Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
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Two metalhead slacker high school students travel through time to assemble historical figures for their final history presentation.
The story
In the year 2688, humanity thrives as a utopian society inspired by the music and philosophy of two figures, Bill and Ted. To ensure the young duo successfully passes their history class in 1988 San Dimas, a man from the future named Rufus takes them on a journey through time. Facing the threat of being sent to military school if they fail their final oral presentation, the pair must gather various historical figures to showcase how they would view the present. They embark on a quest through different eras, using a phone booth-shaped time machine to collect figures like Napoleon Bonaparte and Socrates to bolster their report.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In 2688, humanity is a utopia inspired by the 'Two Great Ones,' Bill and Ted. To ensure the young, slacker versions of these figures pass their 1988 history class in San Dimas, a man named Rufus takes them on a journey through time. After a mishap brings Napoleon Bonaparte into their timeline, the duo decides to collect other historical figures to improve their final presentation. They travel to the Wild West to find Billy the Kid, ancient Greece to find Socrates, and 15th-century England to find princesses. After a detour to the future, they gather figures like Sigmund Freud, Ludwig van Beethoven, Joan of Arc, Genghis Khan, and Abraham Lincoln. They eventually bring these figures to a local mall and a water park. Despite interference from a strict police captain, the boys manage to get their friends out of jail and perform a grand presentation with special effects. They pass their class, return the figures to their own times, and are joined by the princesses in their band, the Wyld Stallyns.
- First release year
- 1989
- Runtime (minutes)
- 90
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Stephen Herek
- Writers
- Chris Matheson · writer; Ed Solomon · writer
- Cast and characters
- Keanu Reeves · Ted "Theodore" Logan; Alex Winter · Bill S. Preston, Esq.; George Carlin · Rufus; Terry Camilleri · Napoleon Bonaparte; Dan Shor · Billy the Kid; Tony Steedman · Socrates; Rod Loomis · Sigmund Freud; Al Leong · Genghis Khan
- Genres
- science fiction; comedy
- Themes
- Time Travel; Friendship; History
- Tone and mood
- Comedy; Whimsical
- Setting
- San Dimas, California in 1988, with various historical periods and the year 2688.
- Premise and plot tags
- Time Travel; Buddy Comedy; High School
- Source material / true-story basis
- A comedy stand-up routine performed by the writers in college.
- Franchise connections
- Bill & Ted
- Reception
- The film received positive reviews and was a modest box-office success.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 83% · scale: percentage · review count: 58; Metacritic · score: 50 · scale: 100 · review count: 16
- Awards and nominations
- 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes · AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes · 2005 · Nominated
- Production trivia
- The script was originally titled 'Bill & Ted's Time Van'.; The phone booth was not intended as a reference to the TARDIS from Doctor Who.; The film's writers, Solomon and Matheson, appear in the film's ice cream scene as the 'stupid' and 'ugly' waiters.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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