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Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

Theatrical release poster

Directed by Stephen Herek

Produced by Scott KroopfMichael S. MurpheyJoel Soisson

Written by Chris MathesonEd Solomon

Starring Keanu ReevesAlex WinterGeorge Carlin

Music by David Newman

Cinematography Timothy Suhrstedt

Edited by Larry BockPatrick Rand

Productioncompany

Interscope CommunicationsNelson Entertainment

Distributed by Orion Pictures(USA & Canada)De Laurentiis EntertainmentGroup(International)[1]

Bill & Ted's Excellent AdventureFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is a 1989 Americanscience fiction comedy buddy film and the first film inthe Bill & Ted franchise in which two slackers travelthrough time to assemble a menagerie of historicalfigures for their high school history presentation.[2]

The film was written by Chris Matheson and EdSolomon and directed by Stephen Herek. It stars KeanuReeves as Ted "Theodore" Logan, Alex Winter as BillS. Preston, Esquire, and George Carlin as Rufus. Bill &Ted's Excellent Adventure received reviews which weremostly positive upon release and was commerciallysuccessful. It is now considered a cult classic. A sequel,Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, was released two yearslater.

Contents

1 Plot

2 Cast

3 Production

3.1 Differences from original script

4 Soundtrack

5 Related productions

5.1 Sequels

5.2 Television

5.3 Comics

5.4 Video games

5.5 Theme parks

6 Reception

7 See also

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Release dates February 17, 1989

Running time 90 minutes

Country United States

Language English

Budget $10 million

Box office $40.5 million

7 See also

8 References

9 External links

Plot

In 2688, humanity exists as a utopian society due to the inspiration of the music and wisdom of the TwoGreat Ones: Bill S. Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter) and Ted "Theodore" Logan (Keanu Reeves). Rufus (GeorgeCarlin) is tasked by the leaders to travel back to San Dimas, California, in 1988 using a time machinedisguised as a telephone booth to ensure that Bill and Ted, who are dim­witted metalhead high schoolstudents, get a good grade in their final history oral report and allow them to pass the class. Should they fail,Ted's father, Police Captain John Logan (Hal Langdon), plans to ship Ted to a military academy in Alaska,ending Bill and Ted's fledgling band, the "Wyld Stallyns", thus altering the future.

Bill and Ted struggle with the report, which asks them to envision how three historical figures would seeSan Dimas in the present. While asking strangers at the local Circle K convenience store for help, Rufusarrives in the time machine. The two are distrustful until a duplicate of the time machine arrives nearby,from out step future versions of Bill and Ted. They prove to their younger selves that they are really themand that they should trust Rufus. They privately ask Rufus a question and then depart. The younger versionsof Bill and Ted accept Rufus' offer to take them into the past. Rufus takes them to a battlefield in Austria,1805 where Napoleon Bonaparte (Terry Camilleri) is commanding the French army against Austria. Theyreturn to the present, unaware that the time machine has caught Napoleon in its wake and pulled him along.Landing near Ted's house, Rufus reminds them that they must still reach the school on time to give theirreport and then departs, returning the time machine to them. The two discover Napoleon stuck in a tree, andafter freeing him, come up with the idea of kidnapping other historical figures to bring to the present. Theyleave Napoleon with Ted's younger brother, Deacon (Frazier Bain), and start traveling through time.

The two befriend Billy the Kid (Dan Shor) in the Old West and Socrates (Tony Steedman) before stoppingin 16th­century England where they become infatuated with Princesses Elizabeth (Kimberley Kates) andJoanna (Diane Franklin). The teens anger the princesses' father, who orders their beheading, but they arerescued by Billy and Socrates. They are forced to leave without the princesses and, in the escape, thetelephone booth is damaged. Dialing a random number, they land next in the Utopian future, where Bill andTed are amazed by the music playing and that the citizens worship them. They leave after a brief stay and,believing they have plenty of time before the report, start collecting more historical figures for extra credit,including Sigmund Freud (Rod Loomis), Ludwig van Beethoven (Clifford David), Joan of Arc (JaneWiedlin), Genghis Khan (Al Leong), and Abraham Lincoln (Robert V. Barron). Having run out of room inthe phone booth, Bill and Ted finally discover the time machine is damaged.

