Episode 63 – TRON (1982)

Bill and Ted discuss Steven Lisberger’s 1982 boundary pushing Sci-Fi film “TRON,” a futurist film made at the dawn of the personal computer and the explosion of the video game market. Lisberger envisions a world where analogue collides with digital in a struggle over what is real and what is programmed. Jeff Bridges stars as computer programmer Kevin Flynn, who finds himself “incarnated” inside a computer in a struggle against the Master Control Program and his formidable minion Sark (David Warner) as they plot to dominate the real world. Flynn joins the security programme TRON (Bruce Boxleitner) in the fight against the MCP’s tyranny and expanding dystopia. Filled with eye-popping images, this innovative, ambitious, and stylish film took tremendous technical risks unlocking new avenues for the filmmakers that followed.

If you enjoyed this film, you may also like these Ted’s Picks: Metropolis (1927), The Wizard of Oz (1939), The Last Starfighter (1984)

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1980's, Sci-Fi

Episode 61 – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

Bill & Ted discuss “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” – John Hughes’ 1986 classic teen comedy. Fast-talking high school senior Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick), his neurotic best friend Cameron Frye (Alan Ruck), and carefree girlfriend Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara) put Ferris’ “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it” philosophy into action, ditching school for a whirlwind fun-filled tour of their hometown of Chicago. Narrowly evading Ferris’ kind but clueless parents and suspicious sister Jeanie (Jennifer Grey) the trio do their best to help the morose Cameron gain some much needed perspective. Peppering his film with poignant moments, Hughes also gives audiences plenty of pratfall slapstick humour as high school principle, Ed Rooney (Jeffrey Jones), attempting to catch Ferris, walks into an escalating series of comeuppances.

If you enjoyed this film, you may also like these Ted’s Picks: Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), Don’t You Forget About Me (2009)

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1980's, Auteur director, Comedy

Episode 52 – Time Bandits (1981)

Bill and Ted discuss Terry Gilliam’s 1981 Python-esque “Time Bandits” which focuses on a ten-year old boy, Kevin, who goes on an adventure through time with a band of would-be bandits on the lam having absconded with the Supreme Beings’ map of all the holes in the fabric of time. Filled with fun cameos from the likes of Sean Connery, Shelley Duvall, and John Cleese, Gilliam makes a kid’s film that doesn’t talk down to its audience. Part of a trilogy of film by Gilliam dealing with the imagination which also includes “Brazil” (1985) and “The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” (1989) Time Bandits is more concerned with questions of good and evil than the typical time travel obsession with causality.

If you enjoyed this film, you may also like these Ted’s Picks: Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989), Groundhog Day (1993) 12 Monkeys (1995)

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1980's, Auteur director, Comedy, Family, Fantasy

Episode 50 – Conan the Barbarian (1982)

Bill and Ted discuss John Milius’ 1982 film “Conan the Barbarian” drawn from the sword-and-sorcery pulp fiction writings of Robert E. Howard featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan, a gladiator bent on finding the warlord wizard Thalsu Doom (James Earl Jones) who killed his family. With a phenomenal score by composer Basil Poledouris, Milius brings to the big screen a pre-historical world of high adventure. This is a seminal film that paved the way for an ever-expanding genre.

If you enjoyed this film, you may also like these Ted’s Picks: The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973), Excalibur (1981), The Beastmaster (1982)

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1980's, Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Episode 46 – DUNE (1984)

Bill and Ted discuss David Lynch’s 1984 adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Hugo and Nebula award winning novel “DUNE” first published in 1965. A complex, epic, science-fiction, surreal, eye-popping, auditory, extravaganza puzzle of a film that comes across like a dream, and, like a dream when awake, all the pieces of the puzzle don’t exactly fit. Dense and complex, dealing with themes of politics, religion, ecology, intergalactic colonialism, and commodity warfare, “DUNE” tells the story of Paul Atreides (Kyle MacLachlan), an orphaned prince who becomes a messianic leader while discovering his greater purpose and upending the whole order of the known universe. This episode is as long as the sand on Arrakis is deep.

If you enjoyed this film, you may also like these Ted’s Picks: Metropolis (1927), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), Flash Gordon (1980)

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1980's, Auteur director, Drama, Sci-Fi

Episode 34 – Beetlejuice (1988)

Bill and Ted discuss Tim Burton’s 1988 film “Beetlejuice,” featuring Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis as the ghosts of newly deceased Adam and Barabra Maitlandas they try to spook the NYC high society Deetzes’ and their Goth daughter Lydia played by Winona Ryder who purchased their house in a sleepy New England town. Failing to frighten the Deetzes on their own, they reluctantly turn to the rogue “bio-exorcist” ghost Beetlejuice played to the hilt by Michael Keaton. Burton merges German expressionist style with upbeat Calypso music in this oddly colourful and straggly up-beat ghost story. Of the film Burton says, “It has elements of horror but it’s not really scary, and it’s funny but not really a comedy.” If you enjoyed this film you may also like these: Ted’s Picks: Defending Your Life (1991), The Frighteners (1996), Corpse Bride (2005)

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1980's, Auteur director, Comedy, Fantasy, Horror

Episode 33 – Batman (1989)

Bill and Ted discuss Tim Burton’s 1989 film “Batman,” featuring Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman and Jack Nicholson as the Joker. Dark and brooding Burton twists the campy qualities of the 1960’s Adam West version of Batman in into a dark freak show doubling down on Wayne’s introspection and the Joker’s psychosis. Brimming with memorable lines and iconic moments the film is not without its narrative and structural problems; certainly a film that paved the way forward toward the ensuing proliferation of blockbuster superhero films. If you enjoyed this film you may also like these: Ted’s Picks: Batman Returns (1992), The Dark Knight (2008), Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)

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1980's, Auteur director, Drama, Superhero

Episode 29 – Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Bill and Ted discuss Nicholas Meyer’s 1982 Sci-Fi film “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.” The crew of the Star Ship Enterprise encounter a nemesis from their collective past, Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban), bent on revenge and desperate to use an experimental terraforming technology called Genesis. Themes of friendship, self-sacrifice and aging permeate this film that both subverts and exceeds expectations while remaining true to its source material and characters. The Wrath of Khan may just be one of the best sequels of all time and certainly is the best of the classic Trek films. If you enjoyed this film you may also like these; Here are Ted’s Picks: Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991), Serenity (2005)

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1980's, Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Episode 27 – Witness (1985)

Bill and Ted discuss Peter Weir’s “Witness,” a thoroughly satisfying 80’s classic. Harrison Ford as police detective John Book protects an Amish boy (Lucas Haas) and his mother (Kelly McGillis) after the child witnesses a murder in the big city. It’s a crime thriller, romances, and a compelling fish out of water story set in Philadelphia and the quiet Amish country of Lancaster County Pennsylvania. If you enjoyed this film you may also like these; Here are Ted’s Picks: North by Northwest (1959), The Mosquito Coast (1986), Cop Land (1997)

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1980's, Drama, Romance, Thriller

Episode 16 – The Karate Kid Part II (1986)

Bill and Ted discuss John G. Avildsen’s “The Karate Kid Part II,” another ‘fish-out-of-water’ story where Jersey boy Daniel Larusso goes from California sun to Mr. Miyagi’s Okinawa home town fishing village. The stakes are higher as Daniel hones his martial arts focus and Mr. Miyagi confronts the reasons he originally left for California. Here are Ted’s Picks for great sequels: The Godfather: Part II (1974), Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

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1980's, Drama, Martial Arts