Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Tags: comedy, cult, historical fiction, alternate history, historical, entertaining

Plot synopsis:
In Futuristic City, 2688, humanity exists as a utopian society due to the inspiration of the music and wisdom of the Two Great Ones: Bill S. Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter) and Ted "Theodore" Logan (Keanu Reeves). Rufus (George Carlin) is tasked by the leaders to travel back to San Dimas, California, in 1988 using a time machine disguised as a telephone booth to ensure that Bill and Ted, who are dimwitted metalhead slacker high school students, get a good grade in their final history oral report and pass the class. Should they fail, Ted's father, Police Captain John Logan (Hal Langdon), plans to ship Ted to a military academy in Alaska, ending Bill and Ted's fledgling band, the "Wyld Stallyns", thus altering the future. Bill, meanwhile, has a crush on his father's new wife, barely older than himself.
Bill and Ted struggle with the report, which asks them to envision how three historical figures would see San Dimas in the present. While they are asking strangers at the local Circle K convenience store for help, Rufus arrives in the time machine. The two are distrustful until the time machine arrives again nearby, out from which step future versions of Bill and Ted. They prove to their younger selves that they are really them and that they should trust Rufus. They privately ask Rufus a question and then depart. The younger versions of Bill and Ted accept Rufus' offer to take them into the past. Rufus takes them to a battlefield in Austria, 1805 where Napoleon Bonaparte (Terry Camilleri) is commanding the French army against Austria. They return to the present, unaware that the time machine has caught Napoleon in its wake and pulled him along. Landing near Ted's house, Rufus reminds them that they must still reach the school on time to give their report and then departs, returning the time machine to them. The two discover Napoleon after he falls out of a nearby tree, and come up with the idea of kidnapping other historical figures to bring to the present. They leave Napoleon with Ted's younger brother, Deacon (Frazier Bain), and start traveling through time.
The two befriend Billy the Kid (Dan Shor) in The Old West, 1879 and Socrates (Tony Steedman) in Ancient Greece, 410 BC before stopping in London, 1461 where they become infatuated with Princesses Elizabeth (Kimberley Kates) and Joanna (Diane Franklin). The teens anger the princesses' father, Henry VI of England (John Karlsen), who orders their beheading, but they are rescued by Billy and Socrates. They are forced to leave without the princesses and, in the escape, the telephone booth is damaged. Dialing a random number, they land next in the Utopian future, where Bill and Ted are amazed by the music playing and that the citizens worship them. They leave after a brief stay and, believing they have plenty of time before the report, start collecting more historical figures for extra credit, including Sigmund Freud (Rod Loomis) in Vienna, 1901, Ludwig van Beethoven (Clifford David) in Kassel, 1810, Joan of Arc (Jane Wiedlin) in Orléans, 1429, Genghis Khan (Al Leong) in Mongolia, 1209, and Abraham Lincoln (Robert V. Barron) in Washington, D.C. in 1863. Having run out of room in the phone booth, Bill and Ted finally discover the time machine is damaged.
After making ad hoc repairs to the time machine, Bill and Ted try to return to the present but land outside the Circle K, recognizing the situation they previously witnessed. After reassuring their younger selves, they learn from Rufus how to dial the right number to get to their present and that they are running out of time. Once they arrive to the present, Bill's mother has him, Ted, and the historical figures get their household chores done before taking them to the local mall, where the historical figures are left to experience San Dimas while Bill and Ted look for Napoleon; Ted finds Deacon had ditched Napoleon earlier out of embarrassment, but they later find him at the water slide park "Waterloo" (the name based on the Napoleon's famous battle of "Waterloo"). Meanwhile, the historical figures had caused trouble at the mall and have been arrested by Captain Logan. Upon discovering this, Bill and Ted figure out how they can use the time machine to set up an event at the police station to allow them to free the historical figures without getting caught. After freeing them, Bill's mother drives them all to the high school and arrive just in time, where they give an impressive presentation with the help of the historical figures that receives a standing ovation. They pass their course and return the historical figures to their proper times.
Later, as Bill and Ted are practicing, Rufus arrives, showing he had rescued the princesses from England and introduced them to the modern world, and that they become part of Wyld Stallyns. Elated, Bill and Ted resume their practice with their usual ineptitude, with Rufus breaking the fourth wall and promising, "They do get better..."

Review: The 90's will never have that to live down (except terrible fashions, but not as bad).When Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure became the surprise hit of 1989, it made a star of everyone's favorite Lebanese-Canadian-U.S. rock 'n rolling actor, Keanu Reeves, who is one of the top stars at the box office today and one of the few likeable people in Tinseltown.
