User reviews

I wouldn't dare say this film is better than the original, but it is very good in it's own right. The comedy in this film is just as good as the original though, there are so many scenes that get me laughing just thinking about them.

The story in this film is even more bizarre than the original, but that's what makes it so great. Peter Hewitt does a great job directing this film with a great cast. The core cast from the original film returns to their characters in this film and all do a fantastic job with their roles. I don't care what anyone says, I think Keanu Reeves is a great actor! I really enjoyed his portrayal of Ted in both of these films as I did Alex Winter's Bill. I was very happy to see George Carlin returning to the role of Rufus, very cool! Hal London Jr, who plays the part of Ted Logan's father does a really good job. The scene where Ted possesses his fathers body and Hal London Jr begins acting like Ted is a great scene, and he pulls it off impressively well. I can't forget to mention William Sadler as Death, he completely made the movie for me. The rest of the cast is quite good as well.

If you liked the first installment of the Bill and Ted series, then I would hope you would like this film as well. But, don't expect it to be as good as the original. I really hope you enjoy the film, thanks for reading,

-Chris

"Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" may be a rare example of a sequel that's superior to its predecessor.

It was impossible not to like "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure", but the film was far from perfect, with some tedious passages as the duo visited historical locales that were presented believably, but not interestingly.

"Bogus Journey" does away with that problem by simply featuring worlds of fantasy, and creatures of fantasy too. Its special effects are also better, and for the most part, hold up well.

I did, still, find my mind wandering, though, and the plot was kind of hard to follow, but I don't think that's really the point. You're supposed to have a good time, and I did.

Oh, come on, learn to have a little fun. When I was a kid, oh, this movie was Oscar-worthy to me. I thought it was absolutely hysterical. One of the best movies I had seen.

Now, it's a little stupid, but come on. If you enjoyed "Excellent Adventure", you should most likely have fun with "Bogus Journey". This was the movie before "Dude, where's my car?". Only this one is actually funny. Like I said, it's just a good time. It shouldn't be taken seriously and if you enjoyed the first one, you should like "Bogus Journey". It's just a funny movie with some memorable characters. For your enjoyment only, watch it, let go, and remember that it's a silly comedy. That's all.

7/10

Who says sequels can't be as good as originals? This movie proves that that is not always true. It was well-written, more mature, and just out-and-out funnier than its predecessor. Alex Winter once again showed great comic timing as Bill, although the film was absolutely stolen by William Sadler as Death ("Don't overlook MY butt. I work out every day, and reaping burns a lot of calories"). Some may call it stupid humor, but that's not really the case; the funniest scenes in the movie - such as the Twister scene or "20 Questions" - are original, well-played, and just plain clever. We all know Keanu Reeves has never been known so much for his acting, but he's above his average here, and Winter, Sadler, and George Carlin are all great fun.

Certainly this film can't appeal to everyone. If the idea of, say, Death playing Battleship, Clue, and Twister doesn't seem funny to you, you probably won't like it (although you may want to lighten up a little). If it does, well then you'll probably agree with me on this: Bill & Ted rock!!!

As I was watching the first Bill&Ted I was thinking that it represents the end of an era, the 80's, where studios would risk on a fun movie that didn't take itself at all seriously. The sequel, unfortunately, is "bogus". They push it all too far, they remove from the fun of the first and they push the movie all over the place: evil despots, robots, Death, The Devil and God. If in the first movie the pleasure was to watch the hapless Bill & Ted, in this film William Sadler steals the spot.

Bottom line: while still a little funny, it was a lot more boring than the first film. Studios didn't do it for fun this time, they just wanted to cash on the success of the Excellent Adventures. In view of 2015 rumors about a third part to be released, I wonder if the... franchise, I guess we must call it, will regain its irreverent fun side or be yet another reboot of a sequel that is a prequel of a previous reboot, as is the custom nowadays.

Bill and Ted face a threat to their future.

For me, it is not as good as the original but has some standout moments.

To enjoy Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey you have to accept the silliness of the plot for what it is and appreciate some of the humorous concepts that work well. The writers have gone for bigger and more outrageous concepts. The black humour of death and the afterlife has some very funny moments, but also some I personally find a bit tiresome. However, comedy as always, is in the eye of the beholder so I appreciate others may find it consistently funny.

I think William Sadler's tribute to 'The Seventh Seal' with a hilarious Grim Reaper character is the highlight of the movie as he steals every scene.

Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves just about pull off their stoner double-act with their characters written as adults, but for me their goofy charm is not the quite at the same level as when they were depicted as high school seniors. I do though love the secondary double-act as the "Bad Robot Us's". Having evil versions of the same characters, with the same mannerisms and catchphrases was a great idea.

Joss Ackland has a strong cameo as the main baddie, but he is only seen briefly.

Visually, I remember being impressed with the special effects back in 1991, but looking back it appears slightly dated now in certain scenes. That being said, the art design is still very strong, especially in the scenes involving the afterlife, heaven, and hell.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is a sweet, naïve (in a good way), funny and original. It's feelgood comedy. Bogus Journey takes the premise of the unlikely heroes to a whole WHOLE new level. Reeves and Preston are playing both themselves and their evil robot selves. It's more adult, not so family friendly as Excellent Adventure was, and whilst some of the SFX hold up, it hasn't stood the test of time quite as well. Preston and Reeves are funny though and again look like they're having a great deal of fun with the film, and play around a lot with the characters. Again, the princesses aren't particularly convincing, but Ted's father played by Hal Landon Jr and Death (William Sadler) are both great especially Captain Logan's impression of Ted. There's some great one-liners and memorable bits but generally I don't like this one as well and it's not as clever and the repeated lines mean that the script isn't so witty either. It's really a vehicle for Reeves as he's by far the highlight; him and Death! The music is good but on many levels, it's offensive in the guise of easy laughs.

Watch the credits for the newspaper articles.

This movie is very underrated. It's highly imaginative, creative and clever. It's just plain fun and in my opinion this film tops the first one. But the film was forgotten when it first came out, and became even more overlooked as the years passed. "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey" also bombed at the box office, whereas the first one was a pretty good hit and very popular.

I think the problem may be that this film was just released a couple years too late. In 1991, Bill and Ted already seemed "so '80s". Even though the '80s were only a couple years ago back at that time, the landscape of the music and style for kids had changed so radically with gangsta rap, hip hop, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, grunge and the Seattle sound. Bill and Ted with their Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen and Guns N' Roses music along with their '80s style seemed so out of place and very outdated in '91, and I think that's one BIG reason the film bombed at the box office. Nobody but surfers were still saying stuff like "excellent!" and "bogus!" in 1991. "Gremlins 2" which also came out in the early '90s suffered a similar fate of being a good film that bombed at the box office because it was too associated with the '80s. The transition from the '80s to the '90s was a much faster change then now with the '90s and '00s. 1991 was nothing like 1988 or 1989, whereas right now, 2002 and last year 2001 still looks/looked like 1995 or 1996.

If only "Excellent Adventure" which was made in 1988, was released THAT YEAR instead of 1989, and "Bogus Journey" was made quickly and released in 1989, then it too would have probably been just as wildly received as the first.

Funny and ridiculous as ever. The grim reaper is an excellent addition to the world of Bill and Ted and the evil robots have provided me with one of the best catchphrases of all time which I have used for decades since "Ive got a full on Robot Chubby" has been utilised on many occasions to express my satisfaction in life. A silly yet enjoyable story provides many laughs and the ending with the band finally coming good and actually being able to play lives long in the memory. Great tune also. Lacks a bit of depth from the original as the historical characters bring so much in the first movie and I also felt like the ending comes along a little too abruptly and seems a bit rushed. Still a lot of fun and deserved of a 7.

On paper, Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey is a sequel that should work. The plot is not a complete retread of the first film and some of the script is actually pretty creative. Unfortunately, the film severely lacks in charm which is one of the main elements that made the first installment enjoyable.

Reeve's and Winters do an excellent job of reprising their roles, but their dimwitted metalhead personalities become an over-reliant source for jokes which become more redundant than funny. On a side note, the addition of William Shatner as The Grim Reaper is a highlight of the film.

Even though the film is attempting to actually be something different than the previous installment, it bites off way more than it can chew. A bunch of sci-fi elements are introduced including robots and part of the plot involves Bill & Ted dying and traveling to the afterlife. While it all should fit the absurd humor of the film, none of it flows together coherently and feels sloppy and scatterbrained. Their are a few funny bits scattered throughout, but a lot of it just dully drags along delivering little laughs.

Bogus Journey had all the elements in place for it to be a good sequel, but it falls apart in it's execution losing it's charm and much of the humor along with it. It's not a terrible sequel, but one that's pretty forgettable and only worth watching if you are a hardcore fan of the first installment.

