bogus journey

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Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey

• A tyrant from the future creates evil android doubles of Bill and Ted and sends them back to eliminate the originals.
• The world of our distant future is a veritable utopia, thanks to the lyrics of two simple-minded 20th-century rock-and-rollers, Bill S. Preston, Esq., and Ted "Theodore" Logan. However, a would-be conqueror threatens to throw history off-track by sending "most non-non-heinous" evil robot Bill and Teds back to kill their good counterparts. Finding themselves dead, the boys must outwit the Grim Reaper and traverse Heaven and Hell to return to the land of the living, rescue their "babes," and have a "most triumphant" concert at the all-important Battle of the Bands. — David Thiel <[email protected]>
• For many years now, at Bill and Ted University of the future, the people of the world have been excellent to each other. But fed-up with Bill and Ted's peaceful world and even more fed up with heavy metal, Chuck De Nomolos decides to do something about it. De Nomolos creates cyborg versions of Bill and Ted, who travel back to 1990 with orders to kill the human versions of Bill and Ted, win the Battle of the Bands, and pave the way for De Nomolos to take over the future. In 1990, Bill and Ted are sent to hell by the cyborgs. Cyborg Bill and Cyborg Ted make time with the real Bill and Ted's girlfriends, Joanna and Elizabeth, and prepare to take the human Bill and Ted's places in the Battle of the Bands. With their friend Rufus' help, the human Bill and Ted are forced to find a way out of hell, deal with the Grim Reaper, and talk to God Himself in their mission to get to the Battle of the Bands. — Todd Baldridge
• In this sequel to 'Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure', the music of Bill and Ted's band, Wyld Stallyns, has created a utopian future society. Chuck De Nomolos, who detests this society, steals one of the time-traveling phone booths and sends two robots modeled after Bill and Ted back to the late 20th century to prevent Bill and Ted from winning the San Dimas Battle of the Bands. Rufus attempts to stop De Nomolos but seemingly becomes lost in the circuits of time. In the present day, five years after Bill and Ted first traveled through time with Rufus' help to pass their history project and graduate from high school, the Wyld Stallyns are preparing for the contest. Though Bill and Ted's current fiancées, and former 15th-century princesses, Elizabeth and Joanna have become skilled musicians in working alongside them, Bill and Ted are still inept singers and songwriters. Despite this, the organizer Ms. Wardroe assures them a slot in the contest as the final act. Bill's young stepmother Missy divorces his father in favor of Ted's, who threatens Ted with military school should they fail the Battle of the Bands. Evil Bill and Evil Ted arrive and the robots eventually replace Bill and Ted, killing them by throwing the two over the side of a cliff at Vasquez Rocks. The robots behave rudely to the princesses and work to ruin the duo's fame. Bill and Ted's souls are met by Death who challenges them in a game for their souls. Bill and Ted escape after giving Death a "melvin". They attempt to alert their families but their ethereal forms prove difficult, and at one point, are cast down into Hell at a séance held by Missy. In Hell, they are tormented by Satan, made to face their own fears, manifesting as Col Oates, the Easter Bunny, and Granny S. Preston, and realize their only escape is to take Death's offer. Taken to Death's chambers, the spirit gives them the option of what game to play. Bill and Ted, to Death's dismay, select modern games like Battleship, Clue, and Twister, easily beating Death. Death admits defeat and unwillingly becomes their servant. Bill and Ted recognize they need to locate the smartest person in the universe to help build robots to counter De Nomolos' evil robots. Death escorts the two to Heaven, and with God's help, are directed to an alien named Station who has the ability to split into two identical twins, and readily offers to help Bill and Ted. Death brings them back to Earth in the mortal world, where it is the night of the Battle of the Bands. Bill and Ted take Station to a hardware store, and then race in their van back to the concert while Station constructs good robots. Just as the evil robots take the stage, Bill and Ted arrive, and Station's robots easily defeat the evil ones. Just then, De Nomolos appears in the time booth, ready to defeat Bill and Ted himself, and overrides the broadcasting equipment to send the video footage of this to everyone on the planet. The two recognize they can later go back in time to arrange events for De Nomolos to be trapped in the present, aided by Death and Station; though De Nomolos is apparently able to do the same, Bill and Ted gain the upper hand with the explanation that it is only the winners who get to go back, and De Nomolos is arrested by Ted's father. Ms. Wardroe reveals herself to be a disguised Rufus, having assured Bill and Ted's spot in the concert, and urges them to play. As Bill and Ted reunite with their fiancées, they realize they are still terrible musicians, and the four use the time booth to travel through time to practice. Although they return immediately after less then a minute, Bill and Ted claim that "an intense 16 months of guitar training, plus a two week honeymoon" have passed for them. They have married the princesses and each is raising a young infant "Little Ted" and "Little Bill". They begin to perform a stunning rock ballad, joined by Death, Station, and the good robots. The worldwide broadcast set by De Nomolos continues, and Wyld Stallyns' music is played across the globe, creating harmony. Over the end credits, it's shown through newspaper articles that the band, along with Death, go through many perks of fame before eventually taking their act to the planet Mars.

