Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

Right now you can watch Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure in Australia on Stan, and in the US on Amazon Prime Video and Criterion Channel — and it is funnier than its reputation suggests. A tight runtime that never overstays its welcome. A 7/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Keanu Reeves sets the tone, and the rest of the cast matches it scene for scene. Put it on tonight on Stan and see for yourself.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure does what great comedies rarely manage — it is actually funny, consistently, across the whole run. Bill and Ted are high school buddies starting a band. They are also about to fail their history class—which means Ted would be sent to military school—but receive help from Rufus, a traveller from a future where their band is the foundation for a perfect society. With the use of Rufus' time machine, Bill and Ted travel to various points in history, returning with important figures to help them complete their final history presentation. Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 1989. What keeps Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure from feeling disposable is a cast that clearly understands the material better than the format usually demands. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

For viewers who want something light without wanting something stupid, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure respects your intelligence. It stands on its own even without an obvious comparison point. Best experienced as a single, sustained watch from start to finish. Keanu Reeves is funny in a way that holds up on rewatch. Put it on when you need something guaranteed to land.