After making ad hoc repairs to the time machine, Bill and Ted try to return to the present but land outsidethe Circle K, recognizing the situation they previously witnessed. After reassuring their younger selves,they learn from Rufus how to dial the right number to get to their present. Ted finds Deacon had ditchedNapoleon earlier out of embarrassment. They leave the other historical figures at the local mall toexperience San Dimas while they look for Napoleon, finding him at the water slide park "Waterloo". Theydiscover the historical figures had caused trouble and have been arrested by Captain Logan. They figure outhow they can use the time machine to set up event at the police station to allow them to free the historical

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figures without getting caught, and then race for the high school. Arriving just in time, they give animpressive presentation with the help of the historical figures that receives a standing ovation. They passtheir course, and return the historical figures to their proper times.

Later, as Bill and Ted are practicing, Rufus arrives, showing he had rescued the princesses from Englandand introduced them to the modern world, and that they become part of Wyld Stallyns. Elated, Bill and Tedresume their practice, with Rufus promising to the audience that they do get better.

Cast

Keanu Reeves as Ted LoganAlex Winter as Bill S. Preston Esq.George Carlin as RufusTerry Camilleri as NapoleonDan Shor as Billy the KidTony Steedman as SocratesRod Loomis as FreudAl Leong as Genghis KhanJane Wiedlin as Joan of ArcRobert V. Barron as Abraham LincolnClifford David as BeethovenHal Landon Jr. as Captain John LoganBernie Casey as Mr. RyanAmy Stock­Poynton as Missy/MomJ. Patrick McNamara as Mr. Ian PrestonFrazier Bain as Deacon LoganDiane Franklin as Princess JoannaKimberley LaBelle as Princess Elizabeth

The Three Supreme Beings of the Future

Clarence ClemonsMartha DavisFee Waybill

Production

The film was shot in 1987 in the Phoenix, Arizona, metropolitan area, mostly in and around Scottsdale'sCoronado High School. Coronado's auditorium was torn down during 2005­07 renovations, but its uniqueroof and intricate exterior mosaic, seen in an opening scene when Bill and Ted leave school in a redMustang, was saved and moved, piece by piece, to the new auditorium. The interior shots of the auditoriumwere filmed inside the East High School auditorium, which was in Phoenix on 48th Street just north of VanBuren. East High School was demolished in 2002 as part of a redevelopment project. The production alsoshot a sequence on the Western Street on the back lot of Southwestern Studio in Carefree, Arizona.

The scenes at Waterloo are a combination of establishing shots at Raging Waters in San Dimas and shotswith the actors at Golfland Sunsplash in Mesa, Arizona. The bowling alley was a Fair Lanes­branded alleyat that time but is now the AMF Tempe Village Lanes on Rural Road at US 60, three miles south of

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Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure(Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Soundtrack album (Audio CD/Digital

Arizona State University. The mall was Phoenix Metrocenter, between Peoria and Dunlap Avenues atInterstate 17. It has since been renovated and no longer looks as it did in the film. The Circle K store is atthe intersection of Southern and Hardy in Tempe.[3][4]

The film's writers, Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson, appear in the film's ice cream scene. Solomon iscredited as the "stupid" waiter, and Matheson is credited as the "ugly" waiter. They are given similar creditsin Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey.

When Rufus plays his guitar solo, the hands in the close­up are those of Stevie Salas, who composed thefilm's guitar music.[5]

The film took nearly two years to make. Filming took place from February to May 1987[6] and it wasplanned to be released in 1988. However, the film's original distributor, De Laurentiis Entertainment Group,went bankrupt. Orion Pictures and Nelson Entertainment bought the rights to the movie in 1988, and it wasreleased theatrically on February 17, 1989.[7] As a partial result of the delay, certain dates in the filmoriginally scripted as "1987" had to be re­dubbed as "1988". The copyright date of this film is 1989, while1988 incorrectly appears on the DVD cover (though some copies still note 1989 as its release date).

It was followed in 1991 by a sequel, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey.

