Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

History is about to be rewritten by two guys who can't spell.

1989 • 90 min • Adventure · Comedy · Science Fiction

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Synopsis

Two rock-'n-rolling teens, on the verge of failing their class, set out on a quest to make the ultimate school history report after being presented with a time machine.

Our family guide

Best from age 8

Movie Knight Score

2150 reviews

100 Reviewers · 2 · 51%
68 Audience · 2148 · 49%

Two high school friends, Bill and Ted, travel through time in a phone booth to gather historical figures for their history presentation. Their excellent adventure takes them from ancient Greece to the Wild West, all to avoid failing their class. It's a fun, lighthearted romp through history.

Violence & peril: 2/10
Language: 2/10
Drinking, drugs & smoking: 1/10
Romance & sensuality: 1/10
Scary moments: 1/10

Heads up

Some comedic pratfalls and mild action.
Infrequent mild language.
Historical figures depicted anachronistically for comedic effect.

What it models well

Friendship and teamwork
Learning from history
Achieving your goals

Talk about it after

The importance of history in understanding the present.
How working together can lead to success.
The concept of different historical periods and figures.

Written by the Movie Knight editorial team for Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. Our own words, our own scoring — always double-check against your family's standards.

Where to watch

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Top billed cast

Director: Stephen Herek • Crew: Chris Matheson, Ed Solomon

Trailers & clips

Reviewer notes

RecommendedTrusted family reviewers
Any film thats starts with "Joan of Arc was not Noah's wife" has got to be worth a look! "Ted" (Keanu Reeves) and best mate "Bill" (Alex Winter) have the knowledge at school - who uses "audacious" even now? They are, however, completely unfocused and like any other teenage boys, distracted by just about anything but schoolwork.…
CinemaSerf, TMDB Community

RecommendedTrusted family reviewers
Another one of those movies I first watched a few years after it came out, and just watched again this week. It is still very funny to me in many places during their adventure. Their reaction to stuff that happens is hilarious sometimes, and just the speech patterns they use is witty. Little things like referring to Joan of Arc as Miss of Arc, for example.…
Peter McGinn, TMDB Community