It seems that he still carries a bit of Theodore "Ted" Logan in all his movies.He and Alex Winter (an indie film dynamo) play Bill and Ted, a couple of 80's California dudes who want to start their own rock band (Wyld Stallyons).
Yes, there are good fluffy comedies that promise a really fun watch.I can't even count how many times I've seen this movie, but somehow it never gets old.
I've always had a huge fascination with the idea of time travel (why else would I love 'Back to the Future' so much?), and this movie actually makes it look really, really fun.
And it would seem that Ted, of all Reeves many characters, is possibly the only one where he really seemed to have put himself into the role and felt like a natural.One of the great dopey dude slacker classics, the title characters Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (the aforementioned Reeves) are a pair of aspiring musicians, the Wild Stallions, who are in danger of being both separated if Ted can't pull up a good enough grade (which = military school) and flunking history class in general.
But since they are destined to be "the 2 Great Ones" who's music will unite the Earth and even alien races together in universal harmony, the most excellent dude Rufus (George Carlin) shows up and gives them a time traveling phone booth to help them pass their history class by bringing back real historical figures like Billy the Kid, Abraham Lincoln, Napoleon, Joan of Ark and what not.
Along the way, Bill & Ted also fall in love with two sexy virgin princesses from the medieval circa.Yeah it's not great cinema, but it's a fun romp of slacker dude madness thanks to the energy and enthusiasm of Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves as the title characters.Followed by "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey"..
But, it takes a true writing genius (or geniuses, in this case) to create something as original as "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure." The ingenuity of the movie can even be seen in its delightful tagline: "History is about to be re-written by two guys who can't spell." This tagline is both simple and clever, while being both corny and slightly comical.
If only production companies and filmmakers would take a chance on something as original as a time travelling phone booth carrying two idiots on the course to better the future, the public could finally go back to watching movies in theaters again..
The movie of course focuses on SoCal high school students Ted Logan (Keanu Reeves) and Bill Preston (Alex Winter) who want to start a heavy metal band, but are flunking school.
Rufus (George Carlin) comes from the future and gives the two boys a phone booth, and they go back in time and pick up Socrates (pronounced SO-krayts), Genghis Khan, Joan of Arc, Napoleon Bonaparte, Ludwig van Beethoven, Abraham Lincoln, Billy the Kid and Sigmund Freud.
That's Bill and Ted, two Valley-type teens from back in the late '80s who play two really two guys who wind up going on a time-travel trip while trying to help themselves pass a history presentation.I've always enjoyed time travel stories but they've all been fairly intelligent......not stupid, like this.
Any time you get to see Billy the Kid, Abraham Lincoln, Socrates, Beethoven, Napoleon, Joan of Arc and others all in the same movie - especially with these two modern-day airheads - is pretty entertaining.Keanu Reeves was perfect for the role because he sounds stupid no matter role he plays!
The movie concerns on two geeky and stupid teens(Keanu Reeves,Alex Winter).They confront to prepare a historical presentation but their professor(Bernie Casey)decides to give them an opportunity;if they can do an oral exam of how famed historic personages might adapt themselves to modern times,they will be allowed approve their history final .If not Ted will be placed in military academy.Rufus(George Carlin)an emissary from the future comes to help them in his time machine,a telephone booth.They pass through the universe and their lives are enormously important for the future of mankind.They meet get to know some of the history's most famous personality:Sigmund Freud(Rod Loomis),Gengis Khan(Al Leong),Socrates,Abraham Lincoln,Napoleon,Billy the Kid,Joan of Arc and carrying them to St Dimas little town.The picture is a Sci-fi comedy with action, giggles,tongue in check and is pretty entertained.Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter make a completely surrealist and delight duo.The motion picture obtained success in the box-office and in the video rentals and nowadays is well considered as a cult movie.The film is rightly directed by Stephen Herek,previously he directed a hit called ¨Critters¨.It's followed by a cartoon TV(Bill and Ted's excellent adventure,1990) series and a sequel(Bill and Ted's journey,Peter Hewitt,1991) by the same actors, big budget and better FX but the freshness,inspiration and magic had gone.
Jumping through all different times, the film makes great use of settings and jumps on opportunities to capture the essence of each time well and from the comedy perspective, it is used brilliantly.The use of historical figures is also a great device to gain acceptance into the comedy genre with Billy the Kid, Socrates, Beethoven and Genghis Kahn the most interesting and funny, though none will match Napoleon who was by far the funniest character of the entire film, especially the bowling scene which will get you in stitches.It is most simply, most excellent and you must watch it dudes!.
