Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

Movie review by Heather Boerner, Common Sense Media
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 11+

Silly time-capsule comedy ideal for older tweens.

PG 1989 90 minutes
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Parents say

age 11+

Based on 22 reviews

Kids say

age 9+

Based on 61 reviews

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is about two Southern California teens (Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves) who have little respect for authority and actively disobey their parents. But the tone is very lighthearted, and the characters seem to have the best intentions ("be excellent to each other") during their adventures through time. Expect some comic violence; appropriately, the Dark Ages is where the duo encounters the most life-threatening -- but still comic -- situations. On the iffier side, girls are treated as sex objects to the point that mentor/guide Rufus (George Carlin) "gives" the boys two girls they met in Medieval England as a reward for passing their history test.

Community Reviews

Meerkat.dog.yo
Meerkat.dog.yo Adult
March 19, 2016
age 13+

Sex, swearing, but still very fun.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is a sci-fi comedy about two teenagers (Bill & Ted) who need to complete their history report by going back in time and meeting the people they are studying. There is a good deal of slapstick, but nothing comes of it. Characters are shot with guns, and Bill & Ted almost die at one point. There is also lots of sexual references. Bill & Ted see Bill's mom's breasts, they call all woman "babes," and they fall in love with princesses and kiss. As for swearing, there is "s--t," "d--k," "d--kweed," "damn," and "fag." Other than all the inappropriate things previously listed, a five-year-old could see this movie.

This title has:

Too much sex
1 person found this helpful.
docnerd
docnerd Adult
January 31, 2016
age 14+

Not great tween perceptions of sex

Great flashback for parents but not a great movie for tweens getting their first exposure to flirting and relationships. "Dude, that's your mom" etc is a little gross for tweens.
1 person found this helpful.
See all 22 parent reviews

What's the Story?

In BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, slacker teens Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) are more intent on landing Eddie Van Halen for their band Wyld Stallions than making it through high school. But 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.

Is It Any Good?

Some movies are irresistible junk food for the brain -- short, sweet, and so entertaining you want to watch them over and over again; this is one of those. It's a bonbon of a film, full of good looking, sweet scenes that make you feel giddy.

The great thing about Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is that it's perfectly paced and perfectly acted. Say what you will about Reeves' wooden-feeling delivery -- it takes a certain level of brilliance to come up with a character who's both maddeningly dumb and completely lovable. And there are other great scenes. Released on a modern mall, the historical characters act out. Joan of Arc rallies the troupes of an aerobics class. Billy the Kid turns out to be a bad flirt. And with one tilt of his corndog, Sigmund Freud is proven to be a perv. It's delightfully silly and eminently watchable.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the "slacker" stereotype. What does that mean to you? Do you consider Bill and Ted to be slackers? Are they role models?

  • The "dudes" shred on guitar, and the "babes" are treated like prizes. Are those stereotypes? If so, what message does that send to viewers?

  • 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 Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure really would have reacted the way they did? Would Joan of Arc, for instance, become an aerobics instructor?

Movie Details

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