One of the most underrated movies I've seen in a long time, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey is the second hilarious adventure of Bill S. Preston Esq. and Ted Theodore Logan, aka Wyld Stallyns. There are two ways to look at this film: First, you see dumb dialogue, far fetched plot, juvenile idea. OR.. You see brilliantly downplayed idiots who yet again find themselves in a situation too big for their brains. Throw a Bruce Willis or a Arnold Schwarzeneggar into this plot and it becomes a big blockbuster movie. Bill and Ted go into the story with the same level of sincerity, only it's Bill and Ted. This is a tricky fence to balance on, but when you watch the movie not as a throwaway screwball comedy, but as an adventure featuring two guys who have no business being in an adventure, it becomes so much more.

Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey is way better than the first film, it's a sequel that beats the first film in every single aspect & brings us into a much more exciting adventure full of crazy Tim Burton style fantasy worlds & a full display of creativity. Bogus Journey is about two evil robot versions of Bill & Ted that have come from a dark future to kill off the dim-witted rockers & change history & the evil duo succeeds & Bill & Ted end up dead but their spirits are alive & end up down in hell, that's where the fun really begins, our heroes have to come back from the dead & stop the evil versions & save the day as well as their beautiful ladies. What we get is one of the most fun performances in Cinema history with the Brilliant William Sadler who completely steals the movie as the Grim Reaper aka: Death & he's absolutely hilarious in his role & shows his great range as a true performer as often he's cast as a Villain type like his excellent villain turn in Die Hard 2's Col. Stewart, another great performance by Sadler & a much better bad guy than Alan Rickman's from the first Die Hard in my opinion, another Sequel that i like much better than the first film. Sadler here is having so much fun as the silly buffoon Death & with his bizarre accent & wicked humour he's fantastic on screen, one of Sadler's best loved roles & probably his most iconic!!! Sadler is often underrated but never to me as he's been one of my favourite actors since my young growing up, obsessed with movies vhs days, Sadler was great in Trespass, Die Hard 2, Hard to kill, Demon knight, Tales from the Crypt & more. Now Bill Sadler seems to be getting alot more recognition for his long body of work in film & t.v & gets cast in "Big films" often these days like the huge superhero blockbuster Iron-Man 3 & the Horror reboot of The Grudge & the new John carpenter inspired & 80's Splatter Punk throwback Horror-Thriller VFW, Sadler seems back in Cinemas limelight again & I'm so happy about it.

Back to this fun & crazy fantasy adventure Comedy, here Bill & Ted are their usual silly selves but put into a much more fun & colourful fantasy world with beautiful sets & many wacky characters & plenty of standout scenes & quotable bits, all in all "Bogus Journey" is alot of old school pure 90's Nostalgic fun with a full cast all having just as much fun as we do watching it all. A much better movie than the original & a now iconic movie thanks to Bill Sadler's unique performance as the show-stealing Reaper!!!

Bogus Journey opens in the year 2619, where Bill & Ted's music and philosophy has shaped society and everyone wears awful clothes made from sheets of foam. Clearly upset at being forced to dress in such a ridiculous fashion, evil fiend De Nomolos (Joss Ackland) creates robot doubles of the Bill and Ted and sends them back in time to kill the originals, which they do by chucking them off the Vasquez Rocks.

Death, however, is only the beginning of the righteous dudes' bogus journey, which sees them travelling to hell and heaven, before returning to life to do battle with their metal doppelgängers and De Nomolos.

With the news that there might be a third Bill & Ted movie just around the corner, I thought that now would be a good time to revisit Bogus Journey, which I remember not being very impressed with when it originally came out…

Almost a quarter of a century later and my opinion hasn't changed: while not totally heinous, this sequel is is far from the excellent adventure that was the first movie. In an effort to go one better than before, Bogus Journey packs in as much craziness as possible, including robots, aliens, the Grim Reaper, visions of Heaven and Hell, and the Easter Bunny, but in doing so the film it loses what made the first film so great: heart. And Diane Franklin.

The best thing about the whole film is Death, played by William Sadler, who provides the film with all of its funniest moments, including a neat homage to Ingmar Bergman's iconic art-house classic The Seventh Seal. But a creepy bald guy in a robe with a scythe playing Battleships and Twister simply ain't enough to carry an entire movie.

5 out of 10, which I considered pushing up to 6 for Pam Grier and Kiss's cover of God Gave Rock And Roll To You, but… no Diane Franklin. Bogus!

