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153 reviews in total

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85 out of 111 people found the following review useful:
Probably one of the most intelligently written screenplays of alltime., 19 November 2000
Author: Professor Klickberg from Los Angeles

Any idiot can sit down and spend four or seven years of his life writing out his "masterpiece." You do some research, you do some hard work, you get a little help from friends and family, and you get it done. 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. Like "Real Genius," this film utilizes ideas from both the highest form of screenwriting while still delving into the lowest common denominator, somehow doing both at the same time. For instance, to perfectly grasp the concept of Bill and Ted's "lingo," one would truly have to stoop to the lowest rung of the intelligence level. But, with such ingenius ideas as having Bill and Ted meet each other in the beginning of the film, then later finding themselves, allowing the audience to gain insight on what happened in the past is just a stroke of cinematic brilliance. And the running gag about "when the Mongols conquered China" was one of the many cherries on the cake. Even some of the background comments (after being told he's "too tall, man" making the phone booth even more crowded, Lincoln responds: "That's how I'm built.") Any movie where Genghis Kahn is tempted to come into a phone booth by a Twinkie has to be something special. 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.

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51 out of 61 people found the following review useful:
Switch off your brain and enjoy the ride!, 16 April 2003
Author: xxlittlekittenxx from United States

This movie rules. Am I afraid to admit it? Nope, 'cause it's the truth! I know by reading some of my reviews I sound like some stuffy person who doesn't like any fluffy comedies or unintelligent humor, but that's not always the case. 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. 'Bill and Ted' is of course NOT a great movie, but it never pretends to be one, and I guess that's why I like it so much.

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. Not to mention that Bill and Ted's mispronunciation of the historical figures' names ("So-crates!") makes it all the more hilarious.

Did I mention that Rufus is totally awesome? No? Well go ahead and kick me in the face!

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43 out of 48 people found the following review useful:
A surprisingly gnarly comedy!, 8 July 2002
Author: bluethunder35 (bluethunder35@hotmail.com) from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

June 8, 2002 was an 80's renaissance for me. Playing an emulated ColecoVision on my PC, listening to Huey Lewis, Prince, and Men At Work, watching the A-Team on TNN, and seeing this film from 1989. I still enjoy the decade of feathered mullets, jerri-curled hair, acid-washed jeans, skinny ties, dominant pop music, and terrible fashions. 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). However, both are flunking in high school and will be expelled unless they get an A+ in history. To make matters worse, Ted will be sent to the military by his father, therefore squashing their dreams of rock stardom. Enter Rufus (George Carlin), a man from the future who plays Clarence to the boys George (shades of It's A Wonderful Life) who gives them a telephone booth. With it, they decide to use it to collect great historical figures and bring them to San Dimas, California to show them how mankind has evolved.

Surprisingly, the film holds up today. Bill and Ted are truly likeable boneheads and both Reeves and Winter deliver fine performances. Carlin is funny in his appearances, showing that he doesn't need trash-talk to be entertaining. The dialogue is truly amusing, probably because no one talks like that any more. The only weakness is that it's an 80's film, so if you didn't grow up in that era, you might not understand why there's music playing throughout the film, or why everyone looks and dresses so weird (yes, that's how everyone looked in the 1980's). The DVD version is quite nice, but it only has a trailer as a bonus. Still, a must watch, and much better than all the copycat films (including the horrible Dude, Where's My Car?). Party On!

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37 out of 41 people found the following review useful:
"Whoa...", 22 April 2004
Author: DarthBill from United States

Despite the success of such films as "Speed" and "The Matrix" trilogy, to a lot of people, Keanu Reeves will ALWAYS be Ted, the taller, darker half of the Bill & Ted duo. 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. Now all they have to do is keep them from getting separated and jailed before they have to pass history! 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".

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28 out of 34 people found the following review useful:
Totally Excellent!, 27 August 2002

Author: LebowskiT1000 from Escondido, California, USA

"Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure" is most definitely just that! This is just an all around FUN movie! The plot is far from anything serious, but deep down there are some good morals and such things to take from this film. "Be Excellent To Each Other" That is some good advice, is it not?

The comedy in this film is just superb! I've seen this movie more times than I can count with my fingers and every time it gets even better! There are so many lines in this film that you just can't help but repeat, because they're just so funny and well done! There are a number of times that I find myself just cracking up at the scene, situation, or what have you. If you don't laugh at least a little during the course of this film, then I think you've got some problems.

The acting is great. Everybody knocks Keanu Reeves for his acting, but I think he's great. And he does a great job in this film. Alex Winter also plays a great part. The rest of the cast is great too.

