So Rufus is from a time where Bill & Ted are great musicians right? Which means, that in that timeline, they passed the history exam. Therefore, there's no jeopardy of them not passing the exam in the past. Therefore, there is no need for Rufus to go back in time. They're already successful.
shareTrue.
But it could be that Rufus knows that time machine was involved in making all that happen, and perhaps in the future, knows or senses that their whole timeline/Universe/dimension/whatever is in jeopardy, if something is not done.
Still, it is kind of flimsy - I mean, if you invented a time machine, and then realized that some good thing probably can't happen without time travel, would you really go back in time to make sure it happens, instead of, for example, stop banks from gaining so much power, or prevent world wars (though this would be the result - I mean, peace instead of war, if bankers were stopped early), make sure Tesla gets funding and Edison will only be remembered from his animal cruelty (killing dogs and elephants with Tesla's Alternating Currency), and appearing as the first witness for every UFO sighting ever reported, making sure electric cars would become popular instead of the polluting versions and so on..
..would you?
You bring up a good point, which is even better than the "it's impossible to only have two hours left, since they are in the exact time, where.. uh, 'when' they began their journey in the first place - they don't really HAVE to go anywhere from that time anymore! They could just live there and study for the 10 hours, or whatever"..
That's it! I demand my money back from 1989.
This is the most unrealistic movie about time traveling high school students I have ever seen. Excellent Adventure my ass!
We don't know all of the backstory, so saying the plot can't happen is quite presumptuous. We don't know how time travel works, or even how time works, so its dogmatic to assume that a linear process is the only possible explanation for what is going on.
It seems that whatever the process is that makes it possible, it is not a mistake or a plot hole, because the same idea is used freely in the second movie.
Spoiler - Don't read if if you have not seen Bogus Journey.
In that movie its Rufus who gives them the shot at the Battle of the Bands, and without him, they don't get in. Its also the evil guy, that rigs the satellite, which allows the world to first hear the Wylde Stallions.
Also, the members of the band come from their adventures, which are due in part to Rufus and (though not intentional) the evil dude.
Spoiler over
Its possible then, that we could be dealing with an alternate timeline, a Time Lord type scenario, a parallel time structure, a destiny time structure or other things.
If you look at the police station scene in the original, it seems to indicate that the existence of the time machine is not predicated on the success of the history exam, because after they fail, they go back in time and fix the things that barred them from getting the historical dudes and dudettes to the exam.
Another thought - Rufus said later that they would eventually do great things,but those things had not happened yet. There was also a part where it was made clear San Demis time was fixed, as opposed to other time. Maybe San Demis time is the Greenwich Mean Time of time travel, and time emanates in both directions from that point?
Maybe, the key to the future was not the things they did, but it was the attitude of them wanting to learn how to play. When they chose to learn how to play, their musical brilliance was destined to sweep the world. Maybe in the initial future, the Wylde Stallions music was limited, but a cult was built around them, and Rufus was sent back to help them achieve their potential. After the adventure the future grows brighter...
Just some thoughts, but the point is whatever the unexplained phenomenon, its intentional by the writers.
It’s a time travel theory called the pre destination paradox. Meaning the timeline is already pre determined including time travel and thus cant be changed, similar to the twelve monkeys or the first terminator movie (ironically another film in which the time travel rules are butchered by its sequel)
In the terminator, John Connor sends Kyle reese back in time to impregnate John’s mother before he was born thus becoming John’s father. There never could have been a timeline where John doesn’t send Kyle back as John never would have been born.
In Bill & Ted, the timeline had to have had Rufus go back to help them all along as the pair would have been split up without the phone booth. It’s possible it eventually gets documented that Bill & Ted get help from the future (perhaps after the events of Bogus Journey as they reveal to quite a few people they had access to a time traveling phone booth and once they got famous, those in attendance at the theatre during the first film may have clued in that those historical figures were in fact the real Billy the kid, Beethoven, Freud, Joan of Arc etc. Thus Rufus and the rest of future san dimas realize it is destiny for Rufus to go back to help Bill and Ted. This also explains how bill and ted get help from their future selves several times throughout the film.
McFly_2015 drops the microphone and walks away!
shareI thought this film was a documentary?
shareAs others have pointed out, it's a whole paradox sort of thing. In Back to the Future, Marty goes back 5 minutes early to warn Doc, and sees himself jump in the Delorean. The Marty that then goes back to 1955 and goes back to 1985 5 minutes early to warn Doc, and sees himself jump in the Delorean to go back to 1955 and goes back to 1985 5 minutes early to warn Doc so on for eternity.
If John Conner didn't send back Kyle Reese, his father, he would never have been born. Not to mention so many other time travel movies.
So, this is sort of like that, where one thing effects another, but it skips over the most important part...
it's a movie. An hour and a half escape from reality, enjoy it for it is!
I'm not slamming you or trying to be a dick, just saying don't read too much into stuff. Laugh at Socrates & Billy the kid hitting on the mall-chicks, laugh at Genghis Khan in the sporting goods store, "Miss of Arc" doing aerobics, and Napoleon hanging out in a water park.
I live my life knowing that, in the future someone will realize how great the world would have been if only I was given the winning Powerball numbers for that one billion dollar jackpot. So in reality I have already won that jackpot, I'm just waiting for that future time traveler to go back and give me the winning numbers.
shareSeriously? A movie like this isn't really supposed to have a fool proof plot.
"Few people understand the psychology of dealing with a highway traffic cop."
This is a predestination Paradox. There is only one timeline, and the future happens no matter what you do to stop it. Rufus is sent back in time because he was destined to do so. The time travel agency knew he HAD to go back in time, because that was how it was MEANT to be.
Twelve Monkeys and La jetée which inspired Twelve Monkeys use this same time travel method. In those films, the time travel agencies know they cannot change the past, but they can influence the future(although the future is also set in stone) by traveling in time to use knowledge from another time period to help them now.