I can't tell you how many times I saw the first Bill & Ted movie before ever seeing this sequel...because it was a sequel, so I figured it wouldn't be as good. I was wrong. I first saw it on television; my sister watched it with me. I couldn't stop laughing. She kept shaking her head, saying, "it's not funny, it's stupid" - but she kept laughing, too. How can you not laugh at the sight of Death playing Twister? Or, "You ugly, red, source of all evil!!" I loved the first movie, but I think the second, despite being darker, is funnier, more imaginative, and better written. William Sadler as Death was so, so, funny, so dead on (no pun intended), he deserved an Oscar nomination; this film made him one of my favorite character actors. Alex Winter & Keanu Reeves made Bill & Ted into airheads you root for. They're stupid, sure, but man are they good-hearted! So thumbs up from me; a third Bill & Ted movie would probably be too much, but they did go out in fine style. Catch you later, Bill & Ted!

My Take: A goofy, yet imaginative mess.

Keanu Reeves (Yes! That Keanu Reeves) and Alex Winter return as the two punk-rock idiots in this sequel to the time-trotting adventure comedy BILL AND TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE, now a cult classic. In this sequel, Bill and Ted are given much more to do than travel through time. They might as well travel Heaven and Hell too! During the beginning of this sequel, Bill and Ted are preparing for a "Battle of the Bands" competition which may make them more famous than ever. Meanwhile, many years in a futuristic civilization, the time-wizard from the first film (the always watchable George Carlin) is running a university praising Bill and Ted's names. There, an evil tyrant (Joss Ackland, from THE HUNT FOR RED October) plots to get rid of the two idiot rock-stars once and for all. So he sends two identical android replicas (In the words of Bill and Ted: Robot Us's) to do the dirty job.

There after, Bill and Ted experience death and must find their way through Hell, with inhabitants that happens to include the duo's worst memories, and then through Heaven in an attempt to get back to earth to save their girlfriends... and their show. Along this whacked-out voyage, they play board games with none other than Death (William Sadler, from DIE HARD 2), reminiscent to a similar moment in the 1957 foreign film classic THE SEVENTH SEAL, aid help from a couple of intelligent alien beings and more.

BOGUS JOURNEY's array of exuberant special effects gimmicks aren't up to to-date standards, and even some of the humor and the for-the-time look and feel are somewhat dated (to be honest, the film also feels like it was released on the wrong year, even for the 90's). But with it's no little lack of imagination and a lively turn by both the performances and direction, BILL AND TED'S BOGUS JOURNEY is fun, imaginative, and yes, bogus.

Rating: ***1/2 out of 5.

In this following ,the stupid and geeky adolescents journey to Hell and Heaven and confront against a villain(Joss Acland) from the future and a duo of robots are substitute them.While in the first part the inseparable dudes meet get to know some of the history's most famous characters :Sigmund Freud,Gengis Khan ,Socrates,Lincoln,Napolen,Billy the Kid,Joan of Arc,this time appear : Albert Einstein,Johann Sebastian Bach,Benjamin Franklin,Thomas Edison,Confucius, and even Grim Reaper(William Sadler in a double role), among others.The movie like the first part is developed throughout time tunnel and the location named St Dimas little town.They pass along the universe in a time machine ,a telephone booth.Again Rufus(George Carlin),an emissary from the future comes to help them.

This sequel such as the original is a sci-fi comedy with noisy action,humor,tongue in check and is very amusing .A dimwitted Keanu Reeves(Matrix,Speed) and an airhead Alex Winter(Borrowers,Freaked,Lost boys) play a fully sympathetic and surrealist couple.The film contains a breathtaking special effects ,adding a nice cinematography(Oliver Wood)and lively musical score(David Newman). This following also achieved success in the box-office and video rentals,both films are nowadays deemed cult movies with numerous aficionados.The motion picture is well directed by Peter Hewitt, a familiar comedies expert(Tom and Huck,Borrowers,Garfield).The flick will like to teen comedy buffs.It's followed by a cartoon TV and television series .Rating : Acceptable and entertaining in spite of the inspiration,magic and freshness had partially gone.

The original was one of the best films ever made, it was that good. This wasn't as good, but it could have been. The appeal of the first film was the historical figures & time travelling, which could let your mind wander off. You couldn't really do that here, and death, hell & marsians aren't as interesting subjects. It was still enjoyable & had some great scenes, but was more suited to younger viewers whereas the first was for all ages.

