Read on Twitter
Watching Bill & Ted 1 again in anticipation of the new one. Every time I see this I’m refreshed by how uncynical and upbeat it is. And i love that their vocabulary is thousands of times more advanced than any other high schooler and yet they are so...that thing they are.
“Socrates: the only true wisdom is in knowing that you know nothing.”
“That’s US, dude!”
“That’s US, dude!”
It was years before I connected that one of the Princesses in Bill & Ted 1, Diane Franklin, was also Monique in Better Off Dead, another of my favorite childhood films. I crushed hard on Monique. Historical babe, as Bill and Ted would say.
The scene where Bill & Ted accidentally go to the future is one of my favorite scenes in any movie. There’s this serenity and warmth to it, very understated despite awesome implications, and it’s really artful. I play the music in my late night DJ sets.
Also took me years to realize ‘80s stunner Joan of Arc was only Jane Wiedlin from Go-Go’s, just one of the most important American rock stars ever. She and the rest of the time travel cast are so funny and expressive despite not speaking any English lines.
The scene where all the time travelers land in Bill’s yard and he introduces them to Missy is hilarious.
“Who’s the babe?”
“That’s his MOM, dude.”
Also introducing Socrates as “Socrates Johnson” is genius.
“Who’s the babe?”
“That’s his MOM, dude.”
Also introducing Socrates as “Socrates Johnson” is genius.
“You ditched NAPOLEON?”
“He was a dick!”
“He was a dick!”
“I KNOW HOW TO SPELL LINCOLN!”
The way Missy frowns when Bill calls her Missy and then smiles when he corrects himself and says Mom is utterly delightful.
One of the best temporal paradox scenes ever
I choose to believe the scene of Bill and Ted sneaking around the police station and ducking when told was a direct inspiration on The Matrix scene of Keanu doing the same at his work office.
In the 1980s Bernie Casey was often cast as a man intolerant of white foolishness.
It’s a nice touch that Ted is the one who translates Socrates’ philosophical ideas. Ted is played as dimmer than Bill, but this stuff expresses that Ted has a gift for abstract thought that perhaps Bill lacks. Ted is also “the ladies man.”
The ending is so cool. If you hadn’t put together yet, this speech unlocks the stakes. It’s funny because I feel like in comics the note would be to explain the stakes up front, but Excellent Adventure kind of parses it out until the Rufus download but it totally works.
Special recognition for totally sweet and evocative 1980s title and credits sequence. I don’t know why I like the future stuff so much in this film. There’s just something so audacious and yet chill about it. Love the music too.
I love this fuck you title screen.
A really nice touch in Bogus Journey’s opening: everyone in the future says STATION and there’s no explanation for kt. If you remember it, you figure it out by the end. If you don’t, you figure it out on the rewatch.
Art direction and cinematography in Bogus is a lot more sophisticated and symmetrical than Excellent. Lots of cool compositions like this. The characters feel really iconic at this stage.
I’m all about Pam Grier’s hair metal fashion here.
“You guys say you’re going to be the best band in the world but you STINK.”
“Yeah. We don’t understand it either!”
“You guys say you’re going to be the best band in the world but you STINK.”
“Yeah. We don’t understand it either!”
“If you were me, would you put you on?”
“NO WAY!”
“NO WAY!”
I love the guy playing Col Oats from the Alaskan Military Academy. There could be nothing worse to Ted than the order and conformity and boredom of that life. He’s played like a vampire, starving for Ted’s life force.
“I can’t believe Missy divorced your dad — AND MARRIED MINE.”
The biggest change between the two films is obviously the inclusion of a villain. This guy is hilarious. Kind of a Frank Grimes thing; he’s the only one in-universe who knows Bill & Ted are silly. He’d rather wipe out centuries of history than live in a society based on them.
Alex Winter’s performance as Evil Robot Bill is really fucking good. He has so many distinctive facial expressions and body language things going on.
This guy is so fucking funny.
Missy’s seance could be the premise of a whole movie; bunch of suburban new age posers actually do summon spirits.
I love all the synchronized movements. I think that while people might remember Excellent Adventure more fondly, when they think of and imitate Bill & Ted as physics figures, they might be thinking of Bogus Journey.
This film has such a great visual style. Super cool shots and bold lighting and neat transitions from scene to scene. Extremely distinct art direction for so many different settings: real life, hell, death’s lair, heaven, the future.
::Ted is handed a flyer in heaven, reads it::
“‘Only the most enlightened souls may gain audience.’ Dude, we’re in trouble.”
“‘Only the most enlightened souls may gain audience.’ Dude, we’re in trouble.”
