Quick Facts:
Born on this day in 1964, the beloved Keanu Reeves got his big break with this quirky time travel romp that began as a stand-up routine writers Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson performed in college and originally involved a time travelling van. Keanu’s rapport with co-star Alex Winter won them the largely interchangeable leads and they endured many equipment and prop failures. The film’s surprising success led to sequels, a cartoon and comic book, videogames, and action figures, though typecast Keanu for many years.

The Review:
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is a wacky time travel comedy starring two “surfer dude” metal heads with aspirations of becoming a “triumphant band” (with or without Eddie Van Halen). Bill S. Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter) and Ted “Theodore” Logan (Keanu Reeves) pour their hearts into their band, Wyld Stallyns, despite neither of them being able to play, though their lackadaisical attitudes see them in danger of flunking History (and high school) and their parents – particularly stern police captain John Logan (Hal Landon Jr.) – are largely dismissive or disapproving of their musical aspirations. Bill and Ted’s joyful, infectious optimism and enthusiasm get a heavy dose of reality when they’re warned that failing a History presentation will spell the end of the band as they’ll fail high school and Ted will be shipped off to an Alaskan military school. Though they largely have their heads in the clouds and are thinking only of music, babes, or their band, the duo desperately try to scrape together some rudimentary understanding of prominent historical figures like the philosopher Socrates and Joan of Arc and come up short, believing the latter to be “Noah’s wife” and imagining that Julius Ceaser is a “salad dressing, dude”. In fact, you couldn’t pick a more unlikely duo to become the saviours of humanity and yet, as told by cordial time traveller Rufus (George Carlin), Wyld Stallyns’ music is destined to bring about world peace and universal harmony, ushering in a golden age that sees 2688 become a utopia where everyone adopts the duo’s laidback attitude and simple, carefree statement: “Be excellent to each other. Party on, dude”. Their music also assumedly paves the way for the mastery of time travel, with Rufus being charged by the Three Most Important People in the World (Clarence Clemons, Fee Waybill, and Martha Davis) to travel 700 years into the past in a time travelling phone booth to help the duo and avert disaster to the timeline.

Your affinity for Bill and Ted will depend entirely on your tolerance for their buffoonery and surfer dude speech. While both are essentially the same character, Bill tends to be brighter and more emotional while Ted is more of a doofus, with the duo also separated by Ted’s fear of his strict father and Bill’s amusing lust for his father’s (J. Patrick McNamara) much-younger wife, Missy (Amy Stock-Poynton). Both are equally clueless about history, chirpy and friendly, and make friends easily, trusting Rufus when he comes to aid them based on the recommendation of their future selves and befriending even volatile historical figures like Henry McCarty/William H. Bonney/Billy the Kid (Dan Shor) and Temüjin/Genghis Khan (Al Leong) with their cheerful nature. Despite being unable to communicate with the likes of Socrates (Tony Steedman) and Ludwig van Beethoven (Clifford David), Bill and Ted win them over by ad-libbing lyrics to heavy metal songs and introducing them to then-modern technology like keyboard synthesisers. The duo are surprisingly adaptable and well aware of their limitations, begging off when caught in a barroom brawl and fixing the time travelling phone booth on the fly with junk and gum. Though playful and carefree, they also know when things have turned “heinous” and are well aware of how “non-triumphant” their situation is. Bill is distraught when it appears Ted has been killed in 15^th century England and are stunned when Rufus reveals they’re short on time due to Ted forgetting to wind his watch, though they’re surprisingly non-plussed when faced with beheading. The duo also win the eye of princesses Joanna (Diane Franklin) and Elizabeth (Kimberley LaBelle) simply by being their lovably, goofy selves and prove surprisingly resourceful, brave, and to adapt to the confusing nature of time travel well. When Ted’s dad arrests their historical figures, the duo scheme to manipulate time to acquire his keys and set up traps once they’ve completed their History report, showing that they’re not as dim-witted as they appear.

Indeed, 700 years into the future, Wyld Stallyns are revered and worshipped by all as the saviours of mankind. They experience a taste of this when they accidentally dial in to 2688 and see how worshipped they are, which understandably blows their minds as they don’t see themselves as being universally important despite their lofty aspirations. Their ability to bring together cultures and worlds is echoed in their time travel jaunt, which starts with them accidentally bringing Napoleon Bonaparte (Terry Camilleri) to 1988 San Dimas, California and leaving him with Ted’s little brother, Deacon (Frazier Bain), while they collect other historical figures to speak about the then-modern world. Mistakenly believing that time is on their side, the duo go a bit overboard with this, bouncing around history and overfilling the phone booth with Sigmund Freud (Rod Loomis), Joan of Arc (Jane Wiedlin), and even President Abraham Lincoln (Robert V. Barron), all of whom are confused and amazed to be caught up in a time travel adventure. Billy the Kid notably adapts to the strangeness very quickly, helping to guard the phone booth and acclimatise the others, who soon follow suit. When brought to 1988, the time displaced figures are astonished by modern technology and society and cannot help but explore the mall and get into various scrapes. This adds some additional comedy and tension as Bill and Ted must manipulate time to rescue their newfound friends and we get to see Joan of Arc developing a love for aerobics, Genghis Khan outfit himself with hockey pads and sticks, and Napoleon experiencing the thrills of a water park despite his initial confusion and being ditched by Deacon. While Bill and Ted may not seem like the most capable and knowledgeable representatives of their time, they teach the historical figures a fair bit about 1988 and learn from them in return, making new friends from their shared adventure.

