Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)

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nTitle: Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991)

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nDirector: Peter Hewitt

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nCast: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winters, William Sadler, GeorgenCarlin, Pamela Grier, Joss Ackland

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nReview:

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nBill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure was the sleeper hit ofn1989, nobody expected it to become a hit, yet, there it was, making millions atnthe box office. For a movie that only cost 10 million, making more than 40nmillion at the box office is a big deal, so of course, a bigger and morenexpensive sequel went into production; this time with twice the budget andnbetter special effects. The result was Bill and Ted go to Hell, or as it wasnlater re-titled: Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey. The reason for changing thentitle was that in the United States, you cannot advertise anything onntelevision with the word ‘Hell’ on it before 9 P.M., so in order to promote thenfilm more effectively, they just changed the title. A stupid rule if there evernwas any, how’s using the word hell going to affect a kid? So, whatever, theynchanged the title to Bogus Journey, which is a cool substitute title anyways.nThis film underwent many changes on its way to the silver screen, many of them hadnto do with the film being “too scary” for kids. I guess they figured this filmnwas aimed at 12 year olds even though the main characters are young adults?nThis was one of those movies where studios get all nervous about marketing. Ifnit’s too scary for kids, or too silly for adults, then there’s a possibilitynthat the film will tank at the box office.

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nThankfully, this didn’t happen to Bill and Ted’s BogusnJourney. It went on to recuperate its budget at the box office simply becausenthere was no denying this movie was fun times, it was cool, it had that rocknand roll attitude, it had two likable lead characters, cool effects and heavyndoses of comedy. It feels like the overall vibe while making this movie was “thencrazier the better!” I remember seeing the movie in theaters when I was aboutn15 years old and leaving the theater excited and satisfied. And I remember itnwas after I heard KISS’s ‘God Gave Rock and Roll to You II’ on this movie thatnI started to listen to KISS and I started to like them. I mean, according tonthe film, this was the song that was going to bring unity to the entirenuniverse! It was thanks to this movie that I am a hardcore KISS fan! So I thanknthis movie for introducing me to the hottest band in the world. The soundtracknwas pretty rocking too, I mean, here’s a soundtrack that had all manner of coolnbands at the moment. Even cooler, the rest of the films rock and roll score wasndone by guitar legend Steve Vai;  howncool is that? The soundtrack included tunes from KISS, Megadeth, Primus, FaithnNo More and Winger. It also had a really catchy tune that was used to promotenthe film called “Shout it Out” by a hair band called Slaughter. I remembernreally liking that one too. It was these type of hair bands that dominated thenpopular music scene back in the early 90’s, this was just prior to the arrivalnof Nirvana, Pearl Jam and the death of hair bands. We could say that BogusnJourney captures the last vestiges of that party rock that was so popular innthe 80’s. Hair bands had an expiration date, they just didn’t know it yet.

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nOn Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey we find Bill and Ted anlittle older, but not a little wiser, in fact, they are just as dumb as ever. Herenwe find them contemplating marriage! They even get engaged to ‘the babes’ andnas engagement rings they give them plastic rings that seem to have come out ofna Cracker Jack box! They innocently wonder if the babes will stay over afternthey marry? Ha! They are also trying to get into the battle of the bands. Younsee, according to the first film, Bill and Ted are supposed to be the saviorsnof the universe, bringing peace and unity to the galaxy through their rock andnroll, unfortunately, they are having trouble living up to the prophecy becausenaccording to Mrs. Wardrobe the organizer of the Battle of the Bands competition,nthey stink! Meanwhile, in the future, a dictator known as De Nomolos is sendingntwo evil robot versions of Bill and Ted (known throughout the movie as EvilnBill and Ted) to the past to kill Bill and Ted so that he can rule the futurenwith an iron fist. Worst part of the whole thing is that the robots arensuccessful, Bill and Ted are killed and that’s where their Bogus Journeynthrough the afterlife begins. They meet God, Satan and everything in between,nthey even give The Grim Reaper a visit, hell they even play Battle Ship withnhim! Will they ever get a chance to live again? And just when and how will theynbecome the saviors of the universe?

