Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure is a hilarious and fun ride that keeps you entertained the whole way through. Starring Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, and one of my all time favorite comedians George Carlin, this movie takes you on a totally gnarly trip through to time with just one goal in mind, pass history! With a Bill and Ted 3 looming on the horizon I thought now was as good a time as any to dive into the production and what I love about the movie. Just don't forget to wind your watch before we get started.
Bill and Ted's Excellent adventure did not have many production troubles but did have several changes to the original script before filming began. For instance, Bill and Ted were originally supposed to be 14-year old outcasts and Rufus (Carlin) was supposed to be 28. After they cast the roles they decided to change up characters to match the actors they picked. The famous phone booth time machine was originally going to be a van, but the producers thought it would make the movie too similar to Back To The Future and decided to go with the phone booth. Charlemagne and Babe Ruth were also originally supposed to join the cast of historical figures along with a character called John The Serf who still appears in the credits. John The Serf was played by James Bowbitch, and other than that I can't find anything about him, he is only credited in this role and this movie. The majority of the film was shot in Arizona, with some shots of Raging Waters San Dimas mixed with Golfland Sunsplash in Arizona to create the Waterloo water park scenes. The castle where Bill and Ted pick up their future wives is Odescalchi Castle located in Bracciano Italy. This castle is also where Tom Cruise was married and part of the miniseries Medici: Masters of Florence was filmed. Other than a few rewrites Bill and Ted's Excellent adventure went pretty smoothly, a rarity in Hollywood productions it seems.
The real trouble came when it was time for the movie to be released. De Laruentiis Entertainment Group( see Army of Darkness) held the rights to release the movie but folded before the movie had finished production. Despite wrapping production in May of 1987 the movie sat in mothballs until Orion Pictures and Nelson Entertainment bought the rights in 1988. The movie was finally released in February of 1989, nearly 2 years after it was finished. It was considered a box office success bringing in around 40 million on a budget of 10 million. Critics were lukewarm( but what do they know?) but audiences were enthusiastic and it quickly became a cult classic.
I am a big fan of George Carlin and I love history so this movie really ticks the right boxes for me. Everyone's performances are great, the soundtrack is memorable and keeps the action rolling, and the lines are infinitely quotable dude. I think I first saw it with my Dad when I was around 12 and I have enjoyed it ever since. It isn't a masterpiece of cinema or a deep existential think-piece, it's a fun, funny movie that you can watch with people of all ages. If you haven't seen this movie you should really watch it, and with another sequel on the way, Bill and Ted Face The Music, old fans should re-watch it to get ready. If I can leave you with one piece of advice, be excellent to each other, and party on dudes!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EwaFkPMdlY
