Now, why is that movie considered such a revered classic in my eyes? Well, just look at it. I mean, the movie has everything going for it, and nothing. Depending on how you look at movies, it can either be ninety minutes of pure confusing boredom or ninety minutes of the greatest thing since "Citizen Kane". The plot, the characters, the soundtrack; it all is on par with the 80's, a decade that defined America, even to this day. The movie is truly one that has to be seen to be believed. So, anyway, let me walk you through why.
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| Bill & Ted (Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves) |
THE PLOT:
The plot revolves around two high school students of San Dimas, CA; William "Bill" S. Preston, Esquire, played by Alex Winter, and his best friend Theodore "Ted" Logan, played by none other than Keanu Reeves. Together, the two learn that they're failing a class, American history. They also learn through Ted's dad, Capt. Logan, that if they fail history they flunk out of their school. (I don't know, I guess that they were failing pretty much all the other classes). Now, in a wild turn of events, a man arrives in a time-traveling phone booth from the future and tells them that the future is built on the rock band that Bill and Ted have created, "Wyld Stallyns", and that with their break up imminent, the future the man knows will cease to exist, creating a darker and hellish future in its place. The man is known simply as "Rufus", played by the funniest man in the history of the universe, George Carlin. You see, if Ted fails his history class, his father has elected to send Ted to military school up in Alaska, so it adds to the urgency that they have to try their hardest to ace this history class. The history class decides to set up final presentations in the form of giant speeches that determines the students' grades by their performances on these final speeches. The topic of the speech:
"Express to the class how an important historical figure from each of your time periods would view the world of San Dimas, 1988".So, Rufus sends a time-traveling phone booth back to Bill and Ted and they embark on a history through time to collect some of history's most important figures and bring them to the present day to aid them in their speech (The "final report" as it is often referred in the film).
THE CHARACTERS:
Obviously, you have Bill & Ted. These two are the quintessential high school surfer-stoners often seen in the movies of the 80's. They look stupid and they act stupid, but it seems so fresh in this flick because of the fact there's two of them. Fast Times at Ridgemont High? Only Spicoli. The Breakfast Club? Only Bender. The fact that we have two Spicolis works so well. They bounce jokes off each other like it's nothing. Just imagine two Spicolis talking to each other.
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| George Carlin as Rufus |
Aside from Bill and Ted, you have the cast of historical figures. You have Napoleon Bonaparte, Sigmund Freud, Socrates, Billy the Kidd, Genghis Khan, Joan of Arc, Beethoven, and Abraham Lincoln, all played by actors who really represent how they'd behave in 1988 California. It's pretty sick, and soon you forget you're watching a bunch of actors. You start to really think that this movie used the historical figures themselves. After them, you just essentially have the supporting cast of Capt. Logan (Ted's dad), Missy (Bill's stepmom), Deacon (Ted's brother), and Mr. Ryan (Bill and Ted's history teacher).
The characters all really work well with one another. For instance, the historical figures all react well when placed in situations together. At first they act like they would in their respective time periods, but soon they all mesh when it comes to Bill & Ted getting a good grade on their final report. Without giving too much away, the final report works really well when the entire class thinks it's just actors portraying the historical figures when in reality it is the historical figures themselves. Rufus on the other hand, even though all George Carlin is doing is playing himself in essence.
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| L-R: Bill, Billy the Kidd, Ted and Socares in medieval England |
THE SOUNDTRACK:
The movie was released in 1988, and since Bill & Ted are these surfer stoners the movie is pretty much filled with nothing but hair metal and monster ballads. It couldn't work any better. Its also aided by the fact that it wasn't mainstream metal like Def Leppard or Poison, it was lesser known bands like Shark Island, Big Pig or Power Tool. The soundtrack can be listened to from beginning to end. This movie made those songs great. "Two Heads are Better than One" by Power Tool plays when Bill & Ted are time-traveling and rounding up the historical figures for their report. The ballad "In Time" by Robbi Robb plays when Bill & Ted arrive in the future and learn that they are like Gods to the people of the future. "I Can't Break Away" by Big Pig opens the film in one of the most bizarre, yet memorable opening sequences in film history.
THE VERDICT:
Instant classic the first time you watch it. It's currently in my personal "Hall of Fame" of films. I guarantee that a movie with this bizarre of a premise will surprise and satisfy you. Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves have such a chemistry of playing buffoons on screen that you'll forget you're watching a movie almost. You'll feel like you're there, living the adventure with them. Truly immersed in the decade in which it was created, watching it will make you feel like you're taking a most excellent adventure through history...
5 stars out of 5: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is nothing short of a classic. Hands down. Watch it.
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