along. [03 Apr 1998, p.6G]

Helene Lorber

A pleasant production that retained the familiar touchpoints of the TV show while adding big-screen pizzazz. [03 Apr 1998, p.14]

Moira Macdonald

Barney's Great Adventure may be a magical journey of emotion for the little ones, it's rather a puzzlement for uninitiated adults. [03 Apr 1998, p.G9]

John F. Kelly

Better than the ubiquitous PBS show in some places, not as good in others. [03 Apr 1998, p.N53]

Staff (Not Credited)

In what may well prove a Titanic for tykes, Barney's sweetness gets spiked with some welcome wit in Steve Gomer's classy direction of Steven White's screenplay. [16 Apr 1998, p.6]

Liam Lacey

As a testimonial to the powers of creativity and the imagination, Barney's Great Adventure is pretty unconvincing. [03 Apr 1998, p.C7]