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Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey

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Watch Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey with a subscription on Max, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

What to Know

Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey has the same stars -- and cheerfully wacky sense of humor -- as its predecessor, but they prove a far less effective combination the second time around.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Peter Hewitt

Keanu Reeves

Alex Winter

William Sadler

Grim Reaper

Joss Ackland

Ms. Wardroe

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Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, black writers week, bill and ted's bogus journey.

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There were parts of "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" I probably didn't understand, but that's all right, because there were even more parts that Bill and Ted didn't understand. This is a movie that thrives on the dense-witted idiocy of its characters, two teenage dudes who go on amazing journeys through time and space with only the dimmest perception that they are not still playing video games. I missed the enormously popular movie that introduced these characters, "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure," and felt myself blessed at the time. But now I'm not so sure. Their "Bogus Journey" is a riot of visual invention and weird humor that works on its chosen sub-moronic level, and on several others as well, including some fairly sophisticated ones. It's the kind of movie where you start out snickering in spite of yourself, and end up actually admiring the originality that went into creating this hallucinatory slapstick. The movie begins far in the future, where students at Bill & Ted's University have the opportunity to chat personally with Thomas Edison and Beethoven, and to study such artistic classics as the " Star Trek " TV series. An evil overlord of time, named De Nomolos and played by that gravel-voiced, white-haired villain Joss Ackland , vows to rewrite history by destroying Bill and Ted (played as before by Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves ). He has invented robots that look and act exactly like the two heroes, and are just as dumb, and he sends them rocketing back through time in a telephone booth. Bill and Ted are meanwhile trying to win a rock band contest with their own group, the Wyld Stallyons, which includes a couple of girl musicians they picked up in the 15th century. Startled by the appearance of their robot-doubles, they commence their own journeys through time and space in a desperate attempt to destroy them, save themselves, preserve the book of history, stay cool, and meet cute chicks. The funniest thing that happens to them is their showdown with the Grim Reaper ( William Sadler ), who looks just as he does in Ingmar Bergman's "The Seventh Seal." In that film (as most of the audience for this one will probably not know), Death played chess with a medieval knight, with the knight's soul at stake. This time the dudes challenge the Reaper to a pocket video game, and beat him, even after he tries to weasel out with an offer of best of three. Death, having lost, has to accompany Bill and Ted on their journey and do what they tell him, and this leads to some of the funniest moments I have seen in any movie in a long time, including one where the Reaper does a little comparison shopping for scythes at the hardware store. One of the stops on the bogus journey is Heaven, created with great imagination and a lot of light and echoing sound effects and a most peculiar conversation with the Deity. Bill ands Ted handle this summit meeting, as they handle everything else in the film, like two dudes for whom "Pee Wee's Playhouse" would be too slow and intellectual. All of the actors (including George Carlin , who turns up in an important supporting role) have a lot of fun with this material, and it turns into more delicate fun, based on more subtle timing, than you might imagine. Many of Sadler's laughs as the Grim Reaper come from simple physical cringing, as he conveys his embarrassment and lost dignity.