Not only is the comedy and the acting great, but there are some REALLY good science fiction sort of idea's in this film. The scene where Bill and Ted meet the future Bill and Ted is just amazingly well done, and such a cool idea. I love that you first see the scene from the perspective of one set of Bill and Ted's, and then later the Bill and Ted that the story follows becomes the other set of Bill and Ted's. Did that make sense? Well, anyway, see the movie and you'll know what I'm talking about. There were a few other really good scenes and ideas throughout the film.

All in all, I would definitely recommend seeing this film, it's not a complex story by any means, and just a whole lot of fun. Try not to take the film too seriously and you'll hopefully enjoy it. I truly hope that you enjoy this film. Thanks for reading,

-Chris

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24 out of 28 people found the following review useful:
A 10/10 on the fun scale, 28 January 2002
Author: (billybrown41@hotmail.com) from Kimberling City, MO.

WOW. Talk about a childhood classic! Bill and Ted first surfaced when I was nine years old. Those were the days...I don't know how many times my best friend and I watched this one, but it must have been every day during our third grade year. I've watched it countless times after that and it has yet to lose its charm. When Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey came out a couple of years later, the process repeated itself. These are two movies about a couple of (seemingly) burn-out teens who don't take drugs, which leads one to the conclusion that they were just born idiots. Thing is, just by being stupid, everything seems to happen right for them wherever they go, thanks to good ole Rufus (George "the king" Carlan).

Excellent Adventure starts with our idiot duo, doing what they do; jamming out in the garage (on guitars they can't play) and talking nonstop about how someday, somehow, their band "Wyld Stalyns" will open for Iron Maiden. When their dream is threatened by the reality that they are flunking out in history, things take a turn. What it all boils down to is that they need to have a badass history report or they're both going to flunk out and Ted will be sent to military school by his mean, police officer dad.

This is where Rufus comes in. He shows up in a time machine (in the form of a phone booth) and claims to have all the answers to their problems. The time machine is just what they need for their history report so it's "back in time we go", to capture historically significant figures (Socrates, Napolean, Billy the Kid, Joan of Arc, Abe Lincoln, etc.). The fun never stops.

I'm really not sure why this movie works as well as it does. It takes an idea that would sound completely stupid on paper, and somehow, makes it all come together. The characters are completely likeable and the script is sharply written. Best of all, this movie is just good fun. The music is awesome too. If you have never seen this movie or its sequel, you are seriously depraved. Go put on your old Megadeth t-shirt, ragged out jeans, and a few beers, plop down on the couch and enjoy.

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19 out of 21 people found the following review useful:
"Gentlemen, we're history.", 29 December 2002

Author: Rob Deschenes (kalibur@softhome.net) from Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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.

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18 out of 20 people found the following review useful:
Dude, this was like...totally cool!, 30 June 2005

Author: Lee Eisenberg (eisenberg.lee@gmail.com) from Portland, Oregon, USA

I didn't come of age in the '80s, so I missed the era when people mindlessly called each other "dude" and said "totally" a lot. But fortunately, I've seen "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure", so I have some inkling of that culture. 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. Little do they know that the fate of the universe in 700 years will depend on whether or not they ace their history report. No worries! 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. Needless to say, these historical figures are a little befuddled when they arrive in San Dimas, and the people in San Dimas are befuddled by them.

Mostly, the movie is an excuse to have Bill and Ted be the dopey dudes that they are. Whether it's Ted saying that Joan of Arc was Noah's wife (which, it turns out, some people actually believe), or the two boys getting slinky with some medieval princesses, the movie's got something for everyone. It is TOTALLY AWESOME! If you ask me, they should have also picked up Mahatma Gandhi and Alfred Hitchcock.

One more thing: Stephen Herek scored a personal triumph with this movie, as he did with "Critters" and "Mr. Holland's Opus". Too bad that he drug himself down with fare such as "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead", "The Three Musketeers", "Rock Star" and "Life or Something Like It".

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20 out of 27 people found the following review useful:
The definitive coming of age film of its era., 4 June 2003
Author: Raijin Z from Ohio, USA

I can't sing its praises well enough, but this is a fun movie with a great deal of hidden wisdom. I'm certain an unenlightened individual would brush this cinematic masterpiece off as another eighties movie, but their opinions count for naught in the grand scheme of things. Sit back and enjoy the ride. Party on, dudes, and be excellent to each other. Truly, words to live by.

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16 out of 21 people found the following review useful:
A Wild & Fun "History Lesson", 3 December 2006

Author: ccthemovieman-1 from United States

It's hard to get upset at two very likable dummies who wouldn't hurt a fly. 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. However, this was still fun to watch. 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! Alex Winter, I don't know. George Carlin has been goofy for 50 years so anything stupid he says wouldn't surprise me.

This is comedy at its lightest but it's pretty inoffensive, safe viewing for most anyone and if you need a laugh - even from something dumb - this would fill the bill.

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