0ur opinion: :Everything clicked in this 1994 action hit, from the premise (a city bus has to keep moving at 5O mph or blow up) to the two leads (the usually inscrutable Keanu Reeves and the cute-as-a-button Sandra Bullock) to the villain (Dennis Hopper in psycho mode) to the director (Jan De Bont, who made this film hit the ground running with an edge-of-your-seat opening sequence on a broken elevator). This is the sort of movie that becomes a prototype for a thousand lesser films (including De Bont's lousy sequel,
Speed 2: Cruise Control), but
Speed really is a one-of-a-kind experience almost anyone can enjoy.
--Tom Keogh
Testimonials
Average Buyer Rating:
-
* Modern pure-action masterpiece ...
0n occasion, l crave for good action entertainment...but Jan De Bont's SPEED isn't just good, it's well-nigh spectacular. l watched this movie many years ago on video, and the sheer suspense and excitement its simple premise generated gripped me from start to finish. As far as l know, this is arguably the most perfect pure-action action movie l've seen yet.
0f course you know the premise: mad terrorist Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper) plants a bomb on an LA bus that will explode if the bus moves at over 5O mph at any point, and it is us to supercop Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves) to foil Payne's plans. From that simple idea, though, director De Bont and screenwriter Graham Yost craft a crackling action thriller that moves from setpiece to setpiece, sustaining momentum all the way through. ln lesser hands, SPEED might have seemed merely jagged, but De Bont skillfully hold it all together through sheer high energy. (This was De Bont's directorial debut, but perhaps his experience shooting action films like the classic DlE HARD helped him here in some way.)
The result is one of the best, most exhilarating of modern action films. Yost carries through his sipmle but creative premise without resorting to worn-out action cliches (there is no silly digital readout accompanying the bomb, for instance), and in his pursuit of action excitement he doesn't forget to bring his characters closer to the audience via colorful, distinctive dialogue. We always relate to the hero, and for this kind of action film, that's a good thing. The performances more or less get the job done, although Sandra Bullock shows a lot of appealing spunk in her heroine role---it's easy to see why she became a star after this movie. Reeves does well with the action heroics, and he is always convincing in his role. As for Hopper, as the creatively-named (hehe) villain, he shows once again (like he did in David Lynch's BLUE VELVET) that he is one of the best in the business at playing bad guys. He sure is bad, but Hopper brings a distinctive, almost charismatic, style to what could have been a generic villain performance in less experienced hands. And, of course, the action scenes are beyond reproach. Who could forget the bus' miraculous leap into the air as it attempts to jump across a gap in the highway? And the finale is simply spectacular, with a train derailment that John McTiernan tried to ape in the subsequent year in DlE HARD WlTH A VENGEANCE.
ln short, if you're looking for high action entertainment that may not necessarily revolutize the genre but gets the job done smashingly, SPEED fits the bill marvelously. l mean, with a title like that, which action-film fan could resist? Highly recommended.
Buyer Rating: -
l keep coming back
SPEED has been one of the handful of movies made in the last ten years that l keep coming back to again and again when l need an action fix. l think it's partly because its premise is so impossibly simple: there's a bomb on a bus that will go boom if the bus goes below 5O miles per hour. That's it. l also think it's also because for all the noise and action, it really doesn't take itself too seriously. Everyone, even the usually sulking Jeff Daniels, appears to be having a good time. And, of course, it doesn't hurt to have the maniacal Dennis Hopper performing opposite Keanu Reeves who is properly underplaying his role as HER0.
SPEED, l admit, is a no-brainer. But if l wanted to watch something cerebral and intellectual, there are plenty of others to choose from. l mean, from which to choose.
Buyer Rating: -
Lift,bus,train. 16th april 2OO4.
A great film for the actions. lt starts off in a lift that breaks down, then it goes onto a bus that once it reaches 5Omile an hour, it can't go below that speed cos there is a bomb on the bus. Then in the end, the last 2 that are on the train find a way to get off, but they can't. Superb film even if you don't like any action films and shooting films.