Of Bill and Ted, I can say that I have not seen Alex Winter much before (he was in " Rosalie Goes Shopping "), but I have seen Keanu Reeves in vastly different roles (the FBI man in the current "Point Break," for example), and am a little astonished by the range of these performances. Like Sean Penn , who immortalized the word "awesome" in a Bill & Ted-like performance in " Fast Times at Ridgemont High ," he brings more artistry to this cretinous role than might at first meet the eye. Who is the movie intended for? Your basic "Bill & Ted" audience, for starters -- upward-bound young moviegoers looking for something one notch more challenging than " Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ." But also for lovers of fantasy, whimsy, and fanciful special effects. This movie is light as a feather and thin as ice in spring, but what it does, it does very nicely.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)

George Carlin as Rufus

Keanu Reeves as Ted

William Sadler as Grim Reaper

Alex Winter as Bill

Joss Ackland as De Nomolos

• Chris Matheson
• David Newman

Directed by

• Peter Hewitt

Produced by

• Scott Kroopf
• David Finfer

Photographed by

• Oliver Wood

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Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey

• Edit source
• 3 Soundtrack
• 4.1 Marvel Comics
• 5 Reception
• 7.1 Posters

The music of Bill and Ted 's band, Wyld Stallyns , has created a utopian future society. Rufus now works as teacher at Bill & Ted University . He used the Time Booth to travel back in time to bring historical figures; Thomas Edison , Sir James Martin , Johann Sebastian Bach and Ria Paschelle to the future to teach his students. In one such lesson Chuck De Nomolos , who detested this society, steals the phone booth and sends two robots Evil Bill and Evil Ted back to the late 20th century to prevent Bill and Ted from winning the San Dimas Battle of the Bands . Rufus attempted to stop De Nomolos by leaping after the booth but seemingly becomes lost in the Circuits of Time .

In the present, three years after Bill and Ted first traveled through time, Wyld Stallyns is preparing for the contest. Though Bill and Ted's current fiancées and former 15th-century princesses Elizabeth and Joanna have become skilled musicians, Bill and Ted are still inept. Despite this, the organizer Ms. Wardroe assures them a slot in the contest as the final act. Bill's stepmother Missy divorces his father in favor of Ted's father , who threatens Ted with military school should they fail the Battle of the Bands. Evil Bill and Evil Ted arrive, and the robots eventually replace Bill and Ted, killing them by throwing the two over the side of a cliff at Vasquez Rocks. The robots behave rudely to the princesses and work to ruin the duo's fame.

Bill and Ted's souls are met by Death who challenges them in a game for their souls. Bill and Ted escape after giving Death a " Melvin ". They attempt to alert their families, but their ethereal forms prove difficult, and at one point, are cast down into Hell at a séance held by Missy. In Hell, they are tormented by Satan , made to face their own fears, manifesting as Col Oates , the Easter Bunny , and Granny S Preston , and realize their only escape is to take Death's offer. Taken to Death's chambers, the spirit gives them the option of what game to play. Bill and Ted, to Death's dismay, select modern games like Battleship, Clue and Twister, easily beating Death. Death admits defeat and unwillingly becomes their servant. Bill and Ted recognize they need to locate the smartest person in the universe to help build robots to counter De Nomolos' evil robots. Death escorts the two to Heaven, and with God's help, are directed to an alien named Station who has the ability to split into two identical twins, and readily offers to help Bill and Ted.

