When you become a major Blu-ray collector, shelf space becomes a premium. You want to have a lot titles. Five years ago you had an amazing shelving system that showed off all the spines of boxes so your pals can easily marvel that you have that movie. That was before you ended up with a few hundred more titles and piles are building. You don’t want to end up on the next episode of Hoarders. So you compromise. There’s nothing wrong with putting the discs in an envelope to save space. Most of the boxes aren’t that special. They’re just plastic with a one-sided sheet of paper shoved on the outside. But what about your deepest favorite films? You don’t want to hide them in an envelope. You want them on the shelf in a box that was made for them. That’s the genius of the steelbook with the art directly applied to the metallic covering. You see a Blu-ray on the shelf in a steelbook, and you know that movie means something to the owner. Which is why Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure: Limited Steelbook belongs on your shelf.
Time travel is usually the domain of smart people. Whether it be H. George Wells in H.G. Well’s The Time Machine, Mr. Peabody or Dr. Who, those who go back and forth in time were rather brainy and had a grasp of history. This all changed when two goofballs from Southern California were given the ability to go back in time for a serious mission: they must not flunk history or the future will be destroyed. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure had its heroes going back into a past that neither could fully grasp. They can barely pronounce the names of their famous time travelling companions. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventures will have you forget what time it is for the next hour and a half.
Deep in San Dimas, California live Bill S. Preston, Esq. (Alex Winter) and Ted “Theodore” Logan (Keanu Reeves). They are two high schoolers who aren’t exactly debating what Ivy League college is in their future. They have only the dream of making their band Wyld Stallyns to become bigger than Van Halen. Trouble is that neither knows how to play guitar. All that will be solved when they lure Eddie Van Halen into the band except they have no way of getting Eddie to join them. Even their delusion of rock success if on the rocks. Ted’s father has warned him that if he doesn’t get pass hit history class, he’ll be shipped off to a military school in Alaska. What nobody in the present really knows is how important it is that the boys keep going with their band. While hanging out in the Circle K parking lot, the duo get a visitor from the future with a time travelling phone booth. Rufus (George Carlin) wants the boys to use his phone booth to travel through history so they can pass their exam. Instead of merely seeing the sights, the boys bring historic figures back to San Dimas. Can Joan of Arc (Go-Gos’ Jane Wiedlin) really cope with modern life? Will Bill and Ted figure out how to pass history class?
Unlike a lot of ’80s comedies that have you pondering if the jokes were ever funny, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure remains brilliant in its time twisting ways. Keanu and Alex work so fine together that you believe they are this goofy in person. Alex is now making fine documentaries about Napster, the Deep Web and Frank Zappa. Keanu is Keanu.
What about the steelbox? The cover art features the iconic telephone booth on the front and where it was on the back.
The video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The 1080p transfer allows you to appreciate Keanu’s most excellent hairdo. The audio is DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0. The levels are great for rocking out with the Wyld Stallyns. The movies are subtitled.
Audio Commentary on Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure with Star Alex Winter and Producer Scott Kroopf There’s a second track with the writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon. They lay out how things came together on the page.
Time Flies When You Are Having Fun! (61:14) gives a deep exploration of Excellent Adventure with Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, cast and crew. The screenwriter explains how they created Bill & Ted as a comedy routine. The best part is Alex and Keanu are sitting next to each other as they talk about the film. It’s a reunion. They have fond memories of bonding during the casting process.
Theatrical Trailer gets you ready for the dudes.
Shout! Factory presents Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure: Limited Steelbook. Directed by: Stephen Herek. Screenplay by: Chris Matheson & Ed Solomon. Starring: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin and Jane Wiedlin. Running Time: 90 minutes. Rated: PG. Released: May 15, 2018.
