Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

In director Stephen Herek's sci-fi, time-travel fantasy adventure-comedy - its 'stupid humor' (typical of many 'guy-only' films) featured two shabby and unbrainy lead characters/dudes - both ignorant but loveable slackers, whose wasteful pursuit was to practice guitar in a garage for their group Wyld Stallyns . The popular teen 'stoner' film appeared after the success of Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) and Back to the Future (1985) with similar time-travel plots. Its script by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon, without sex, nudity, or violence was derived from the writers' earlier stand-up college comedy routine.

It was succinctly described by its taglines:

• History is about to be rewritten by two guys who can't spell.
• Time flies when you're having fun.

The mostly goofy, mindless and silly film featured two dim-witted high school teens in San Dimas, CA whose California Valley and surfer dialogue was mostly composed of simplistic phrases, such as "dude," "bodacious," "bogus," "whoa," "no way!," and "party on." The film's premise was the efforts of the two dummies to meet historical personages (during time travel from a phone booth), such as Napoleon Bonaparte, Billy the Kid in the frontier West, Socrates in Ancient Greece, Sigmund Freud, Ludwig van Beethoven, Joan of Arc, Genghis Khan (from medieval Mongolia) and top-hatted Abraham Lincoln. Their efforts to pass their history class required writing a 'report' which they had to present on-stage - with all of the assembled historical characters brought to life - to their student body classmates in the film's conclusion. However, there was little useful or significant historical content in the film.

The buddy comedy became a cult favorite with its VHS videotape release after its theatrical run. On a budget of about $8.5 million, the film was a surprising hit, grossing about $40.5 million. There were two sequels in the growing franchise, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991) and Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020).

William "Bill" S. Preston Esq. (Alex Winter)

Ted "Theodore" Logan (Keanu Reeves, in a breakthrough role)

• in the plot, William "Bill" S. Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter) and Ted "Theodore" Logan (Keanu Reeves)
• they traveled through time to pass their 1988 San Dimas High School history class taught by Mr. Ryan (Bernie Casey), by creating a report or class presentation on the views of historical figures on the present year, while Ted's police captain father Captain Logan (Hal Landon Jr.) threatened to send Ted to military school if he didn't pass history
• their journey was provided by mysterious Rufus (comic George Carlin) who found them hanging out at the local Circle K studying for their history project: (Ted: "Strange things are afoot at the Circle K"), and gave them a time-travel phone booth and Circuits of Time phone book as a gateway to meet historical personages and bring them back to modern society
• during the misadventures with the historical figures once they were brought back to the present day in San Dimas, CA, Napoleon went bowling and slid down the alley, Joan of Arc led an aerobics dance exhibition-class in a shopping mall, and Genghis Khan destroyed an Oshman's sporting goods store with a metal baseball bat
• the teens' stupidity was demonstrated when they were offered the Iron Maiden by their medieval Evil Duke (John Karlsen) captor ("Put them in the Iron Maiden") - they reacted with "Excellent!" without realizing that it was a torture execution machine and not a heavy-metal rock band ("Bogus!")

Lincoln on Stage During the History Class Presentation

• the film ended for the two failing students with a last-minute, 2:45 pm presentation for the assembled San Dimas students in an auditorium - the final report of the afternoon; on stage, the two students introduced the 1988 "world tour" of "some of the greatest people who have ever lived," beginning with Billy the Kid, followed by Socrates - and many more