Bill & Ted's Most Triumphant Trilogy

Details: By Loron Hays; 15 August 2024

Dude. Talk about a blast from the past. Duuuuude.

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is already a comedy classic from the latter part of the 1980s. Had it failed to connect with audiences, there would be no Beavis & Butthead. There would be no Wayne’s World. While we might be in an arguably better place culturally (ha ha), there’s no denying that the first film was hugely influential. The second film – Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey – is darker and maybe not as appreciated as the original, but it does have its supporters and, when paired with the original, makes for an excellent nightcap to the charming hilarity of the first film.

And don’t even get me started on the success of the third film in the trilogy, Bill & Ted Face The Music. It’s a masteract in how to deliver exactly what fans want and need from a sequel.

"perfectly holds true to King’s material without hitting the Xerox button"

And now, thanks to Shout Factory, all three films get the 4K treatment from Shout Factory!

William "Bill" S. Preston, Esq (Alex Winter) and Ted "Theodore" Logan (Keanu Reeves) are two high school dingbats, who just want to sing and play guitar in a rock and roll band. They practice all the time and occasionally find time to make it to class. Barely. Ultimately, they find themselves failing at school, but winning in life as they turn in one hell of a history project that saves their grade and the world.

Sound fantastical? Of course it is, but it’s great for scoring laughs and a bevy of babes nonetheless. With a little help from Napoleon Bonaparte (Terry Camilleri), Billy the Kid (Dan Shor), Socrates (Tony Steedman), Sigmund Freud (Rod Loomis), Ludwig van Beethoven (Clifford David), Joan of Arc (Jane Wiedlin), Genghis Khan (Al Leong), and Abraham Lincoln (Robert V. Barron), the two young men journey far and wide to rise above their own ineptitude.

And that’s only the first of three films in this newly minted triple dip from Shout Select. The other film sees them going straight to Hell itself, which is where many a film critic sent the not-so dynamic duo to in both 1989 and in 1991. The second film features William Sadler as Death, who challenges the two to a game for their souls. Complete with an alien named Station and a quick trip to Heaven, their second adventure gives them the guitar training they need to finally become the ROCK GODS they are destined to be. Bill & Ted's Most Triumphant Trilogy

Bill & Ted Face The Music is an absolute riot of good time gigs! With a whole lot of heartwarming moments involving the duo and Thea and Billie, their daughters, (played by Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine), the movie takes the idea put forth in the original film - that they would write the song that would unite the world - and brings it to the here and now of the matter . . . because the two, under their band name of Wyld Stallyns, have failed to do much of anything except drive their wives insane.

Set 25 years after the original, this comedy has everything I wanted and expected, topping off a bodacious journey which began when I was in High School. We even get more time-traveling via a telephone booth! Get those air guitars ready to celebrate the tiny victories! Because NOW is when we really need the exploits of William "Bill" S. Preston, Esq (Alex Winter) and Ted "Theodore" Logan (Keanu Reeves) to set our reality straight!

Originally released during the pandemic, Bill & Ted Face The Music is EXACTLY the entertainment the world needs now. It is mindless, heartfelt, full of another batch of historical figures - most in music - and extremely deliberate in its mission to bring the world together through song. What more from a Bill & Ted movie do you want? We get time loops, hysterical couples therapy sessions, quantum hiccups as reality starts to fold in on itself, a peak at the multiverses as Bill & Ted continue to visit themselves further into the future, and one catchy song that only a trip to Hell could inspire.

The 4K set, which features all three films, is most triumphant in its handling of Bill & Ted’s cinematic adventures. It definitely will not disappoint any TRUE fan of the Wyld Stallyns. Only the most odious will turn up their noses at the offerings here. I mean, really, who can’t appreciate George Carlin as Rufus, a time traveling guru who uses a phone box to do his slide through time with? That’s right. No one can resist.

You can talk smack all you want to about just how dumb these dudes are, but you’d be missing a very important part of the Bill plus Ted equation: these two films are far more creative and far more sweet in nature than most things Hollywood churns out today.

Party on, Dude!

4/5 stars

Bill & Ted's Most Triumphant Trilogy

4k details divider

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray Edition

Home Video Distributor: Shout Factory
Available on Blu-ray - August 6, 2024
Screen Formats: 2.39:1; 2.35:1; 1.85:1
Subtitles: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure 4K-English; French; Spanish: Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey 4K English SDH; Bill & Ted Face the Music 4K; English SDH
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1; English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Discs: 4K Ultra HD; Blu-ray Disc; six-disc set
Region Encoding: 4K region-free; blu-ray locked to Region A

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure finds our non-heinous heroes (Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves) in danger of flunking History until the righteous Rufus (George Carlin) arrives in a time-traveling phone booth and they call on the past's biggest names for help!

In Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, the titular time travelers aren't making history — they are history! When an evil-doer from the future sends their eviler robot twins to assassinate and replace them, the guys wind up face to face with the Grim Reaper (William Sadler)!

In Bill & Ted Face The Music, the now middle-aged duo, yet to fulfill their rock and roll destiny, meet a visitor from the future who warns that only their song can save life as we know it! Along the way, they will be helped by their daughters, gnarly historical figures, and music legends.

VIDEO

Both movies are presented by Shout Factory’s new imprint label, Shout Select. The 1080p transfers are in a widescreen 2.35:1 for Excellent Adventure, and 1.85:1 for Bogus Journey. There’s a nice layer of grain in both films and while the effects in the second film are far weaker than the first, both sfx hold up. Black levels are solid. Colors are bold, but not quite eye-popping. Textures are strong throughout.

AUDIO

The sound is presented in an expressive English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround which is worthy of the upgrade!

Supplements:

Commentary:

The commentary tracks – two for each movie – include one each by the team of Alex Winter and producer Scott Kroopf and the screenwriting duo of Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson. These are all NEW to the movies and, as they offer apologies for sucking so badly at wrapping up the second film, should not be missed by the fans.

Special Features:

Loaded with fun stuff, Shout Factory makes the party a non-stop experience!

DISC ONE (BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE – 4K UHD):

Presented In Dolby Vision
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround
Audio Commentaries
“Time Flies When You Are Having Fun
”Theatrical Trailers

DISC TWO (BILL & TED'S BOGUS JOURNEY – 4K UHD):

NEW 4K Scan Of Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey From The Original 35mm Camera Negative
Presented In Dolby Vision
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround
Audio Commentaries
“Bill & Ted Go To Hell
”Theatrical Trailers

DISC THREE (BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC – 4K UHD):