Death brings them back to the mortal world, where it is the night of the Battle of the Bands. Bill and Ted take Station to a hardware store, and then race in their van back to the concert while Station constructs good robots. Just as the evil robots take the stage, Bill and Ted arrive, and Station's robots easily defeat the evil ones. De Nomolos appears in the time booth, ready to defeat Bill and Ted himself, and overrides the broadcasting equipment to send the video footage of this to everyone on the planet. The two recognize they can later go back in time to arrange events for De Nomolos to be trapped in the present, aided by Death and Station; though De Nomolos is apparently able to do the same, Bill and Ted gain the upper hand with the explanation that it is only the winners who get to go back, and De Nomolos is arrested by Ted's father, after suffering a "Melvin" at the hands of the Reaper. Ms. Wardroe reveals herself to be a disguised Rufus, having assured Bill and Ted's spot in the concert, and urges them to play.

As Bill and Ted reunite with their fiancées, they realize they are still terrible musicians, and the four use the time booth; though they return immediately, "an intense 16 months of guitar training plus a two-week honeymoon" have passed for them, they have married the princesses, and each is raising a young infant " Little Ted " and " Little Bill ". They begin to perform a stunning rock ballad, joined by Death, Station, and the good robots. The worldwide broadcast set by De Nomolos continues, and Wyld Stallyns' music is played across the globe, creating harmony. Over the credits, it's shown through newspaper articles that the band, along with Death, go through many perks of fame before eventually taking their act to Mars.

• Keanu Reeves as Theodore "Ted" Logan / Evil Ted
• Alex Winter as Bill S. Preston, Esq. / Evil Bill / Granny S. Preston, Esq.
• William Sadler as Death
• Joss Ackland as Chuck De Nomolos
• George Carlin as Rufus
• Pam Grier as Ms. Wardroe
• Annette Azcuy as Elizabeth Logan
• Sarah Trigger as Joanna Preston
• Hal Landon Jr. as Captain John Logan , Ted's father
• Amy Stoch as Missy/Mom
• Ed Gale , Arturo Gil and Tom Allard as Station
• Neil Ross as Station Twin #2 (voice)
• Frank Welker as the voices of Satan , Easter Bunny and Station

Soundtrack [ ]

As was particularly common at the time, the soundtrack album focuses on the rock music heard throughout the film. An album of the full orchestral score by David Newman would not become available until 2007.

The song Bill and Ted play for the battle of the bands is "Final Guitar Solo" by Steve Vai, which he wrote to help blend into "God Gave Rock 'N' Roll to You II" by Kiss, although Bill appears similar in appearance to Dusty Hill and Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top.

There's also a reference to the lyrics from "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" by Poison.

Adaptations [ ]

Marvel comics [ ].

To coincide with the release of the Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, Marvel Comics released a one-shot comic book adaptation of the film, hiring Evan Dorkin to adapt the screenplay and pencil the art. Like Archie Goodwin's adaptation of the first Star Wars film film, Dorkin worked from the original script, which included many deleted scenes such as the fears from Hell attempting to block Bill and Ted from the concert, and Evil Bill and Ted killing Bill and Ted before they remind the Reaper that they are owed lives from beating him so many times. Death was portrayed as the archetypal skeletal figure. Due to the popularity of the comic, Marvel commissioned a spin-off series, Bill & Ted's Excellent Comic Book, which kept the talents of Dorkin, DeStefano, and Severin. The series ran for 12 issues, featuring original stories, such as Death taking a vacation, a medieval version of Bill and Ted, Bill and Ted gaining a band manager, a return by DeNomolos, an attempt to stop John Wilkes Booth, and meeting Little Bill and Ted from the future.

Reception [ ]

Critical reception to the movie was mixed. Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reported that 54% of 50 surveyed critics gave Bogus Journey a positive review; the average rating was 5.93/10. The film's consensus stated: "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey has the same stars—and cheerfully wacky sense of humor—as its predecessor, but they prove a far less effective combination the second time around."

• Progressive rock/metal band Primus appear as themselves during Battle of the Bands, performing Tommy the Cat.
• The original title of Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey was “Bill & Ted Go To Hell”.
• Another story idea for Bogus Journey had been to let them take an English test and have them get into books and whatnot.

Gallery [ ]

Posters [ ].

• 1 Wyld Stallyns
• 2 Ted Logan
• 3 Bill Preston

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