With it, they round up a who's who of historical figures -- Socrates, Billy the Kid, Sigmund Freud, Napoleon and the like -- to highlight an educational presentation that will be their academic saving grace.Nothing is overly spectacular about BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE.
I joke with my friends when we watch this movie and I say "If you could go back in time, would you have ever imagined that Keanu would make it after this film?" LOL!
So-Crates Johnson, Bob Genghis Khan, Dave Beeth-oven, Maxine of Arc, Herman the Kid, Dennis Fro-eud, and...Abraham Lincoln.Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure is lighthearted good fun from the late 80s that despite the fashions and music, hasn't seemed to date itself too much to younger generations that weren't even alive in the 80s.
The stars of the film are two seemingly brainless but well intentioned high school slackers, Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (the aforementioned Keanu Reeves) that dream of making it big with their garage band "Wyld Stallions".
This movie rightfully gets a lot of praise for the fact that it had a moral, and actually taught kids some things about history, my hope is that history looks at this movie as it was; a movie that was goofy on purpose, showed great friendship between two people, taught us a little about history, and change the landscape of pop culture for almost 10 years (something I don't think many movies have done, especially any teen comedies)..
The only good part of the film that i got a laugh out of was Napoleon, who is played very well with the good comic timing and genuine humor that was missing for most of this film.btw i was forced to watch this in a high school history lesson so i am genuinely sorry if i am shitting on one of your favorite childhood movies.
Bill & Ted for a time became the common nomenclature for two dumb guys, which is kind of surprising since this film was never considered a classic, but it's also not so surprising since this comedy is as likable and unpretentious as it's two main characters.
Preston, Esq.) and Keanu Reeves (Ted "Theodore" Logan), hoping to form their band Wyld Stallyns, but Ted's dad is going ship him off to military school because of failing grades, which the only way he can bring them up is by nailing his history report and presentation to "Express to the class how an important historical figure from each of your time periods would view the world of San Dimas, 1988." Enter a time traveling George Carlin as Rufus, who gives the pair a time machine to kidnap historic figures to help him finish and nail the assignment.
I decided to start with "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" mainly because the first time I saw it, I was about the same age as my boy is now, so what better "Father - Son" activity than seen a movie I hope he will come to love as much as I did back in the day.
Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)5 word summaryFriends travel time for historyTo give the good news first, the film is a fun adventure comedy, unfortunately it is also an annoying adventure comedy as well.
When I was at the video store I mentioned that I hadn't seen either of the Bill & Ted movies, and the employee seriously recommended them, so I went into 'Excellent Adventure' with high expectations, yet I was somewhat disappointed at the end.
Some gags are fun, others actually funny, and others yet are more of the ordinary stuff we're all now used to witnessing in such commercial mainstream comedies.Overall the concept and the Bill and Ted characters were good enough to make this a really good, maybe great comedy - but the filmmakers didn't bother and rather went with an effort-economic solution of developing very slightly, just enough to make it a sellable product.Elements like "Hey Missy...I mean, mom !..." or the pretty hilarious vocabulary of our two protagonist idiots, their likable idiocy and stupid remarks, the time travel idea with the booth and the Rufus character, the "princesses"...
Rufus (George Carlin) travels 700 years from the future in his phone booth to help them pass their history class and stay together to form their most excellent band.
But when a man named Rufus(George Carlin)shows up in a phone booth time machine that can help them with their history project that can save their grade and friendship.Released in 1989,Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is a brilliant and hilarious movie that was a surprise hit at the Box Office grossing 40 million dollars above it's 10 million dollar budget and becoming a Cult Classic while introducing movie audiences to one of the coolest movie duos of all-time in Bill S.
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is one of those movies that(along with it's underrated sequel Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey)remains re-watchable to this very day and for 90 minutes is most triumphant and never takes itself too seriously because it's not going to be thought-provoking nor will it make you think but it's a film you will never forget.
Given how nonsensical the plot is (the film assumes that interactions with historical figures will not alter the past - plus the Beethoven of the film is not deaf), the movie relies heavily on the charm and likability of its young protagonists to carry things through and fortunately the chemistry between stars Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves is spot-on all the way.
BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE is a film that works thanks to the excellent, one-of-a-kind storyline that's the very definition of high concept: a couple of high school slackers risk being kicked out of school if they fail their history project, so they utilise the services of a time machine to assemble various historical figures to help them out.
With help from a man named Rufus (George Carlin) from 2689, they travel through time to find historical figures to help them make the perfect history report.While these two excellent dudes are presented and even treated like a unit, they are given individualized home situations and slightly different personalities.
