Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

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Directed by Stephen Herek.

Starring Terry Camilleri, George Carlin, Bernie Casey, Keanu Reeves, Dan Shor, Alex Winter.

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With only a few days before their high-school graduation, it looks like airheaded rock star wannabes Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) are doomed to flunk all their finals. The boys' long-suffering teacher (Bernie Casey) gives them one more chance. If they can ace an oral exam on the topic of how a famous historical personality might react to modern times, they will be allowed to pass. If not, Ted's dad will plunk the boy into military school, thereby breaking up the boys' garage band permanently. Bill and Ted receive unexpected aid from a very unexpected source: Rufus (George Carlin), an Emissary from the Future. It seems that in Rufus' time, Bill and Ted's rock music is the basis of all society-and if their band is aborted, Rufus' world will no longer exist. Thus, Bill and Ted are whisked off in a time machine (actually a telephone booth) to retrieve a few historical characters--including Joan of Arc, Abe Lincoln, Napoleon and Beethoven--as "eyewitnesses" for their crucial oral exam. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure inspired both a sequel (Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey) and a Saturday morning cartoon series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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Reviews and discussions

George Carlin’s Animated Reflex ...
by SpoutBlog in SpoutBlog on spout.com

hasn't rated it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"Though it may be more appropriate to watch videos of his comedy routines, particularly of his classic “Seven Dirty Words” bit or his routine on death, this is a film blog, so I’m sharing a clip from … an animated television series. But it’s a cartoon spun-off from a movie, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, which is probably Carlin’s most memorable film, so I find it worthy. Especially because Carlin reprised his role as Rufus. The first season of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventures actually featured the voices of Carlin, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter, as Rufus, Ted and Bill, respectively. It wasn’t completely rare for cartoon spin-offs to retain the lead actors of the original movies/TV shows, and it’s not like any of the principals were too big for Saturday morning (Reeves didn’t really become a big star until a few years later), but in retrospect it at least seems surprising. The main reason I wanted to share this clip was to recognize Carlin’s ability to transcend his iconic sta ... " [More]

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventur ...
by CinemaRian in CinemaRian Blog

hasn't rated it.

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"Although I enjoyed watching it, I can't help but see Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure as a missed oppurtunity. It could have been a really great satire on history and slacker culture, and is instead just a servicable comedy. Since virtually everyone knows the premise of the movie, I am not going to waste a lot of time and plot descriptions. Suffice it to say Bill (Some guy) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) must travel through time so they can get an A on their history report. If they don't they will never become world leaders and transform society in to one of peace, love, and partying. They meet a lot of historical figures along the way, including Napolean, Billy the Kid, Socrates, Joan of Arc, Beethoven (My favorite), Gengis Khan, and Sigmund Freud. Where the movie really misses its chance is that there is no social satire when the movie screams out for one. How would Freud re-act to finidng out his theries are discredited? What would Socrates think of nihilism? The only only on ... " [More]

Re: Is "Planet Of The Apes ...
by Risselada in HORROR MOVIES 101

loved it.

"I tried thinking about it and I think you are right. At least in regards to your broad definition of horror, almost all sci-fi films will have some distinctly horrific elements.The closest one I could think of that doesn't really is Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.I've never seen the movie Dark Star but I've heard it essentially called a stoner comedy in space. Then again it would be hard for me to expect something Carpenter did to not have horrific elements. " [More]

River's Edge
by Risselada in Risselada Blog

loved it.

Was this review helpful? [Be the first to tell us!]
"River's EdgeYes websites like Spout where people can make their own lists are great. I first heard about this movie while looking at someone's internet list of favorite movies that happened to also contain many of my personal quirky favorites.But what really made me push this movie to the top of my viewing list was when I heard that Crispin Glover was coming to town with his super weirdo movie What Is It? I read that River's Edge was one of his most memorable performances, so I wanted to check it out before seeing him live and with his new movie. And I tell you what, it's definitely a memorable performance. Not that it's necessarily subtle or believable in certain ways, but it's certainly memorable. You feel as though Glover is a character himself, so instead of watching an actor play a character you kind of see a character play an actor.It's no incongruous with the acting style of the rest of the movie either. There is something about the dialogue ... " [More]

Brilliant.
by UshiMu in UshiMu Blog

hasn't rated it.

