BILL, TED, AND AN EXCELLENT ADVENTURE 30 YEARS IN THE MAKING TIME TO FACE THE MUSIC

Hop back into the phone booth and join us for a far than bogus journey with the Wyld Stallyns as the pair ready their return to screens…

- VANESSA BERBEN

A FIRST, MOST TRIUMPHANT ADVENTURE

of all the amazing writers here at STARBURST, I just might be the best one to wax nostalgic about the ongoing legacy of Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Ted ‘Theodore’ Logan. Why? Because like them, I too was a child of the ‘80s from the Southern California valley. A land of water parks, frequent mall excursions, and strange things afoot at the Circle K.

Going to see the first film in theaters as a SoCal kid was like watching a movie made specifically for us, in a language that only we could easily understand. To this day, whenever I’m nostalgic for my childhood, I pop in the DVD and remember the good old days when the biggest thing I worried about was finishing my homework and the future was a wide open landscape.

Excellent Adventure was hampered with issues throughout filming. The original cut clocked in at over two hours long and featured an opening dance number and a completely different ending. To make matters worse, the production company for the first film went bankrupt, throwing the entire release into limbo. The film has a fairly easy plot to understand, as implausible as it may be: in a utopian future heavily influenced by the music of the Wyld Stallyns, Rufus, played by the legendary George Carlin, is sent back in time to find Bill and Ted - at that point hapless slackers - and ensure they pass their final history exam. If they fail, Ted’s father is going to send him to military school, resulting in the band breaking up, thus never achieving the greatness they’re destined for.