Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf August 5, 2024

Despite some rough edges, 1989’s “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” is generally a sweet and positive tale of teenagers receiving the time-travel education of their lives. It’s a brightly performed and superbly crafted comedy, having great fun with dumb guy humor and slapstick mayhem, with stars Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter perfectly cast as the eponymous adventurers through the Circuits of Time. The movie became an unexpected hit, and work on a sequel soon began. However, instead of a simple rehash where Bill and Ted meet more historical figures in their quest to graduate high school, co-writers Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson elect to use their follow-up to make perhaps one of the strangest sequels of all time. 1991’s “Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey” has no interest in lining up with franchise expectations, going gonzo with its offering of afterlife survival, evil robots, and an adventure with Death, creating a thrilling study of filmmaking creativity and daredevil storytelling.

Looking to dominate the universe, the wicked De Nomolos (Joss Ackland) has stepped out of the shadows to kill Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves), sending evil robot versions of the lovable dopes back in time, preventing them from achieving world peace with their band Wyld Stallyns. Now dead, Bill and Ted journey through Heaven and Hell, searching for a chance to return to Earth and save the day. Tagging along is Death (William Sadler) and Martian scientists Station, who assist the heroes in their fight to reclaim tomorrow, protect the princesses, and create a perfect song to generate global harmony.

The wily experimentation of “Bogus Journey” is its most endearing characteristic. Instead of loading up the time-traveling phone booth and interacting with around round of bewildered historical figures, the sequel attempts to master a different excellent adventure: death. The script is a darkly comic creation that brings together the dim-bulb humor of the original endeavor with a rather vivid psychological plunge that finds our heroes in Hell battling their worst fears. Solomon and Matheson run wild with the plot, conjuring a phantasmagoria of creatures, robots, and an evil Easter bunny, dragging Bill and Ted through a series of challenges that make the first film look like a Disney picture. It’s never mean, but the execution isn’t afraid to bite between broadly comic events, giving fans a more challenging moviegoing ride.

Faced with the impossible task of following “Excellent Adventure,” the screenwriters don’t even try to replicate the formula. Instead, they go bonkers, which is exactly why this film is such a scream.

Lightning paced and openly destructive, the picture is a carefree creation, observing Bill and Ted kill Bill and Ted over control of the future. It’s nice to find the cast returning to the scene of the crime, with Reeves and Winter contributing a full-bodied, air-guitar-strumming effort in multiple roles (Bill even confronts his heinous grandmother in Hell, also played by Winter). Their screen energy is simply wonderful, selling the madness with traditional stupidity while developing the cluelessness of the characters, just to keep matters successfully absurd once the afterlife enters the film. The boys are magic.

Making a righteous impression is Sadler, showing plucky comedic chops as the perennially flustered afterlife conductor. Working his ghoulish make- up in a hilarious series of reactions, Sadler is a joy as the ghoul -- an imposing figure who can’t seem to beat Bill and Ted at board games or sense an oncoming melvin. Without Rufus around (the late George Carlin merely cameos here), Death picks up the slack in the supporting character department.

With a soundtrack containing hits from Megadeth, Faith No More, and Kiss, the return of Amy Stock-Poynton as Missy (“I mean, Mom”), and an ultimate showdown at a Battle of the Bands contest overseen by a hair-metalesque Pam Grier, there’s not a lot to object to here. It’s an anarchic motion picture, but reveals triumphant originality -- a sublime daredevil of a film that authentically assumes a great deal of risk. Few sequels can lay claim to that.

For additional information and analysis, please read Jeffrey Kauffman’s 2016 Blu-ray review.

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Screencaps are taken from the Blu-ray

"Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" arrives on UHD with a "new 4K scan of the original camera negative," looking to best the previous 2016 Blu-ray release. Freshness is found during the viewing experience, which provides a deeper sense of detail, exploring human, Martian, and robotic skin particulars. Costuming remains textured, especially with the heaviness of Death's robe. Locations are dimensional, visiting vast sets in Heaven and Hell, and living spaces are open for inspection. Exteriors retain depth. Colors are rich, with bright primaries on clothing choices. Experiences in Hell offer a range of unreal hues, and playfulness with the color depletion of the afterlife registers as intended. The sharp black and white appearance of Death is preserved. Skin tones are natural. Blacks are deep, protecting trips into the void and evening activities. Highlights are tasteful. Grain is satisfactorily resolved, dealing with plenty of opticals and inherent softness. Source is in good condition, with some very brief wear and tear.