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"Amazing. That’s all. No more, no less. Amazingly retardedAmazingly unintelligentAmazingly over-the-topAmazingly entertaining. Brilliant. " [More]

Re: Top 5 Guilty Pleasure films
by josephkuzma in Top 5

liked it.

"My list is more guilty pleasures as actors, not films. I could probably make Top 5 lists out of each of these people and more... but here goes: 1. Sylvester Stallone: Rocky II, III & IV. I don't include the first because it's a great movie and I am not ashamed of liking it. I didn't include V because it's crap. And I haven't seen Rocky Balboa so I can't say one way or the other. Also Cop Land.2. Arnold Schwarzenegger's 80s (and early 90s) catalog defines guilty pleasure over and over. I hate that I like Twins, Terminator, The Running Man, Total Recall, Predator. However, I will proudly say that I like T2. Now if only T3 had been watchable...3. Keanu Reeves - Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure/Bogus Journey, Matrix: Reloaded/Revolutions (the first wasn't a guilty pleasure in my book), Point Break , Feeling Minnesota, My Own Private Idaho, The Devil's Advocate, The Watcher.I could almost combine 4 - 5 and some of them probably aren't ... " [More]

Most Excellent
by spoutgirl in spoutgirl Blog

hasn't rated it.

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"So this was on HBO last night and I decided to watch it. It was so funny how much things have changed since 1989. Not the most influential film of the late 80's but definitely entertaining :) " [More]

Don't lock this one away!!
by Ka-Blammo in Worst Movie Ever

loved it.

"I love this film! How could anyone consider this one of the worst movies??? This movie used to be on a loop when I worked at a video store in college. Classic! " [More]

Worst Movie Ever Court In Sessi ...
by davisfreeberg in Worst Movie Ever

hasn't rated it.

"Just as a quick reminder to the group, the Worst Movie Ever Jail is a list where we put films after they've received 6 guilty votes in the Worst Movie Court. I've gone ahead and moved a few films I found in there to the do not rent list instead. One of the films on this list was Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and I'd like to open up the Worst Movie Court with a Non-Guilty vote on this one.Bill & Ted's excellent adventure was one of my favorite films growing up. Maybe it was that I had friends in San Dimas or it could have been that this represented a coming of age film for me, but it had a lasting impact and it's humor was not lost on me. While at times it could be a bit childish, I still think that it's very representational of the culture at the time and has it's place in history, even if it's a part of history some of us would like to forget. Whether it was watching Bill and Ted try and hook up with Medieval Babes or seeing them have to put up with Napoleon's snot ... " [More]

Review by All Movie Guide

All Movie Guide

is neutral about it.

This slacker comedy provides some good low-brow laughs and, sadly enough, delivered many teenagers some history lessons when it was released. Keanu Reeves' breakthrough role as the loveable dunce Ted resulted in typecasting that would plague his career until The Matrix. The film aggravated some educators with its frivolous treatment of academia but brought praise from others for making history fun and palatable. It also stamped words like "bogus" and "gnarley" firmly into the '80s slang lexicon. George Carlin's appearance as the time-traveler Rufus adds a little comedic legitimacy to this little film, which essentially boils down to engaging and well-paced silly, mindless fun with a fairly well-written script. The legacy of Bill and Ted can be traced to the slacker comedies of Adam Sandler, and the film itself was popular enough to spawn an ill-fated sequel and a short-lived Saturday morning cartoon. ~ Mike DiBella, All Movie Guide

Tags: timetravel , dude , 80s , history , Guilty-Pleasure
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