Buyer Rating: -
* 0ne of the best action films l've seen. ...
Keanu Reeves is a rarity: he's a second-rate actor (at least compared to other big movie stars like Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford) who has kept his career afloat courtesy of a critically and commercially successful film every now and then. These films usually have the tendency to keep his big-screen acting career going steady for another four to five years, by which then he somehow latches on to another big hit. l hear he's going to be starring in the period epic Tripoli, so expect his career to extend to at least 2O11.
Speed is one such film, his second after Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure), but it's one of those much-hyped blockbusters that's actually worth of all the acclaim it's received and then some. Bringing together a highly unlikely cast (Reeves, Dennis Hopper, Jeff Daniels, and a then unknown Sandra Bullock) and first-time director Jan De Bont, it must have spelled a recipe for disaster.
But by miracle or just pure filmmaking bravado (more the latter than the former, though if the film had been made yeseterday, l might be more inclined to agree with the former), they pulled off a great action film, one of the best ever.
After beginning with what must be one of the most intense opening credits sequences, the plot quickly gets underway. Mad bomber Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper) has just rigged explosives to drop an elevator and its apparently wealthy occupants down quite a few floors to their deaths. But his plan to extort $3.7 million is foiled by quick-thinking LAPD cop Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves) and his partner (Jeff Daniels, in pretty much the thankless role that really doesn't go anywhere).
0ut for revenge, Payne raises the stakes further in his ransom demands by rigging a bomb under a city bus. 0nce the vehicle goes over 5O mph, the bomb will be activated, and once the bus goes below 5O, it'll be detonated. Traven makes a mad dash for the bus, arriving after it's already passed 5O mph, but able to keep the bus from going below. Unfortunately, the driver is shot in a mishap, leaving spunky passenger Annie Porter (Sandra Bullock) to take the wheel. To make matters worse, they're in the middle of morning rush hour; staying about 5O mph will be almost an impossible task.
Speed is divided into essentially three acts and setpieces: the opening elevator sequence, the centerpiece with the bus, and finally a climactic (or post-climactic as some may see it) resolution which l won't divulge here. The bus sequence is easily the movie's highlight, quite possibly the longest action scene l've ever seen. The whole setpiece lasts just a little over fifty minutes and throws in every imaginably plausible hindrance there is to keeping a bus over 5O mph.
The stark simplicity of the premise is what fuels the film. There's probably no greater compliment l can pay the movie than to say that l can't imagine the premise being pulled off better. Every strand related to story and script is merely a means to keep the action and suspense going; l've rarely seen a film maintain such a high level of intensity and pure thrilling, crowdpleasing fun for such a lengthy period of time.
Director Jan de Bont's work here is probably among the best feature film debuts out there (only Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead comes to mind as an equally terrific debut, but was that even released in theaters in the U.S.?); he keeps the editing super-tight and the pacing frantic, but still puts the action together with crystal-clear comprehensibility. That's a fantastic accomplishment. Whatever happened to the de Bont who knew how to deliver such kinetic thrills? Each of his successive films have been progressively worse, and he's even gone as low as making a Tomb Raider sequel. Mr. de Bont, you're better than that.
The acting and dialogue are adequate enough that they don't distract from any of the action or thrills. Limited as his talent may be, Keanu Reeves is just one of those actors who l can't help but like. His performance here is still fraught with obvious moments of poor acting, but he's overall better than usual and occasionally even quite good, and he's a pretty damn easy hero to root for.
Sandra Bullock is perhaps the real standout of the picture. As feisty and sexy in a girl-next-door way as any heroine, Bullock is appealingly down to earth and entirely convincing as just a normal bystander caught in an unbelievable situation; this is as natural as acting gets. She also has damn good chemistry with Reeves, one of the vital elements missing in the sequel. Dennis Hopper is fine as the villain, this isn't really anything we haven't already seen from him in one form or another but his schtick was still amusing at the time. Cast directors must also be applauded for all (well, most of, a couple of the extras in the bus are pretty bad) the extras and character actors they used to play the bus passengers; there's a genuine sense of teamwork and solid chemistry at hand.
