Plot
A young cop must prevent a bomb exploding aboard a city bus by keeping its speed above 50 mph.

Release Year: 1994

Rating: 7.2/10 (123,368 voted)

Critic's Score: 78/100

Director: Jan de Bont

Stars: Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock

Storyline
Bomber terrorist's elevator plan backfires, so he rigs a bomb to a LA city bus. The stipulation is: once armed, the bus must stay above 50 mph to keep from exploding. Also if LAPD Officer tries to unload any passengers off, Payne will detonate it. Joe Morton co-stars as Jack's superior, and Jeff Daniels supports Jack helping him try to defuse the bomb.

Cast:
Keanu Reeves - Officer Jack Traven
Dennis Hopper - Howard Payne
Sandra Bullock - Annie Porter
Joe Morton - Capt. McMahon
Jeff Daniels - Det. Harold 'Harry' Temple
Alan Ruck - Stephens
Glenn Plummer - Jaguar Owner
Richard Lineback - Norwood
Beth Grant - Helen
Hawthorne James - Sam
Carlos Carrasco - Ortiz
David Kriegel - Terry
Natsuko Ohama - Mrs. Kamino
Daniel Villarreal - Ray
Simone Gad - Bus Passenger #1

Taglines: Get ready for rush hour.

Release Date: 10 June 1994

Filming Locations: Ballerina Clown - 255 Main Street, Venice, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office Details

Budget: $25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend: $14,800,000 (USA) (12 June 1994)

Gross: $350,448,145 (Worldwide)

Runtime: 116 min

Trivia:
The ad that appears on the tail of the first bus that explodes says "Save the Clams" was an advertisement for The Bank of Santa Monica.

Goofs:
Revealing mistakes: A break in the seam of the prosthetic covering of Payne's hand is visible when he lifts the venetian blind to check out Pershing Square.

Quotes:
[first lines]
Workman: Hey, this area's restricted.
Howard Payne: Oh, hi. Yeah, I know. They called me down here. Some of this wiring got screwed up.
Workman: Nobody called it down to me. I'm going to have to see a work order.
Howard Payne: Yeah, just a second. There you are.
[stabs workman in the ear with a screwdriver]
Howard Payne: Nothing personal.

A Great Action Film That Is Actually a Great Film

Rating:

"Speed" was a runaway success in 1994. It was a block-buster in every sense of the word and critically speaking, it is an excellent motion picture. The film deals with an LAPD swat officer (Keanu Reeves) who is playing a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with crazed ex-cop Dennis Hopper. After Reeves stops Hopper from blowing up a high-rise building, the next obstacle is a city bus. Hopper has rigged the bus to explode if the "speed" ever drops below 50 miles per hour. Sandra Bullock, in her star-making role, plays an unlucky passenger who becomes the center of attention when she is forced to be the driver when the original navigator is accidently shot. The great thing about "Speed" is the fact that it never tries to be more than it is. It goes for non-stop action, thrills, chills, and spills. However, Dennis Hopper's character is somewhat complex and his performance probably should have garnered him an Oscar nomination. A great film in spite of the fact it is from the action genre. 5 stars out of 5.

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