Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is a 1989 American science comedy film. Written by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon and directed by Stephen Herek.
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure features William S. Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter) and Ted “Theodore” Logan (Keanu Reeves) as two slackers from the metal world. They travel back in the past to gather a collection of historical characters for their high school historical presentation.
They released the film on February 17th, 1989 and was a commercial success, grossing over $40 million domestically.
Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter shine in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Despite their differences, their relationship is what makes this film so enjoyable. The plot is excellent, the acting is top-notch, and the stoner/rock/pop culture references are fantastic.
It may be thirty-six years old, but the movie Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is still one of the most inventive, clever, and well-written comedies ever made.
Table of Contents
What is Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure About?
For their history lesson, two high school students travel back in time. To amass a collection of historical characters, including Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, and George Carlin. The film begins in San Dimas, California, in the year 1988.
According to the theme song, Wyld Stallyns is an excellent band. And has won the Battle of the Bands competition in San Dimas. Despite the victory, the crew faces dissolution.
Bill S. Preston, Esq (Alex Winter) and Ted “Theodore” Logan (Keanu Reeves) haven’t finished their research into their pasts. The two lead singers haven’t either. The Grim Reaper tells them that they will die if they do not succeed in their historical presentation.
Movie Plot:
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure begins in San Dimas, California, in the present day, where Bill S. Preston, Esquire and Ted Theodore Logan are about to enter their final year of high school.
The two are best friends who have created a device called the “Time phone” (the telephone that can make calls to the past). And travel back in time, using a phone booth. To meet historical figures and ask them to “volunteer” to invent the future.
The two are also trying to find a way to pass their history class. Resulting in a failing grade and being expelled from school. Their history teacher, Mr Ryan, has given the course an assignment to create a presentation. Based on the life of someone they admire.
Bill and Ted presented a slide show to their class of famous figures, but they dismissed their presentation as terrible. In addition, Mr Ryan tells them that if they do not pass their upcoming history exam, they will be expelled from school.
The next day, during lunch, their classmates ridicule Bill and Ted, including their disgruntled ex-girlfriends, Joanna and Debi.
Next
A time-travelling phone booth that can transport users to any time and place. Including the time of the American Revolution, the days of Camelot and the distant future, arrives in the classroom.
The student Ted “Theodore” Logan is about to be sent to a military academy in Alaska. By his parents due to poor grades. So he decides to use the time machine to travel back in time. And retrieve a good rate on a history paper to avoid the trip.
He travels back to the time of the American Revolution to learn about Benjamin Franklin. And he brings his friend Bill S. Preston, Esq., back to the present with him.
They visit a medieval castle to learn about William Tell. And then try to find out about the guitar solo from “Stairway to Heaven” from Sir Galahad in medieval England. After that, they travel to ancient Egypt to learn about the Colossus of Rhodes. And then back to the American Wild West of 1891 to learn about Doc Holliday.
Reaction From The Critics:
Critics have well received the film. On Rotten Tomatoes, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure has an 81percent “Certified Fresh” rating, from 54 reviews, with an average score of 6.9/10. The site’s critical consensus reads, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure takes a goofy concept and pushes it to the brink with inspired humour and unbridled imagination”.
The site’s critical consensus reads, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is a likeable, energetic comedy whose main asset is its two likeable leads.”On Metacritic, the film scores 47 out of 100, based on nine critics, which is a sign of “mixed or average reviews”.
Production and Development:
The film Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure was produced by Scott Kroopf, with Steven Soderbergh and George Litto as executive producers. Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon originally wrote the script, based on a story by Bill Sadler.
In a limited release, it opened in two theatres in the United States on December 18, 1989, and grossed $2.9 million on its opening weekend. It grossed $40.5 million in North America, making it the most successful film in the Bill & Ted series. They awarded the movie the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
What makes this film unique
There are plenty of comedies and even a few sci-fi comedies, but few can hold a candle to Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter play Bill and Ted in the film. Two teenagers who love metal music attempt to make it through high school. Everyone calls them losers since they aren’t the most popular boys. Bill and Ted’s luck changes when they see a strange visitor from the future, Rufus, played by George Carlin.
It turns out that no one has heard of Bill and Ted in the future, and the world is a horrible place. The only way to fix the end is for them to pass their history presentation and for that to happen, Rufus has to take them on a journey through time.
A Look at the Bill & Ted Franchise
The Bill & Ted franchise is a solid, hilarious, and valuable property for any business. The success of this film series is due to a variety of things. The film is one of the few with some of the best characters in cinematic history, and the concept is so original that it’s groundbreaking, like The Matrix.
The concept behind the film is so simple, yet the delivery is so complex that it makes the film so much more special. Assuming you’re still reading, you’ve probably seen the movie already. But, if you haven’t, the story is about two high school students, Bill and Ted, who are on the verge of failing history.
To pass, they need an “A” on their term paper. They embark on a time-travelling adventure, where they meet historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Billy the Kid, and Joan of Arc.
Best Cameo In the Film:
They named the film after Bill & Ted’s band, Wyld Stallyns. In the scene where Bill and Ted try to get out of historical figures. The name of their band originally came from a short film. Which was included with the VHS release of the first film. The brief involved the historical figures simply repeating “We’re Bill and Ted” repeatedly.
Who are the fictional characters in Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure?
Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, and George Carlin feature in the picture. Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure central characters are Ted “Theodore” Logan, a would-be rock star, and Bill S. Preston, Esquire, a would-be member of the U.S. Congress. Stephen Herek directed the film. A sequel, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, followed in 1991.
Bill and Ted’s fictional characters, played by Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves, have their roots in the Bill & Ted movies. They portray the characters as two teenagers from San Dimas, California. Who set out on a time travel adventure to pass their history report using a phone booth time machine. They travel back in time and encounter historical individuals to complete their information.
Conclusion:
If you ever find yourself in a situation where you’re trying to explain to somebody what the time-travelling antics of Bill & Ted are all about. Still, you can’t quite find the words; all you need to do is explain it as a story about dudes. Who are just trying to pass their high school history class.
That’s the easiest way to put it. If you want to get a little more technical and detailed. You can explain that, in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, two best friends, Bill and Ted, are high school students trying to pass history class.
But, to pass the class, they need to get an “A” on a big history report, which they’re not very good at. So, they go back in time to meet famous people and learn about history so they can pass the report. The movie Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is really silly, but it also has a really strong friendship at its heart.