Bill & Ted Face The Music [Blu-Ray]

Director: Dean Parisot

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, Kristen Schaal

Release Date: November 10, 2020

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 7/10
Disc Rating: 7.5/10

Synopsis:

The stakes are higher than ever for the time-traveling exploits of William ‘Bill’ S. Preston Esq. (Alex Winter) and Theodore ‘Ted’ Logan (Keanu Reeves). Yet to fulfill their rock and roll destiny, the now middle-aged best friends set out on a new adventure when a visitor from the future warns them that only their song can save life as we know it. Along the way, they will be helped by their daughters, a new batch of historical figures, and a few music legends — to seek the song that will set their world right and bring harmony in the universe.

Please Note: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.

The lovable time traveling duo of rockers William ‘Bill’ S. Preston Esq. (Winter) and Theodore ‘Ted’ Logan (Reeves) set to unite the world through music thought they had done just that, until things took a turn. Now, decades later the duo is still struggling to find fresh new ways to create music that might unite all of mankind, even if their stardom has long since dwindled. But when the pair is brought into the future and warned that they have barely over an hour in order to create the monumental song of legend, they decide that the only sure way to succeed is to travel into the future and retrieve the song from their future selves after it’s already been created. Meanwhile, their now grown daughters attempt to help find a way to save their dads and the world as well.

Directed by Dean Parisot (RED 2) from a screenplay once again penned by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon (who also wrote both of the other installments in the franchise), Parisot does a great job at the helm of ‘Bill & Ted Face the Music’ capturing all of the heart, fun and style of its predecessors. The new film also features a cast that includes some returning favorites from the previous two films, plus many newcomers and includes Keanu Reeves (Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure), Alex Winter (Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey), Kristen Schaal (My Spy), Samara Weaving (Ready or Not), Brigette Lundy-Paine (Bombshell), Anthony Carrigan (TV’s Gotham), Erinn Hayes (TV’s Kevin Can Wait), Jayma Mays (TV’s Trial & Error), Holland Taylor (TV’s Two and a Half Men), Kid Cudi (TV’s Westworld), Jillian Bell (The Night Before) and William Sadler (Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey) along with more, nearly all offering solid and fitting performances for the most part in each of their respective roles.

‘Bill & Ted Face the Music’ is a funny, touching and altogether rewarding new entry in the saga of Bill and Ted that shouldn’t have any trouble repeatedly slapping a grin on the face of fans. It does occasionally tweak with some elements of its predecessors which may slightly irk some diehard fans of the franchise, yet it never does so disrespectfully. Instead merely taking slight liberties in order to cleverly craft some new twists and turns that allow this sequel to fit in quite nicely and continue the saga of these lovable goofballs who are destined to save the world but still haven’t managed to do so all of these years later. ‘Bill & Ted Face the Music’ is also careful to never lose focus on what made us love the first two films so dearly, always retaining the love, hope and the unflinching attempt to do good that makes these two slackers so endearing. Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter both seem to fall effortlessly back into the roles, making it hard to believe that it’s been so long since we joined these two best friends on a journey through time, while simultaneously reminding us exactly why it is that we enjoy their company so much. Fans of the first two films and the series in general (especially those who grew up with them like me) will definitely want to find the time to give this one a shot if you haven’t already had the pleasure and chances are you’ll be thrilled that you did.

Overall, ‘Bill & Ted Face the Music’ is an immensely enjoyable follow-up to the previous two ‘Bill & Ted’ films that offers a heartfelt and humorous new installment after nearly three decades that barely misses a beat and largely captures exactly what made the first two films such a treat. The cast is populated by some returning favorites (in addition to Winter and Reeves who both of course reprise their title roles) and newcomers to the series and it finds a handful of clever new ways to reinvent the story without ever ignoring its heart and soul. ‘Bill & Ted Face the Music’ is highly recommended for anyone that enjoyed the first two installments in the series. It’s a fun, funny and quite touching new entry in the saga of Bill & Ted that fans definitely won’t want to even think about missing out on. At the absolute least, this one should prove well worth ninety minutes of your time and the cost of a rental.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Bill & Ted Face the Music’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with the film’s original 2.39:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks fantastic overall and serves up a sharp, clean and nicely detailed presentation from start to finish with no troubles or issues to be uncovered along the way. It holds up admirably even during the various darkly lit, heavily populated and fast moving sequences throughout, never causing anything occurring onscreen to become negatively affected or rendered indiscernible at any point. Overall, this is a great high definition video presentation that should easily please fans and newcomers alike.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This multichannel soundtrack perfectly complements the onscreen fun, providing a crisp, clean and frequently aggressive audio presentation throughout that sounds wonderful every step of the way. It continually takes advantage of all five available channels in order to send the phone booth and other related time-travelling and action effects throughout the various speakers quite regularly, along with music, nature content and bits of crowd chatter, plus much more. All while making certain that any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously never become distorted or rendered inaudible along the way. Overall, this is a magnificent 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack that never disappoints and repeatedly contributes plenty of fun to the viewing experience.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Bill & Ted Face the Music’ includes a few enjoyable extras. Included on the release is ‘The Official Bill & Ted Face the Music Panel at Comic-Con @Home’ (running approximately 43 minutes in length), along with some very brief Behind the Scenes Featurettes that include cast/crew interviews/comments and more; they include ‘Be Excellent to Each Other’ (running approximately 1 minute), ‘A Most Triumphant Duo’ (approximately 1 minute), ‘Social Piece (Excellence)’ (1 minute) and ‘Death’s Crib’ (1 minute).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

–

Film Rating: 7/10
Disc Rating: 7.5/10

–

‘Bill & Ted Face The Music’ is Now Available to Own on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from Orion & Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

–

*Screen-Connections is an Amazon Associate that earns from qualifying purchases