Time travel is presented as a closed loop in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. Everything that has or will ever happen has already happened, hence the phone booth having a comprehensive directory for every time period. Thus, when Ted’s dad searches for his keys, it’s because Ted was fated to steal them for his future self, which he was always destined to do as the duo were fated to ace their History presentation thanks to Rufus’ intervention. Therefore, Rufus’ mission to go back in time to help the two stay together isn’t really to preserve the utopian future, but more to meet the conditions of history. It’s all played very fun and simple, with Bill and Ted meeting their future selves and experiencing both sides of that conversation and plucking figures from the past without unravelling the timeline, yet there are still some stakes present. Most notably, despite having a time machine, the duo are still against the clock as the present is constantly happening no matter where they are. Ted forgetting to wind his watch places a further time crunch on the duo when they must rescue their historical figures and obviously they’re desperate to do this as they don’t want to be separated. It’s all pretty low stakes and played for laughs, but it’s still entertaining seeing the duo bungle their way across time and through the various hiccups they experience along the way. These are surprisingly dangerous: the two almost get pummelled in a bar fight when Billy cheats at poker and would’ve been beheaded if Billy and Socrates hadn’t rescued them at the last minute. Luckily, they patch together the phone booth and retrieve Napoleon without much difficulty, but Ted’s dad is a constant thorn in their sides, leading them to distract and delay him with fun time travel shenanigans.

While music is a huge part of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, it’s not as prominent as you might think. The only music featured in the duo’s big presentation comes from the strangely not-deaf Beethoven and the subject is mainly relegated to references by the two (they’re initially excited about being put in the “Iron Maiden”) and the idea that their music will eventually change the universe. Much of the film’s comedy is based on the duo’s pratfalls and goofy nature, which may be grating to some, but I find endlessly charming. They’re always so upbeat and constantly playing air guitar and shouting “Excellent!” and that positive energy is infectious. It certainly wins over their historical figures and even Ted’s dad and their History teacher (Bernie Casey) begrudgingly give the guys their props for delivering an entertaining presentation. Obviously, I’m not American so I don’t know how common it is for high school students to perform their subject presentations in front of their school but Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure gives the duo the stage they long for to do just that (despite us never seeing them preparing for the presentation during their time travel jaunt). Bill and Ted bring out their historical figures and introduce them, giving their peers a rundown on their history and accomplishments and their opinions on 1988. Interestingly, Ted has spent enough time with Socrates by the end to translate for him, again speaking to their unexpected intelligence. Freud also gives Ted the chance to work through some of his issues with his dad, the duo question Napoleon’s tactics, and Bill demonstrates his surprising skill at sword fighting against Koan of Arc, all to the amazement of the students (who probably assumed it was all an elaborate performance). After a ringing endorsement from Lincoln, the duo successfully pass History, sparing Ted from military school, and realise that they’re going to have to work at their craft to meet their full potential. Luckily, Rufus returns with the princesses, new guitars, and another pep talk to renew their enthusiasm, reassuring the audience that the seemingly talentless duo “do get better”.

Final Thoughts:
As much as I enjoy Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, I’ve always been more of a fan of the sequel, if I’m honest. While this first film is fun enough, I always feel like it drags a little in the middle and lacks a certain x-factor to really hook my interest. Perhaps if Napoleon had posed some kind of threat they’d need to address, that might’ve helped as the film is noticeably lacking in stakes and an antagonist. Still, the clue’s in the title: this is supposed to be a fun time travel adventure, not some cataclysmic drama about the end of the world. Bill and Ted are ridiculously loveable characters with unexpectedly distinct personalities, great taste in music, and jovial demeanours that make them a joy to watch. I love how they’re so friendly to everyone and instantly befriend all the historical figures, whose bemusement at the strange situation is equally enjoyable. I would’ve liked to see more scenes of the two touring 1988 with their time displaced friends just to see what hijinks they could get up to, but the last-minute drama of having to rescue them from Ted’s dad was still fun. If you find Bill and Ted annoying, you’re probably going to hate this film, but you’d be missing out, honestly. It’s not a film I throw on all the time and I do think the sequel is superior, but it’s a lot of fun, with some daft comedy moments and an entertaining depiction of time travel and alluring premise of utopia blossoming from the unlikeliest of characters. There’s a heartfelt message here about being carefree, friendly, and being “excellent to each other” that hits harder as I grow older and more cynical and the world becomes more tumultuous, so I’d definitely say this one is worth your time if you fancy an enjoyable romp through time.

My Rating:

Pretty Good

Do you enjoy Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure? Did you like the duo’s laid-back demeanours or did you find their surfer talk grating? Were you a fan of the depiction of time travel and the way they manipulated time to their advantage? Which of the historical figures was your favourite? Can you foresee a time when all of humanity is united in harmony? What’s your favourite Keanu Reeves movie? Whatever your thoughts, leave a comment below and become a member on my Ko-Fi if you want me to cover more Bill & Ted content on the site.