It’s the year 1988 in San Dimas, California, and aspiring musicians Bill S. Preston, Esquire (Alex Winter) and Ted “Theodore” Logan (Keanu Reeves) are failing History. They must score an A+ on their final oral presentation or they will flunk out of High School, causing Ted’s dad to send him off to military school in Alaska. Bill’s dad, on the other hand, is a little more laid back—he recently got married to Missy, a girl only 3 years older than Bill. Bill and Ted are unaware of the major role their band Wyld Stallyns plays in the future, and all that depends on them passing their exam.

One day, while hanging outside the Circle K, a mysterious phone booth comes down from the sky. Out steps Rufus (George Carlin) who tells the guys he has come from the year 2088 to help them pass their History final. For their presentation, they must give a speech about how different historical figures would feel about the San Dimas of today. So Rufus gives them a phone book and tells them they can use the phone booth to travel to any time and place in history.

The guys’ first stop is France where they meet Napoleon, but accidentally bring him back to the present. This gives Bill the idea that they should bring back lots of different historical figures and take them around San Dimas to get their thoughts. And so starts a mad dash around time, kidnapping Billy the Kid, Socrates, Sigmund Freud, Beethoven, Joan of Arc, Geghas Khan and Abe Lincoln.

I originally saw this film in the theater as a kid and loved it. Over the years I had seen it many times, but the last time had probably been at least a decade prior to watching this Blu-ray. This film really stands the test of time (pun intended)! It’s just as hilarious and fun now as it ever was, and other than Bill & Ted’s wardrobe, it doesn’t feel dated or irrelevant. Even the special effects hold up. In fact, I probably appreciated this film even more now—the now obvious Doctor Who reference of the time-traveling phone booth was completely lost on me when I originally saw the movie.

You would think the constant surfer-speak and air-headedness of the main characters would grow old or get annoying. However, I found the innocence and stupidity of Bill & Ted to be so charming and funny. I also found the script and direction choices to be quite clever and multi-layered. While there are jokes in the forefront, there is also some other layer of comedy in the background. For example, there is a scene where Socrates and Billy the Kid are hitting on two young women when Freud comes up as a third wheel and starts analyzing the girls. While it is never mentioned, the whole time he is holding this corn dog on a stick out in front of him, which adds a whole new level of comedy to the psychoanalysis.

The time travel aspect is also well thought out—with Bill & Ted circling around to meet up with themselves, and placing things in the future to have access to them in the present/past. This is the type of time travel story I really enjoy—while it may seem complex at first, if you think about it, it really makes simple sense.

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is also just a lot of fun—it is packed with jokes, humor and sight gags. Even something as simple as having Bill and Ted mispronounce all of the historical figures names leads to some wonderful humor. One of my favorite scenes is when Bill & Ted are introducing their guests to Missy and try to give everyone Americanized names, such as “So-crates Johnson”, so that she won’t suspect anything.

I really enjoyed re-watching Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure again for the first time in a decade—this film should be a part of everyone’s collection!

What’s Included:

Film (1:29:51)

• 1080p / Widescreen 2.35:1
• English DTS-HD MA 5.1, Spanish DD 1.0
• English SDH, Spanish, French subtitles

Extras:

• The Original Bill & Ted: In Conversation with Chris & Ed (20:13)
  Discussion between writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon. They talk about their friendship, the improv skit that led to the characters of Bill & Ted and how the film came about.
• Air Guitar Tutorial with Bjorn Turoque & The Rockness Monster (13:14)
  The 2004 West Coast Air Guitar competition winner and runner-up talk about how they got started, and demonstrate their “skills”.
• One Sweet and Sour Chinese Adventure — To Go (23:08)
  Pilot episode of the 1990 Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures animated TV series. When Bill & Ted accidentally break Missy’s vase, they travel back to ancient China to get a replacement.
• Radio Spots (2:51)
  Five original radio ads for the theatrical release of the film.
• Theatrical Trailer (1:55)

Final Thoughts:

The picture was a little grainy in some scenes but overall, looked quite remarkable given that this film is almost 25 years old. However, I was a bit disappointed in the underused surround channel in the 5.1 audio mix.

The extras were also a little disappointing. While I enjoyed getting to see an episode of the cartoon series, and the discussion between the writers was kind of interesting, I wish there was more. It would have been nice to have a 25th anniversary audio commentary from the actors and creators, and a making-of featurette. Also, there were some additional featurettes that appeared on the previous Bill & Ted DVD Box set that were not included here.

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is truly a film that stands the test of time and I highly recommend picking this up.