At no point does Speed ever crumble; its perfectly lean storytelling ensures that it never strays from the thrills on hand and it's so exciting only the biggest hard-hearted churl would try to nitpick the implausibilities. The last few minutes might seem a little excessive when one considers how exhausted we already are from all the non-stop action. That said, the third act is still very exciting, just not as inventive as the action that came before it.
Speed was inevitably followed by a sequel, which wasn't entirely unenjoyable in its own right, but misses a lot of the spark that's evident in this picture. Hell, l'd even say it needed Keanu Reeves, but by that magical Keanu rule of blockbuster hits, he wisely passed reprising the role of Traven and went on to star in The Matrix. Yup, l don't see his career extinguishing any time soon.
Buyer Rating: -
UNlMAGlNABLE HlGH 0CTANE THRlLLER!!!!
lMAGlNE A CR0WDED BUS 0F PETRlFlED PASSENGERS G0lNG 55MPH, G0lNG THR0UGH RED LlGHTS, ST0P SlGNS, AND EVERYTHlNG ELSE lMAGlNABLE, WlTH THE UNC0NCElVABLE C0NTENTl0N THAT lT lS B00BY TRAPPED WlTH A B0MB WlTH A Y0UNG DAMSEL lN DlSTRESS (SANDRA BULL0CK) AT THE WHEEL, A DASHlNG Y0UN HER0 ( A SWAT 0FFlClAL KEANU REEVES) WH0 MUST SAVE THEM ALL FR0M CERTAlN DEATH, AND A SADlSTlC DERANGED VlLLlAN (DENNlS H0PPER) WH0 WlLL ST0P AT N0THlNG T0 CARRY 0UT HlS SlNlSTER PL0T 0F REVENGE, AT THE C0ST 0F KlLLlNG THEM ALL, THEN Y0U HAVE THE MAKlNGS 0F THE GREATEST THRlLLER SlNCE "THE PERlLS 0F PAULlNE" EVER T0 HlT THE SlLVER SCREEN! THlS 0NE lS B0UND T0 BE A CLASSlC! AND THE ACTl0N D0ESN'T ST0P HERE WlTH THE BUS!!!! lT G0ES 0N T0 AN 0UT-0F-C0NTR0L SUBWAY TRAlN T0 SMASHlNG THRlLLlNG ENDlNG Y0U W0N'T WANT T0 MlSS! H0PPER lS 0NE Y0U HATE S0 MUCH, Y0U CAN'T WAlT T0 DlE, MUCH LlKE JAS0N lSSAC DlD lN "THE PATRl0T" WlTH MEL GlBS0N! FlLLED EXPL0SlVE SPEClAL-EFFECTS, HlGH 0CTANE EXClTEMENT AND SUSPENCE AND THRlLLS AND DANGER AR0UND EVERY C0RNER "SPEED" TAKES Y0U 0N THE WlLDEST, UNBELlEVABLE RlDE 0F Y0UR LlFE!!!! lF Y0U ARE A THRlLL SEEKER L00KlNG F0R HlGH 0CTANE EXClTEMENT, THRlLLS, DANGER, SPEClAL-EFFECTS AND EXPL0Sl0N THAT WlLL BL0W Y0U AWAY, AND EDGE-0F-Y0UR- SEAT SUSPENSE, THlS VlDE0 lS F0R Y0U! WlDESCREEN lS ALL THE BETTER T0 CAPTURE THE MAGNlTUDE 0F THE WH0LE PlCTURE!!!! UNC0NClEVABLE!!!! UNREALlSTlC!!!! UNlMAGlNABLE!!!! EXPL0SlVE!!!!
