Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

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Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

PG

Released Feb 17, 1989

1h 30m

Comedy

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Popcornmeter

83%

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58 Reviews

75%

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250,000+ Ratings

Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) are high school buddies starting a band. However, they are about to fail their history class, which means Ted would be sent to military school. They receive help from Rufus (George Carlin), a traveler from a future where their band is the foundation for a perfect society. With the use of Rufus' time machine, Bill and Ted travel to various points in history, returning with important figures to help them complete their final history presentation.

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Critics Consensus

Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter are just charming, goofy, and silly enough to make this fluffy time-travel Adventure work.

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Carrie Rickey

Philadelphia Inquirer

Though its one-liners elicit the occasional chortle -- when Bill and Ted don medieval armor, there's an obligatory heavy-metal joke -- the film doesn't engage, because its heroes don't engage with the historical characters.

Rated: 1.5/4

Oct 22, 2014

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Chris Willman

Los Angeles Times

Make no mistake, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is not a satire of mindlessness; it's unabashed glorification of dumbness for dumbness' sake.

Oct 22, 2014

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Variety Staff

Variety

Reeves, with his beguilingly blank face and loose-limbed, happy-go-lucky physical vocabulary, and Winter, with his golden curls, gleefully good vibes and 'bodacious' vocabulary, propel this adventure as long as they can.

May 30, 2007

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Sarah Vincent

Sarah G Vincent Views

The film seems to suggest that our traditional view of greatness in the contemporary US is virtually impossible, but it also democratizes what greatness can look like in a society like ours by elevating friendship, decency and good naturedness.

Jun 14, 2024

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Kristin Battestella

InSession Film

Sharp dialogue and air guitar exclamations provide chuckle worthy moments that have seeped into the cultural lexicon almost because of the terrible fashions, simplistic eighties effects, and the bizarre vision of a future utopia.

Jul 25, 2023

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Zoë Rose Bryant

Loud and Clear Reviews

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure has a supremely silly story that some may deem “dated,” but its classic charms - and Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves' pitch-perfect performances - are still just as entertaining as ever.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 1, 2022

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Recneps .

A very strange movie…absolutely ridiculous premise, but it’s a lot of fun. The performances, humor and third act absolutely carry, but that’s kind of the point? I had a really fun time watching it and will definitely watch it again.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

09/13/25

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Rami A

Pure '80s comedy at its finest, and I seriously can't get enough of it. Everyone in the movie does an excellent job, including the leads, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

09/04/25

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M B

Intelligent, exciting and well made sci fi adventure with both moral lessons and history lessons! Great detailed and funny script, Tight direction, brilliant casting with an Excellent soundtrack too!

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/08/25

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R V.

Keanu Reeves brought an earnest, wide-eyed sincerity to Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure that transformed what could have been a forgettable teen comedy into a cult classic. As Ted “Theodore” Logan, Reeves made the character more than just a caricature of a SoCal slacker. His chemistry with Alex Winter was effortless, but it was Keanu’s natural charm and lack of irony that gave the film its innocently optimistic tone. What makes Reeves essential to the movie is his complete commitment to the character. Whether traveling through time in a phone booth or high-fiving historical figures, he brought a sense of wonder and joy that kept the movie grounded and fun.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/31/25

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scarlett s

this is the greatest movie ever made.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

07/24/25

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CaptainBoulder T

Hilarious movie, made me change my personality for a whole week

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

07/17/25

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Stephen Herek

Director

Keanu Reeves

Ted Logan

Alex Winter

Bill S. Preston, Esq.

George Carlin

Rufus

Bernie Casey

Mr. Ryan

Amy Stock-Poynton

Missy Preston

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Synopsis

Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) are high school buddies starting a band. However, they are about to fail their history class, which means Ted would be sent to military school. They receive help from Rufus (George Carlin), a traveler from a future where their band is the foundation for a perfect society. With the use of Rufus' time machine, Bill and Ted travel to various points in history, returning with important figures to help them complete their final history presentation.

Director: Stephen Herek
Producer: Scott Kroopf, Michael S. Murphey, Joel Soisson
Screenwriter: Chris Matheson, Ed Solomon
Production Co: De Laurentiis, Interscope Communications, Nelson Entertainment
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 17, 1989, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 28, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $39.1M
Runtime: 1h 30m
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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