Differences from original script

In earlier drafts of the script, Rufus was 28 years old and historical figures Bill and Ted plucked fromhistory included Charlemagne (whom they referred to as "Charlie Mangay"), Babe Ruth, and a non­famousmedieval person called "John the Serf". John is listed in the credits.[8]

In a 1991 interview, co­writer Ed Solomon said the characters of Bill and Ted were originally envisaged as"14­year­old skinny guys, with low­rider bell­bottoms and heavy metal T­shirts" who were despised by thepopular kids at school. Casting Reeves and Winter changed the filmmakers' images of the charactersbecause "...once you cast Alex and Keanu, who look like pretty cool guys, that was hard to believe."[9]

Originally, the time machine was to be a 1969 Chevrolet van, but the idea was abandoned as being too closein concept to the DeLorean used in the Back to the Future trilogy. Instead, despite the similarities to DoctorWho 's time machine, the TARDIS, the film's time machine was styled after a 1960s American telephonebooth, though a newer model Ford van would be used as the rock concert "band wagon" for the sequel.

In April 2013, Winter commented on Carlin's casting: "He was a very happy accident. They were goingafter serious people first. Like Sean Connery. And someone had the idea, way after we started shooting, ofGeorge. That whole movie was a happy accident. No one thought it would ever see the light of day."[10]

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack was released in 1989. The tracksare as follows:

1. "Play with Me" by Extreme2. "The Boys and Girls Are Doing It" by Vital Signs

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download) by Various artists

Released 1989

Genre Hard rock, heavy metal, glam rock, glammetal, pop rock, rock 'n' roll

Length 40:32

Label A&M Records

3. "Not So Far Away" by Glen Burtnik4. "Dancing with a Gypsy" by Tora Tora5. "Father Time" by Shark Island6. "I Can't Break Away" by Big Pig7. "Dangerous" by Shark Island8. "Walk Away" by Bricklin9. "In Time" by Robbie Robb10. "Two Heads Are Better Than One" by Power Tool

These tracks are ordered for the album differently thanthey are in the movie. In the movie, the songs show up in the following order: "I Can't Break Away","Dancing with a Gypsy", "Father Time", "Dangerous", "In Time", "Two Heads Are Better Than One", "TheBoys and Girls Are Doing It", "Play with Me", "Walk Away", "Not So Far Away" and "Two Heads"(reprised over the credits).

The following songs appeared in the film but were not included in the soundtrack:

"No Right to Do Me Wrong" by Range War"Party Up" by Rori"Bad Guitar" by Stevie 'No Wonder' Salas"Carlin's Solo" by Hands of Flutes"Game of War" by Warrant

Related productions

Sequels

A theatrical sequel, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, was released in 1991.

A third theatrical film in the Bill & Ted franchise was planned, and a screenplay was written, though itnever got past the pre­production phase. Although rumors claimed that the script was adapted into the 1996film Bio­Dome, Alex Winter has said that it was not.[11]

In 2010, Reeves indicated that Matheson and Solomon were working on a script for a third film,[12]

confirming in April 2011 that a draft was complete.[13] Winter said in March 2012 that he and Reeves bothliked the finished script, which revisits the two characters after the changes of the past twenty years.[14] Thecurrent script does not feature the return of the Grim Reaper from Bogus Journey, but since actor WilliamSadler has expressed interest, the writers are considering ways to include the character.[15] In August 2012,Dean Parisot (director of the sci­fi/comedy film Galaxy Quest) signed on to direct the film, although MGM,which holds the rights to the Bill & Ted franchise, has yet to give the movie an official greenlight.[16] In anApril 2014 article on the original film's 25th anniversary, Alex Winter reported that work on going aheadwith the second sequel was still in progress.[9]

Television

Two spin­off television series were produced; both were titled Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures.

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Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures was an animated series that first ran on CBS in 1990, and featuredthe voices of Winter, Reeves and Carlin returning to their roles in the film. A second season of eightepisodes ran on Fox Kids, with the voice cast of Fox's upcoming live­action series.Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures was a live­action series that ran only seven episodes on Fox in thesummer of 1992. It featured none of the cast from the film. Evan Richards and Christopher Kennedyplayed Bill and Ted.[17]

Comics

DC Comics produced a tie­in comic following the plot of the first movie timed to coincide with that film'srelease on home video. [1] (http://www.billandted.org/merchandisebookseacomic.htm) The sequel wasadapted by DC's competitor Marvel Comics, published to coincide with the second film's release intheaters. Its popularity led to the ongoing Marvel series Bill & Ted's Excellent Comic Book by Evan Dorkin,which lasted for 12 issues. [2] (http://www.billandted.org/comicmarvelissues.htm)

