Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure - PG
Common Sense Note
Parents should know that Bill and Ted are slackers, have no respect for authority, and actively disobey their parents. But the tone is still very lighthearted and the characters seem to have the best intentions during their adventures through time. There is some comic violence and, appropriately, the Dark Ages is where the duo encounters the most life-threatening -- but still comic -- situations. Girls are treated as sex objects to the point that Rufus gives the boys two girls they met in Medieval England as a reward for passing their history test.
Families can talk about how to balance creative pursuits like music with good school work. If you had a time machine, what time periods would you visit? Who would you want to visit and why? Do you think the historical figures in the film really would have reacted the way they did? Would Joan of Arc, for instance, become an aerobics instructor?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Heather Boerner
There are some movies that are irresistible junk food for the brain: they are short, sweet and so entertaining you want to watch them over and over again. BILL AND TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE is one of those. It's a bonbon of a film, full of good looking, sweet scenes that make you feel giddy.
Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) are two high school slackers more intent on how to land Eddie Van Halen for their band Wyld Stallions than making it through school, and with dire consequences: If the boys don't get an A+ on their history report, they'll flunk out of school and Ted will be on his way to military school in Alaska. Knowing only that Napoleon is "a short, dead dude," and guessing that Joan of Arc is "Noah's wife," the boys seem to be lost -- until a visitor from the future, Rufus (the perfectly cool George Carlin), appears in a magical phone booth to allow them to experience history first hand. They hatch a plan: Bring historical figures back and let them experience San Dimas -- and then take them to class.
The plan goes perfectly, including a run-in at the mall, arrests, and other ensuing silliness. The great thing about the film is that it's perfectly paced and perfectly acted. Say what you will about Keanu Reeve's wooden acting skills -- it takes a certain level of brilliance to come up with a character who is both maddeningly dumb and completely lovable. And there are other great scenes. Released on a modern mall, the characters reveal themselves: Joan of Arc rallies the troupes of an aerobics class. Billy the Kidd turns out to be a bad flirt. Genghis Khan resembles no one so much as John Belushi's Samuri Tailor from Saturday Night Live. And with one tilt of his corndog, Sigmund Freud is proven to be a perv. It's delightfully silly and imminently watchable.
People who enjoy this film may also like Dumb and Dumber and Wayne's World, or try the classic buddy flick Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentLots of light-hearted sexual innuendo. Bill and Ted refer to all women as "babes" and take turns staring at Bill's mom's cleavage. Missy and Bill's dad make out in Bill's bedroom. Bill's dad is married to a much-younger trophy wife. Genghis Khan stops eating and starts making out with a servant girl. Sigmund Freud points his corndog suggestively. |
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ViolenceLots of comic violence and no one gets hurt. Ted falls down the stairs of a medieval castle and Bill thinks Ted has been stabbed and killed. Bill is almost stabbed as well, but Ted knocks the assailant out. Bill and Ted are almost decapitated. Billy the Kidd causes a barroom brawl and later shoots a light out in modern-day San Dimas. Genghis Khan destroys a sporting goods store with a bat. |
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LanguageSparse salty language, including "dick," "dickweed," and "fag." |
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Social BehaviorBill and Ted are high school losers who don't pay attention in class and literally require divine intervention to save their grades. Ted's dad treats him badly and yells at him. They steal Ted's dad's keys and let people out of jail and generally disobey their parents. But overall, the message is to be good to one another. |
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CommercialismCircle K, and the duo introduces historical figures to the delights of "mall culture." |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoOne fight in an old Western bar. |
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