Two seemingly dumb teens struggle to prepare a historical presentation with the help of a time machine.This is the film that launched Keanu Reeves' career and brought George Carlin to a new generation of audiences.
With the element of the time machine it just gets more fun, yes the film is goofy and very silly and can even seem like a stoner comedy without the drugs, but it is just consistently an enjoyable ride and one you can't help but like.Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter have a great friendship chemistry that is perfect in this type of movie, they even seem like brothers at times.
'Excellent Adventure is comedy at it's best; entertaining, funny, cleverly written and stands the test of time as good clean fun.
Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves play the lead roles (Bill and Ted respectively) and clearly had a LOT of fun making this film (ditto the historical figures) and the chemistry between them was excellent - apparently they were/are friends in real life.
It's so cheesy and silly, but it's also totally bodacious, dude, and though I hardly ever watch it anymore, I still smirk with delight anytime I see it in my DVD collection.I think this was a great role for Keanu Reeves, but it's been pretty sad not to see Alex Winter in more movies.
Light-hearted and quite juvenile, but infectiously amusing with many quotable dialogues and very fitting performances by duo Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter as two slacker teenagers Bill and Ted who are more concerned forming their rock band, The Wyld Stallyns that they're flunking history big time.
However their guardian angel from the future, Rufus (the laid-back George Carlin) turns up with a time- travelling phone booth to help them ace their report by heading into the past to actually learn from history's influential figures.
Bill And Teds Excellent Adventure is a terrific movie with some very funny scenes,a great storyline,a great cast and some terrific characters that make it very enjoyable from start to finish.It is a great movie,and went on to make a sequel,Bill And Teds Bogus Journey,which isn't as good as this one but still a good sequel.There are currently talks for a third movie,which I think would be interesting but I'm not sure how it would work,Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter have signed on to reprise the characters ,but they are much older now and look nothing like the way they did back then.Still though,I am open to the idea and currently will go see it.Two dumb teenagers use a time machine for a historical presentation so they don't fail there history exam..
Yeah, I know ridiculous but that the point which makes it all the more hilarious.But of course what really drives the film are Bill and Ted themselves (played excellently by Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves) I love the buddy buddy chemistry between them there's good back and forth.
I needn't have worried: although the film is unmistakably a product of the late 80s, with some truly heinous fashion choices on display (Alex Winter's cropped top is most egregious!), its unprecedented sense of fun and silliness ensured that everyone had a most triumphant time.Bill & Ted, as played by Alex Winter (from The Lost Boys) and a young Keanu Reeves, are a pair of likable dolts from San Dimas who are destined to become the saviours of humanity, but only if they pass their imminent oral history report with flying colours.
This set up allows for loads of bodacious time-travel chaos, with the duo bouncing through the ages, collecting famous historical figures along the way.Obviously, this all sounds extremely daft, and many might quickly dismiss it as worthless, brainless nonsense, but the script by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon is surprisingly astute, with lots of ingenious parodoxical moments to boggle the mind, plenty of clever historical jokes (I love Bill and Ted materialising in front of Joan of Arc like a vision), and even a totally cool message: be excellent to each other (and party on dudes!).
The film starts with Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) on the verge of failure in their history class and flunking out of school.
Various historical characters such as Socrates (or so-crates), Joan of Arc and Genghis Kahn are picked up along the way and throughout the film Reeves and Winter are superb in their enthusiastic portrayal of the very teenage, very boneheaded Bill and Ted. A lot of people seem to damn this film for not being funny but I found it hilarious.
Way. The movie is a lot of fun, has a great plot, and the cast have expert comedic timing.Will the world be safe for most excellent new music?
A fun, feel-good romp through modern Californian life and world history, with Keanu Reeves.I love how, unlike in most U.S. films, the heroes resolve problems in generally non-violent ways.
"Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" sort of makes short order of its time travel concept, moving so quickly that the premise never has time to fully cook and so neither do the characters, but the fast-paced teenage mischief humor works in its own way for this movie to be enjoyable.When Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) are on the verge of failing history, we learn that if Ted fails, he flunks out of school and his father will ship him to military school.
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) Review: This is a movie about pure fun.
The plot - in which Keanue Reeves and Alex Winter kidnap famous historical figures in order to help them create a totally awesome school report - is pleasantly goofy and laced with a number of clever time-travel loops and turns.
In comes, George Carlin who plays Rufus from the future who take Bill and Ted on their excellent adventure back in time to teach them first-hand the history of the world.
It's about two high school senior dudes named Bill (Alex Winter) & Ted (Keanu Reeves), that are failing history 'cause they've spent all their time trying to form a band called "Wyld Stallyns".