THE OPINIONS, THOUGHTS AND MUSINGS IN THIS BLOG POST ARE SOLELY THOSE OF ZACK WANZER, AND NO ONE ELSE'S
Excellent Adventure features our protagonists, the dim-witted, high school slackers Bill S. Preston, Esquire and Ted "Theodore" Logan of Wyld Stallyns (a misspelling of Wild Stallions, in case you're wondering), and their journey to pass their history course with an A+ so planet Earth can have a bright future, and their ally in helping them is Rufus from San Dimas, California in 2688.
Bill and Ted use the phone-booth time machine to collect several historical figures - Billy the Kid, Socrates (nicknamed So-crates), Sigmund Freud, Ludwig van Beethoven, Joan of Arc, Genghis Kahn, and Abraham Lincoln - for their oral report. They also accidentally bring in Napoleon (the short, dead dude) who's looked after by Ted's brother Deacon, and after finding Napoleon and saving their historical figures from prison for causing trouble at the mall, their report is a big success and they pass, securing their future (and Ted doesn't have to go to Oates Military School in Alaska).
Time travel stories interest me; what would it be like if we could travel to our favorite period of history? I've seen the Back to the Future trilogy (which I'll get to in a later review), and I've heard of Doctor Who, although it's a time travel series. Bill and Ted's story is about making sure their future has a positive outcome on the world, as well as the universe.
Speaking of which, Bill and Ted was originally going to use a car for the time machine, but it was switched to become a phone-booth due to similarities to the DeLorean in Back to the Future, and yet the phone-booth looks a bit like the TARDIS! Ah well. C'est la vie.
There's lots of funny dialogue in the film. Some of my personal favorites are when Bill and Ted cry out "Excellent!" out of excitement, and when they tell their past selves, "69, dudes!" (Don't ask me why I find it funny; look it up. How'd they get that past the radar?!) And yes, it's funny when they mispronounce "Socrates" as "So-crates" - it's pronounced "Sōkrátēs", in case you're wondering. Oh, and yes; if my best friend was hitting on my stepmother who was three years our senior, I'd be as mad as Bill too.
There's also physical humor throughout; when Freud holds a corndog or a cigar, it looks phallic, probably why the girls (that turn out to be the princesses from England) thought he was such a geek. And when Napoleon gets a gutter ball, he drops the S-bomb (as in, swearing) several times over in French.
In addition, in the Middle Ages, there's a reference to Star Wars with Darth Ted and Luke Bill, and the heavy metal pun. And there's hypocritical humor in the wild west when Bill tells Ted to have a poker face, and not ten seconds after, Bill realizes he's got three aces. No wonder Keanu Reeves became stone-faced in later movie roles...
If the third act confuses you, allow me to explain;
Early on in the film, Ted's father's keys go missing, and he's cross with his son because of it - the fact Ted's failing history doesn't help his father's patience at all. Then we must consider this scene:
Bill: If only we could go back in time to when he had [his keys] and steal 'em then.
Ted: Well, why can't we?
Bill: Cause we don't got time.
Ted: We could do it after the report.
Bill: Ted! Good thinkin', dude! After the report, we'll time travel back to two days ago, steal your dad's keys and leave them here!
Ted: Where?
Bill: I don't know. How about behind that sign? That way, when we get here now, they'll be waiting for us. *he bends over and picks up the keys* See?
Ted: Whoa! Yeah! So, after the report, we can't forget to do this, otherwise it won't happen. But it DID happen! Hey, it was me who stole my dad's keys!
Bill: That's exactly it, Ted! Come on!
Then they sneak inside the police station, and remember to get a tape recorder from Ted's bedroom to distract his father at 2:13 PM. Afterwards, they send a message to themselves, drop a trashcan on top of Ted's father in the jail cell, and do their report successfully. Afterwards, they return their historical figures home, steal Ted's father's keys, and the cycle is complete.
Similarly, earlier on in the film, when Bill and Ted first met Rufus, another phone-booth appeared with the pair several hours older, and a conversation ensures between them. Later on, we see Bill and Ted telling their past selves (or at least, Past Ted) to wind their watch. We also see the conversation Rufus had with the current Bill and Ted from earlier that we didn't see.
One thing I find odd is how on earth they struggled to fit NINE people in the phonebooth, and yet near the end, TEN people (including Napoleon) fit inside without trouble. There are moments where things show up from nowhere, like Bill and Ted knowing about Rufus' name, but... meh.
Overall, it's a pretty fantastic film, and it's another personal favorite of mine. It's a product of the 1980s, and Bill and Ted was from an era where movies and music were still at their finest. Oh, and rest in peace, George Carlin - it's been seven years since your death, and you're still dearly missed by all who knew you...
Rating: 9 out of 10
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