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nOne of the things that I enjoy about this one is howninventive it is with its special effects and its visual gags. From start tonfinish we get a nonstop assortment of special effects. First we get to see ‘Billnand Ted University’ where Rufus, Bill and Ted’s mentor, is a professor. Coolnpart about this university is that if the students need to know who BenjaminnFranklin is, Rufus just gets on the time machine and brings him right into thenclassroom! So anyhow, then Bill and Ted die and we go to hell, where meet Satan,nwho looks exactly how you’d expect him to look, like a giant red demonnoverseeing hell. Bill and Ted manage to greet him, “How’s it going Beelzebub?” ThennBill and Ted head on over to limbo and play a couple of board games with ThenGrim Reaper, who then takes Bill and Ted up to heaven, to meet God himself. So it’sna film that is constantly taking us to visually interesting places, it’s nevernboring that’s for sure. We even get to meet two little Martians called ‘Station’nwho join their bodies and become this giant Martian scientist! And then we havenboth good and evil robot versions of Bill and Ted; if this all sounds like anhuge mess of a movie, then you know what? You’re kind of right, this movie isnall over the place! But that’s exactly what I like about it, how offbeat it is.

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nThe film was actually even crazier then what I’ve described.nI sometimes wish they would’ve released a director’s cut of this film because itnwould be an even cooler film, the stuff they left out was the edgier stuff, thenstuff deemed too scary for kids, or stuff that the producers thought would bentoo confusing for audiences. For example, there’s a scene in which Evil Billnand Ted open up their robotic chests and take out three canisters, eachncanister containing one of Bill and Ted’s fears. They actually filmed a scenenin which Bill and Ted are headed towards the Battle of the Bands on their van andnthey suddenly confront nightmarish versions of Bill’s Granny, The Easter Bunnynand Coronel Oats! It becomes a showdown between Bill and Ted and hellishnversions of their worst fears! The evil bunny rabbit looked positively evil! Anpity it was left out of the film! 

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nAnother deleted scene had Evil Bill and Ted revealing thatnEvil Bill was actually Evil Ted and vice versa, now this part I know would havenbeen confusing for audiences, because what the hell right? Evil Bill wasnactually Evil Ted? And Vice Versa?  Totally nuts right? But what the hell, thenwhole movie was crazy from the beginning anyway! There was also a deleted scenenin which Bill and Ted are in Hell, hammering rocks with sledge hammers with andemon overseeing their work, and they say something like “I kind of like this!”nand then the demon that’s watching over them eats a rat and one of them says “Inheard a guy found one of those in a bucket of chicken!” I guess that was deemednto gross? Whatever, these deleted scenes simply show that Bill and Ted’s BogusnJourney was a film filled with so many ideas that they had to leave some ofnthem out in order to make the movie flow, or to shorten running time. Cool tonknow that director Peter Hewitt shot an epic Bill and Ted film! This movie wasngoing to be even more epic than it already is!

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nWhich is cool when we take in consideration that this wasnPeter Hewitt’s first film ever. Back then, this  28 year old British lad was chosen out of 50nother possible directors. He was chosen because of the strength of a short henhad made called ‘The Candy Show’. After directing Bogus Journey Hewitt stuck tondirecting family films like The Borrowers (1997) and Garfield (2004). The restnof the cast has also gone on to do great things, Keanu Reeves of course went onnto become the mega star he is today, and Alex Winter went on to become andirector of children’s films and television shows like Ben 10. He is currentlyntrying to get a remake of The Gate (1987) in 3-D, but that’s been inndevelopment hell like forever. I hope he does manage to get it made though! Henalso went on to direct the make-up effects heavy film called Freaked (1993),ngonna be reviewing it soon. But what of Bill and Ted’s further adventuresnthrough time? Well, there’s been talk of a Bill and Ted 3, actually, I hearnthere’s even a screenplay written for it, written by the very same guys whoncreated and wrote the first two films, Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson. Accordingnto Alex Winters himself, nothing is holding Bill and Ted 3 from getting made;nit’s just that these things take time. I wonder if Keanu would go back tonplaying Ted again? I know I wouldn’t mind seeing another one! Maybe a newndanger is threatening the peace of the universe? Bring it on! I wouldn’t mindnseeing another one! Party on dudes!

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nRating: 4 out of 5  
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nFor an interesting and informative take on Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989), the film that started it all, check out J.D. Lafrance’s review on Radiator Heaven! 

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