Southern California; 1988. Bill S Preston, Esquire and Ted 'Theodore' Logan are lifelong best friends who fill their days with dreams about their future as rock superstars - the minor detail of 'learning to play' being something to resolved at some point in said future.
These halcyon dreams are about to come under threat, however. Ted's father - who happens to be the local police chief - is tired of his son's cheerful aimlessness and intends to pack him off to military school in Alaska. The only way the hapless friends can avert this terrible fate is to ace their end-of-year history project. Which, given that their entire knowledge of Napoleon is that he is "a short, dead dude" seems unlikely.
Fortunately for Bill & Ted, their continued friendship is vital to the interests of the utopian society of 2688. They send an emissary back 700 years to provide our 'heroes' with a time machine (in the shape of a telephone booth, natch). With this handy device, the two would-be rock superstars can actually learn something about history, nail their assignment, and fulfil their destiny.
This plan, of course, may not survive contact with the cheerfully hapless enthusiasm of Messrs Bill & Ted.
As cheerful as its well-intentioned if not always well-equipped protagonists, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure became something of a cult hit, with a 1991 sequel and finally, in 2020, a third film in the franchise. The availability of said third film on streaming services is actually what prompted me to watch the original. I've seen it several times before, of course, but my wife never had.
This is a fun film. It's occasionally dated in its sources of humour and its use of slurs, but the basic geniality and decency of the protagonists carries it past those minor hiccups without too much difficulty.
Until next time:
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