The review of the sequel will be up shortly.

Cast, Crew, and Other Info

Keanu Reeves as Ted Theodore Logan

Alex Winter as Bill S. Preston, Esquire.


Written by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon

Directed by Stephen Herek

Complete information is available from the
IMDB.

This
DVD release
includes spoken English and subtitled English, French, and
Spanish language options.

Past movie reviews can be found here.

Premise

Two academically challenged high school students are
sent on an
adventure through time, so that their pivotal role in
the development
of future society takes place.

High Point

This could have been nothing but stupid jokes.
Instead, there is
enough subtle humour in this that I’m often noticing
things I hadn’t
noticed before. Don’t believe me? Keep an eye out
for Missy’s
culinary arts (ie. the grilled cheese sandwiches),
Billy the Kid
“riding the rails” at the mall, and Sigmund Freud’s
corn dog. There’s
more, too.

Low Point

“I fell out of my suit when I hit the ground.” That
moves way beyond
humour about stupid people, and into outright stupid
humour.

The Scores

I’ve got to give the originality 5 out of 6.
Until the
sequel, there was just nothing like it.

The effects were weak. Some of this was a
limit of the
technology, but others just look like a lousy budget.
I swear they
were running out of money, so they switched to doing
reaction shots
instead of seeing the actual booth jump through time.
I give it 3 out
of 6.

The story is surprisingly well written.
It’s clear that the
writers are far more intelligent than their
characters. The
introduction to Waterloo, for example, is one of the
well placed
set-ups in the movie. The initial “Eddie Van Halen /
triumphant
video” exchange is perfect, showing the idiocy of the
characters, as
well as the attitude of the writers and characters to
the idea of a
paradox, one of the most common problems in
theoretical time travel.
I give it 5 out of 6.

The acting is barely there. Most of the
personages of
historical signifigance were well played, but the
rest of the cast was
unimpressive. I give it 4 out of 6.

The emotional response is great. This is a
funny, funny
movie, which is all that really counts for a comedy.
If not for the
grating low point, it would be perfect. I give it 5
out of 6.

The production is uninspired and
utilitarian. Some moments
look good, such as the transition from Genghis Khan
to Abe Lincoln in
the mall, while most of the film was just pointing a
camera with
little apparent planning or skill. I’ll give it an
extra point for the
great soundtrack,
though. I give it 4 out of 6.

In spite of its flaws, this is still an entertaining
movie
overall. Let’s face it; if you’ve seen the
trailers, you
know not to expect Earth-shattering filmmaking. It
does what it sets
out to do, so I’m giving it 5 out of 6.

In total, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
receives 31 out
of 42.