6/10

Bill and Teds Bogus Journey is a disappointment on many levels. This is of course a sequel to Bill and Teds excellent adventure, released in 1989. This sequel is just very weak throughout. The stars are Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, and William Sadler. Reeves and Winter are the same brain numbingly dumb teenage surfer dudes that get involved in a crazy adventure. I will say that Reeves and Winter at least play their parts how they're supposed to be played. The movie tries hard to be humorous, but it doesn't succeed at all. If I'm being honest, the only thing I ever laughed at during this entire film was how poorly made it was. The movie has a very clichéd formula, not too impressive acting, bad attempts at humor, and not that exciting action. Also something that got under my skin was the use of f*g in the film, so not only is this movie a poorly made one, but it's also offensive and not inclusive. The only reason I'm giving this film a 2 instead of a 1 is because of some of the visuals that were kinda well done. 2/10 for Bill and Teds Bogus Journey.

When I was a kid, I totally loved both Bill & Ted Movies. The other night, Bogus Journey was on and since it was at least 5 years since I last saw it, I decided to tune in. AND I LOVED IT ALL OVER AGAIN! This film is still funny after all those years. 'Excellent Adventure' is better, but this one rocks just the same. Sure, some of the perfomances are a bit cheesy, but hey, this entire film is cheesy in a cool way. Plus it features the coolest personation of Death ever in a movie! Concluding: Totally like non bogus movie dude! Way Excellent! STATION!!!

What a weird film. While the first movie was fun and entertaining, this film tried too hard to be an actual movie. The music, the special effects and cinematography was too much and too artistic. They should have made this movie as fun loving and as entertaining as the original instead of trying to make a legitimate film. While the scenes with Death were funny and entertaining, the rest of the film lacked in so many areas. Also, what the heck was up with the fashion of the future. This film clearly tried too hard, and it backfired. Quite an odd film to watch.

This bogus journey never comes close to matching the wit and craziness of the excellent adventure these guys took in their first movie. This installment tries to veer away from its prequel to capture some new blood out of the joke, but it takes a wrong turn and journeys nowhere interesting or funny.

There's almost a half-hour wasted on showing the guys doing a rock concert (and lots of people watching on "free TV"--since when does that happen?) Surely the script writer could have done something more creative; look at how all the random elements of the first movie were neatly tied up together by a converging them at the science presentation. Not in this film, which pretty much ended the Bill & Ted franchise. The joke was over.

The Grim Reaper is tossed into the mix, for whatever reason. This infusion, like the whole plot, is done poorly and lacks sparks for comedy or audience involvement. There's a ZZ Top impression, hammered in for no reason. There's lights, smoke, mirrors, noise. But nothing really creative or funny.

Skip this bogus thing.

I admit it's very silly, but I've practically memorized the damn thing! It holds a lot of good childhood memories for me (my brother and I saw it opening day) and I have respect for any movie with FNM on the soundtrack.

A tyrant from the future (Joss Acklund) creates evil android doubles of Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) and sends them back to eliminate the originals.

Somehow, when this film came out, it had better reviews than the original. In retrospect, that baffles the mind. While not a bad film (William Sadler is especially good), there is no way this holds up to the original. It is a little too dark, the music a little too dated, the script a little too scatter-brained.

Talks of a third third continue... will it ever happen? I am starting to think not, though Keanu Reeves is now (2015) not the star he was from 1995-2005 and could probably make himself available... would Bill and Ted be the same, or would they have become mature adults?

Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves return as Bill S. Preston and Ted "Theodore" Logan. The plot for this sequel to the surprisingly good original film borrows from James Cameron's "The Terminator," with an evil overlord from the future, Joss Ackland ("Lethal Weapon 2" "The Hunt for the Red October"), sending robot duplicates of Bill & Ted into the past to kill them before their band "Wyld Stallyns" becomes famous, which somehow changes the course of history against the evil tyrant. The main problem with this sequel is that it's not all that funny. You get the feeling that filmmakers decided to embrace the notion that bigger is better in an effort to conceal the fact that there really wasn't much of a story to tell here. However, the film is unpretentious and does manage to be likable despite it's vapidness. George Carlin returns as Rufus, William Sadler (the tough guy from "Die Hard 2" "Trespass" and VFW") plays a very un-Ingmar Bergman version of Death, Pam Grier has a small role, and the excellent band Primus even appears in a concert scene. Overall, Overall, it's entertaining enough to pass the time and is fun to watch baby Keanu play his dumb guy character before his star turn in "Speed" and before he became a major box office star with The Matrix and John Wick films. FUN FACT! Joss Ackland ("Lethal Weapon 2" "The Hunt for the Red October") said in an interview he only did this project because of a bet between him and a family member.