There was a weekly 2/4 page semi­adaptation of the animated series published for a year by UK's defunctLook­In Magazine from 1991 to 1992. [3] (http://www.billandted.org/comiclookinissues.htm)

Video games

There were also Game Boy, NES and Atari Lynx games released, which were very loosely based on thefilm's plot. A PC title and nearly identical Amiga and Commodore 64 port were made in 1991 by Off theWall Productions and IntraCorp, Inc. under contract by Capstone Software and followed the original filmvery closely.

Theme parks

The annual Halloween Horror Nights events at Universal Studios Orlando and Hollywood have featuredsince 1992 (Orlando) and 1997­1999/2007 (Hollywood) Bill & Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure, ashow satirizing pop culture of the year with Bill & Ted as the protagonists fighting villains who steal theirphone booth for their own schemes.

The show differs from year to year, with spoofs of various pop culture icons. The main plot involves Billand Ted being threatened by an evil villain from a popular film of that year, with appearances by a host ofvillains, heroes, and celebrities. The show usually includes elaborate dance numbers, stunts, and multipledouble­entendres for the late night event crowd.[18][19] In 2013, the Hollywood version of the show wascancelled in the middle of its run following complaints of homophobic humor.[20]

Reception

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure grossed $40.4 million domestically on a budget of about $10 million.[21]The Washington Post gave the film a negative review, finding the script written by Chris Matheson and EdSolomon as "made only the sketchiest attempts to draw their historical characters. They exist as foils andnothing else, and the gags that are hung on them are far from first­rate", and that if director "Stephen Herek,has any talent for comedy, it's not visible here. More than anything, the picture looks paltry andundernourished."[22] Variety wrote about each historical figure that Bill & Ted meet, stating that "Each

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encounter is so brief and utterly cliched that history has little chance to contribute anything to this pic’s twodimensions."[23] Vincent Canby of The New York Times referred to the film as a "painfully inept comedy"and that the "one dimly interesting thing about Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure is the way the two teen­age heroes communicate in superlatives. We are about to fail most egregiously, says Ted to Bill, or maybeit's Bill to Ted. They are also fond of odd words, such as bodacious."[24]

The film has an 79% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based on 43 reviews with a consensus saying "KeanuReeves and Alex Winter are just charming, goofy, and silly enough to make this fluffy time­travelAdventure work".[25]

The successes of the film and the animated series spawned a short­lived breakfast cereal called Bill & Ted'sExcellent Cereal.[26]

The phone booth used in the film was given away in a contest presented by Nintendo Power magazine, topromote Bill & Ted's Excellent Video Game Adventure. It was won by Kenneth Grayson ofMississippi.[27][28]

In 2010, the city of San Dimas celebrated 50 years of incorporation. The celebration's slogan was SanDimas, 1960–2010 – An Excellent Adventure.[29]

See also

French RevolutionParisFrench Revolutionary ArmyArizonaSaloonAncient GreeceLondonViennaPianoMongoliaMongol EmpireOrléansWashington, D.C.Deus ex machinaNovikov self­consistency principle

References1. Thompson, Anne (March 16, 1989). "Profiting from youth In search for adult fare, studios overlook a hit".Chicago Tribune.

2. Willman, Chris (February 17, 1989). "Adventure, Thy Name Is Not 'Bill & Ted' ". The Los Angeles Times.Retrieved 2010­08­22.

3. "The 80s Rewind: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure". Fast­rewind.com. 1991­07­19. Retrieved 2013­10­12.4. "Eighties Movie Locations That Really Exist". In The 80s. Retrieved 2013­10­12.5. Baamonde, Matt (July 28, 2006). "Stevie Salas Interview". Modern Guitars Magazine. Archived from the

original on August 14, 2006. Retrieved October 18, 2015.

