Very disappointing...

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This is what 80s films were all about! At least what a "brainless comedy" should be. The movie features two guys who will have an enormous impact on the future with their band-the problem is they're about to flunk history, and one will be sent off to military camp as a result, so George Carlin gets sent in a time machine from the future to help them. (The Terminator as a comedy in reverse!) The two guys in lead are practically brain dead and need the help. They are given the time machine to round up such historical figures as Napoleon, Billy the Kid, Socrates, and Joan of Arc and give a truly excellent report! My favorite scenes are at the Circle K and when they get Napoleon and Billy the Kid. If you need a movie with mindless laughs...you will love this movie! *** out of ****

Reviewed August 2011Whoa!! Dudes!! The current number system may not be sufficient if you count how many times Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) utter this through the movie. My rating has nothing to do with the film making prowess or narration or acting. Just the entertainment value. Bill and Ted are teenagers on the verge of failing their history class if they don't come up with a presentation. They are also budding musicians yet to learn how to play an instrument. They come across a Time Machine to gather 'Historical Figures' of the past for their presentation.This was my first introduction to the concept of time travel and the fun that can be had fantasizing it. One of those movies that is so silly with really bad dialog and ridiculous acting, you'll start enjoying it. The concept of time travel is utilized to the full extent without a bother about neither the logic nor consequences which is good. Both leads play ball as morons with goofy mannerisms. A movie such as this has a thin line between working alright and being a disaster. This one just crosses the line.Silly good fun.

I just watched this movie with my 7-year old daughter and she liked it. The only weird part was with the step-mom. But she didn't get it, so that was just me. It's a good-hearted goofy comedy with some inventive bits, and has some memorable lines. And lots of people seem to like young Keanu. So there you go. If you haven't seen it, watch it. This is one of the most ridiculous movies out there of it's kind. The humor is pretty over-the-top campy, and recognizes California suburban life having been made fun of for quite a while already, so nothing really new there. This movie makes the 80s look quaint, in spite of the garish fashions. But what's more, this movie is probably one of the more accurate science fiction movies out there, with some reliable insights into time travel. And, when they go get Joan d'Arc or Socrates, or Genghis Khan, these characters don't speak English. I mean why would they? I mean, how many high production value science fiction movies have screwed issue this up? If you don't see the humor in that, you are too stiff for this movie. And I was serious too, far higher production value science fiction movies have been less substantial when it comes to the ideas department. And I really enjoyed George Carlin's performance, who seems to be having fun in this ridiculous movie, as he smirks his lines, if that's possible. It's got pretty good pacing so I didn't get too bored, and the Napoleon at the water park bit is kind of classic. I guess the phone booth time machine is a nod to Doctor Who. Last comment, the image of them all stuck in the phone booth sideways, with Socrates screaming in the background, has stuck with me now since 1989. Good fun.

The two characters really are endearing and the concept is fun, more than this is a great comedy at all. On its own, the film is mediocre and very limited in content. But the concept and the two main idiot characters are carried out well enough that an hour and a half of this makes for a fun ride nonetheless. Some gags are fun, others actually funny, and others yet are more of the ordinary stuff we're all now used to witnessing in such commercial mainstream comedies.Overall the concept and the Bill and Ted characters were good enough to make this a really good, maybe great comedy - but the filmmakers didn't bother and rather went with an effort-economic solution of developing very slightly, just enough to make it a sellable product.Elements like "Hey Missy...I mean, mom !..." or the pretty hilarious vocabulary of our two protagonist idiots, their likable idiocy and stupid remarks, the time travel idea with the booth and the Rufus character, the "princesses"... all that was really good comedy material, but as a film, there just isn't enough.A generous, partly nostalgic 6.5/10.