Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

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

Director:

Stephen Herek

Writers:

Chris Matheson, Ed Solomon

Stars:

Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

In the small town of San Dimas, a few miles away from Los Angeles, there are two nearly brain dead teenage boys going by the names of Bill S, Preston ESQ. and Ted Theodore Logan, they have a dream together of starting their own rock and roll band called the "Wyld Stallyns". Unfortunately, they are still in high school and on the verge of failing out of their school as well, and if they do not pass their upcoming history report, they will be separated as a result of Ted's father sending him to military school. But, what Bill and Ted do not know is that they must stay together to save the future. So, a man from the future named Rufus came to help them pass their report. So, both Bill and Ted decided to gather up historical figures which they need for their report. They are hoping that this will help them pass their report so they can stay together.

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Plot Keywords:

bill and ted | future | high school | telephone | best friends | 

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Taglines:

The funniest comedy in the history of history.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Bill & Ted's Excellent Online Adventure MGM

Country:

USA

Language:

English French German

Release Date:

17 February 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dudes

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$40,485,039 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG), De Laurentiis Film Partners, Interscope Communications

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Circle K is in San Dimas at the corner of Walnut and Bonita Ave. The scenes at the convenience store were at least partially filmed at the Circle K at the northwest corner of Broadway and Hardy in Tempe, Arizona.

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Goofs

A podium appears and disappears between shots at the end of the movie.

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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. I'm telling you this place is great! But it almost wasn't. You see, 700 years ago, the two great ones, ran into a few problems. So now I have to travel back in time to help them out. If ...

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Connections

Referenced in Warehouse 13: Where and When (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Dancing With A Gypsy"
Written by Anthony Corder, Keith Douglas, Patrick Francis, and John Patterson
Published by Corder Music and Ardent / Loala Music
Performed by Tora Tora
Produced by Joe Hardy and Paul Ebersold
Courtesy of A&M Records, Inc.

User Reviews

"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.