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix delivers crisp dialogue exchanges, preserving crazy performances and wild accents. Stranger conversations with robots and Martians are also intact, with unintelligibility not an issue. Scoring delivers defined instrumentation and satisfactory dramatic position, and guitar squeals register as intended. Soundtrack selections are also crisp, with defined vocals. Surrounds explore some musical moods, doing a little better with atmospherics, including visits to Hell. Sound effects are appreciable. Low-end isn't sizable, but registers some weight with beats and explosions.

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary #1 features actor Alex Winter and producer Scott Kroopf.

• Commentary #2 features co-writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon.

• "Bill & Ted Go to Hell" (52:04, HD) is a 2016 making-of for "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey," featuring interviews with producer Scott Kroopf, co-writer Chris Matheson, production designer David L. Snyder, production illustrator Simon Murton, and actors Alex Winter, Keanu Reeves, William Sadler, Amy Stock-Poynton, and Hal Landon, Jr. Looking to do something "radically different," the production team set aside another school report plot to try to expand the world and make something weirder. They found a guiding light in director Peter Hewitt, who was committed to creating a highly visual adventure, and some technical achievements are highlighted in the discussion. Casting is explored, noting Sadler's makeup and costuming demands as Death, and Joss Ackland's general dismissal of Reeves and Winter during the shoot. Sets and animatronics are analyzed, contributing to the wild style of the endeavor, and makeup work on Winter in Granny Preston mode is examined. The controversy of Station is identified, with the creatures introduced to help find a way out of the final act, with Matheson sharing some disappointment in the writing. Deleted concepts are identified, including a car chase involving Bill and Ted's fears. Changes to the ending of "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" are also highlighted, exploring the tonal struggles of the sequel and its quest to offer a satisfying conclusion.

• "The Most Triumphant Making Of" (30:53, SD) is a 2005 making-of for both "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" and "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey," featuring interviews with producer Scott Kroopf, co-writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon, director Stephen Herek, production designer Roy Forge Smith, director Pete Hewitt, and actor Alex Winter. Production stories are shared, with fun anecdotes and technical highlights. The featurette closes with some thoughts on he possibility of a new sequel, which would eventually materialize 15 years later.

• "Score!" (12:46, SD) is a 2005 interview with guitarist Steve Vai, who recounts his early interest in music, developing his skills and following the lead of his hero, Frank Zappa. Receiving an introduction to moviemaking in 1986's "Crossroads," Vai enjoyed the process but stepped away from the business. Film scoring soon entered his life, recruited to make music for "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey," tasked with doing major work in a short amount of time. Stress multiplied when Vai was called in a week before the feature's release, tasked with reworking the music for the reshot finale.

• "Air Guitar Tutorial" (13:15, SD) offers interviews with Bjorn Turoque and The Rockness Monster. It's a jokey featurette, discussing the finer points of the hobby with the interviewees, and Turoque and Monster offer "10 Steps to Becoming an Air Guitar Champ."

• Vintage EPK (6:39, SD) is a brief overview of the "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" production process, with cast and crew interviews identifying the creative mission of the sequel and its love of absurdity. Visual effects are analyzed as well. William Sadler also provides some commentary in-character as Death, walking around a desert location. Some BTS footage is included.

• "The Linguistic Stylings of Bill & Ted" (3:41, SD) helps to decode the language found in the first two "Bill & Ted" movies.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (2:01, HD) is included.

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Bogus Journey" is an authentic creative gamble, and those don't arrive very often. It's a wonderful addition to the series, bringing a level of surprise and artistry to goofy shenanigans. Unpredictability is a major asset, and while 2020's "Bill & Ted Face the Music" would also endeavor to challenge expectations, it's the youthful sense of danger and mischief that makes "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" such a thrill to watch.