Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Stephen Herek

Writers:

Chris Matheson (writer)
Ed Solomon (writer)

Release Date:

17 February 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

History is about to be rewritten by two guys who can't spell...

Plot:

Two seemingly dumb teens struggle to prepare a historical presentation with the help of a time machine.

Plot Keywords:

Bill And Ted | Future | High School | Telephone | Telephone Booth

Awards:

3 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Thur. Nov. 12	8:30 PM	MAX
Sun. Nov. 22	7:15 AM	MAX

Cast

Keanu Reeves	...	Ted Logan
Alex Winter	...	Bill S. Preston, Esq.
George Carlin	...	Rufus
Terry Camilleri	...	Napoleon
Dan Shor	...	Billy the Kid
Tony Steedman	...	Socrates
Rod Loomis	...	Dr. Sigmund Freud
Al Leong	...	Genghis Khan
Jane Wiedlin	...	Joan of Arc
Robert V. Barron	...	Abraham Lincoln (as Robert Barron)
Clifford David	...	Ludwig van Beethoven
Hal Landon Jr.	...	Captain Logan
Bernie Casey	...	Mr. Ryan
Amy Stock-Poynton	...	Missy Preston
J. Patrick McNamara	...	Mr. Preston

Also Known As:

Dudes (USA) (working title)
The Adventures of Bill and Ted (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | German

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

South Korea:12 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:G | Sweden:7 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:6 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

AMF Tempe Village Lanes - 4407 S. Rural Road, Tempe, Arizona, USA

Company:

De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG)

Trivia:

Principal photography was completed in 1987, but the film's release was delayed because the film's original distributor, DEG, went bankrupt before it could be released. Finally, Orion Pictures and Nelson Entertainment bought the rights to the movie in 1988, and it was released in 1989.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Rufus leaves in the phone booth (at Ted's house) and the empty booth drops down, Bill and Ted are right next to each other in close shots, but are 3 or 4 feet apart in the medium/long shots.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Rufus: Hi, welcome to the future. San Dimas California 2688. And I'm telling you it's great here. The air is clean, the water's clean, even the dirt, it's clean. Bowling averages are way up, mini-golf scores are way down. And we have more excellent water slides than any other planet we communicate with...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The 50 Greatest Comedy Films (2006) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Play With Me

"Gentlemen, we're history."

There has been something about reviewing movies that I have seen a million times over that unnerves me. When I check my email and add a bit of reviews here and there, how does one say if a movie is good or bad if you have seen it a dozen times over in the course of your life with different perspectives after every view? BILL & TED'S is one of those movies. The acting is sad, yet the characters are charming. The movie feels cardboard yet the pace and plot are perfectly fine. All I can say is that if you are a fan of the late 80s and indulged yourself in saying words such as 'bodacious babe' and 'party on dude' than this movie completely suits you fine.

Two high school 'dudes,' Bill and Ted get in a rut for if they get anything less than a A+ in history, the latter of them will get set off to a military camp in Alaska. This is bad news for the future, for their Wild Stallyns band had made the future a better place.

Bill & Ted are charming dudes who, like the bestest of buds, stick up for one another and that is where the movie shines above others. The character growth between our two 'dudes' and the historical figures they abduct make this movie interesting enough to watch on its own. I was impressed by the sets, as well as the special effects for its time as well, how the phone booth looks like it is grabbed before entering the circuits of time. BILL & TED gets a thumbs up because the movie works with its characters to make you laugh and care about them. Look no more than Genghis Khan dodging the cops.