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Wikiquote has quotationsrelated to: Bill & Ted'sExcellent Adventure

6. "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) ­ Box office / business".7. "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989) ­ Trivia".8. "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)". Us.imdb.com. Retrieved 2013­10­12.9. Freeman, Hadley (17 April 2014). "Bill & Ted's 25th birthday: party on, dudes!". The Guardian. Retrieved

18 April 2014.10. alxwinter (April 26, 2013). "Hey, Alex Winter here from Bill & Ted and Downloaded and noticed a lot of child

stars memes today. That's what my next documentary's about. Thought it would be a good day to say hi. Ask meanything!". reddit.com. Retrieved April 27, 2013.

11. "Was Bill & Ted 3 Rewritten Into Bio­Dome?". Slashfilm. Retrieved 2010­01­06.12. "Reeve talks new 'Bill and Ted' adventure".13. " 'Bill & Ted 3' screenplay actually exists, according to Bill".14. " 'Bill & Ted' Sequel: 'There Probably Will Be Another One' ". 2012­03­09. Retrieved 2012­03­10.15. "The Grim Reaper Could Return for Bill & Ted 3, Says William Sadler". 2012­04­18. Retrieved 2012­08­17.16. "Bill & Ted 3 Has a Director". 2012­08­13. Retrieved 2012­08­17.17. Herbert, Steven (June 28, 1992). "Bill and Ted Make It to Prime Time, City Doesn't". The Los Angeles Times.

Retrieved 2010­08­22.18. Arthur Levine (August 10, 2006). "Universal Orlando is Out for Blood". Archived from the original on 21

November 2006. Retrieved December 10, 2006.19. Teresa Plowright (October 15, 2004). "Halloween Horror at Universal". Retrieved December 10, 2006.20. Couch, Aaron (2013­10­23). "Universal Studios Hollywood Pulls 'Anti­Gay' 'Bill and Ted' Halloween Show".

The Hollywood Reporter.21. "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 23, 2009.22. Hinson, Hal (February 17, 1989). "‘Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure’". Washington Post. Retrieved

November 5, 2014.23. "Review: ‘Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure’". Variety. Retrieved November 5, 2014.24. Canby, Vincent (February 17, 1989). "Bill and Ted s Excellent Adventure (1989) Reviews/Film; Teen­Agers On

a Tour Of History". The New York Times. Retrieved November 5, 2014.25. "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 27 October 2009.

Retrieved November 23, 2009.26. "Bill & Ted's Excellent Cereal, Reviewed". X­Entertainment. 16 March 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2012.27. Error Macro (June 2, 2006). "The Saturday Scan ­ Give It Away Now". Retrieved December 10, 2006.28. Picture of phone booth winner

(https://web.archive.org/web/20070928120058/http://www.errormacro.com/images/2006/scans/contest5.php) atthe Wayback Machine (archived September 28, 2007)

29. "2. 50th Anniversary Celebration" (PDF). Minutes: City Of San Dimas Council. City of San Dimas. November15, 2008. Retrieved August 11, 2010.

External links

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096928/) at the Internet MovieDatabaseBill & Ted's Excellent Adventure(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098752/) at the Internet Movie Database (animated TV series)Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103365/) at the Internet MovieDatabase (TV series)Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (http://www.allmovie.com/movie/v5541) at AllMovieBill & Ted's Excellent Adventure(http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bill_and_teds_excellent_adventure/) at Rotten Tomatoes

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Categories: English­language films 1989 films 1980s comedy films 1980s science fiction filmsAmerican adventure comedy films American films American independent filmsAmerican comedy science fiction films American teen comedy films Buddy filmsBill & Ted (franchise) Time travel films Fictional depictions of Abraham Lincoln in filmCultural depictions of Billy the Kid Depictions of Genghis Khan on filmDepictions of Napoleon on film Ludwig van Beethoven in popular culture Sigmund Freud in fictionFilms directed by Stephen Herek Films about Joan of Arc Films set in Los Angeles, CaliforniaFilms shot in Arizona Films shot in Italy Films shot in Los Angeles, CaliforniaInterscope Communications films Orion Pictures films StudioCanal filmsMetro­Goldwyn­Mayer films Screenplays by Ed Solomon Films set in the 1st century BCFilms set in the 13th century Films set in the 15th century Films set in the 1800sFilms set in the 1860s Films set in 1879 Films set in 1901 Films set in 1988Films set in the 27th century Comedy science fiction films Postmodern films San Dimas, CaliforniaScience fiction musicals

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