I guess in one way or another, all devoted movie fans feel like they are also movie critics, as they no doubt like to discuss the pros and cons of films. Today, anyone can be a "published" film critic by simply starting a blog or creating a website. However, there was a time when getting published was a true challenge. My first stab at having my reviews placed somewhere where they could actually be read was in college when I submitted a sample to the student newspaper. As the reviews often leaned towards art films, I thought that I would do something to stand out and chose Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. I guess I leaned to far in the other direction, as I wasn't chosen. (That would take six more months and some badgering on my part.) Looking back, it's odd to see the cult movie that Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure has become and how well it holds up to this day.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure takes place in San Diemas, California, where we meet Bill S. Preston, Esquire (Alex Winter) and Ted "Theodore" Logan (Keanu Reeves), two high school students who are somewhat unusual. Although, they like to use big words when they talk, neither appears to be very bright, and they are in danger of failing history, as they'd prefer to concentrate on their band, Wyld Stallyns (despite the fact that neither can play guitar). If they fail history, Ted will be sent to military school in Alaska. While at the Circle K studying for their big history presentation, Bill and Ted are approached by Rufus (George Carlin), a man who emerges from a phone booth which magically appears. Rufus explains that the phone booth is a time machine and that the boys can use it to gather information for their report. So, the dull duo begin to traverse the time circuits, where they meet the likes of Napoleon (Terry Camilleri), Billy the Kid (Dan Shor), Genghis Khan (Al Leong), and Abraham Lincoln (Robert Barron). Will Bill and Ted be able to survive their adventure and get back in time to do the report? And why is their success so important to our future?

I mentioned above that Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure holds up to this day. That idea seems to fly out the window the second you read the words "phone booth". OK, the having a phone booth be an important part of the story definitely makes the movie feel dated and I'm sure that many viewers will wonder what in the world that thing is.

Outside of that, the movie still works today because of the humor involved. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is a movie which works on two levels and can be enjoyed as such. On the one hand, we have some slapstick and the stupid humor of the Bill and Ted characters. The duo are a mixture of stupid and ignorant, and the dumb things they say will appeal to audiences looking for a simple laugh. The movie has a very clever side as well, especially when dealing with the historical figures featured in the movie. Having a working knowledge of the icons who appear here isn't a prerequisite, but it will definitely enhance the enjoyment of the movie, most notably in the scenes where the figures visit the present. There are some nice jokes involving Sigmund Freud (Rod Loomis) and Socrates (Tony Steedman). I personally love the part where Bill and Ted give all of the famous individuals fake names.

Having made his directorial debut with the Gremlins ripoff Critters, Stephen Herek seemed like an odd choice to helm, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, but he did a fine job (and then moved on to make several live action projects for Disney). The movie moves along a good pace, and the mixture of humor and time-travel action is well-balanced. The movie does drag a bit in the middle, but the finale is so well-done that we forget all about this. Keanu Reeves had been in several movies, but this was his first big starring role and I think that many still picture him as the lame-brained Ted. Alex Winter was very good in this, and I've always wondered why he moved away from acting.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is one of those movies which many have seen, but I don't think most truly appreciate it. The movie is a product of its time, but the jokes still work today. Are there a lot of dumb jokes here? Yes. Is there too much footage of Napoleon on a waterslide? Yes. But, there are also many quotable lines here and who can forget that "Strange things are afoot at the Circle-K."

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure may be the only movie to have an iron maiden double entendre joke on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 25 Mbps. The image is sharp and clear, showing only a very mild grain and no defects from the source materials. This is one of those movies which looks bad on broadcast TV and didn't look great in its DVD debut, so this is a notable improvement. The colors look good and the image is never overly dark or bright. The image shows a nice amount of detail and the depth is pretty good. The Disc carries a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 3.8 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. The front and rear channels are very active here, and the stereo effects show good separation and placement of sounds. The subwoofer provides emphasis to some explosion and action pieces. However, I didn't detect much action in the rear speakers.

The Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure Blu-ray Disc contains a few extras. "The Original Bill & Ted: In Conversation with Chris & Ed" (20 minutes) is a modern chat between writers Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson who discuss how the characters came about and their writing style. They reminisce about the script and the reaction to the movie. "Air Guitar Tutorial with Bjorn Turoque & The Rockness Monster" (13 minutes) is an interview with these two artists (?) who describe their techniques. "One Sweet and Sour Chinese Adventure to Go" (23 minutes) is an episodes of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures, an animated show. The Disc offers six RADIO SPOTS and the THEATRICAL TRAILER for the movie.