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Speed (1994)

 -  Action | Thriller  -  10 June 1994 (USA)
7.2
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Ratings: 7.2/10 from 172,736 users   Metascore: 78/100
Reviews: 337 user | 96 critic | 17 from Metacritic.com

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

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Title: Speed (1994)

Speed (1994) on IMDb 7.2/10

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Won 2 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 15 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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Sam
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David Kriegel ...
Natsuko Ohama ...
Daniel Villarreal ...
Ray
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Bus Passenger #1
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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. Written by Kris Hopson

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Plot Keywords:

bus | bomb | explosive | elevator | rescue | See more »

Taglines:

Get ready for rush hour.

Genres:

Action | Thriller

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Official Sites:

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

10 June 1994 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Máxima velocidad  »

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£9,823,233 (UK) (11 November 1994)

Gross:

£10,534,359 (UK) (9 December 1994)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

|

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The bus-jumping scene was shot at the junction of the Harbor (110) Freeway and the Century (105) Freeways. The artificial gap in the freeway was created by early CGI. See more »

Goofs

After Jack tried to defuse the bomb under the bus, he punctured the fuel tank. When he told Annie what had happened, the fuel gauge is shown and the needle quickly advanced toward empty. For how much fuel was lost during a very short cut away from the fuel gauge and back to it, it would have emptied out within no more than two minutes. Yet several long minutes went by between the last shot of the fuel gauge and when the bus finally ran out of gas. See more »

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.
See more »

Connections

Remade as Speed in 60 Seconds (2008) See more »

Soundtracks

Marked and Distributed by ARISTA RECORDS
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
Thoroughly entertaining
1 March 2005 | by (Texas) – See all my reviews

Speed is one of my favorite action movies of all time, just a notch below contemporaries like Terminator 2 and Die Hard. The premise is so simple that it's almost a parody of movie pitches (Homer Simpson's line was "I saw this movie about a bus that had to SPEED around a city, keeping its SPEED over fifty, and if its SPEED dropped, it would explode! I think it was called 'The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down'."). Fortunately this film came to be much better than the sum of its parts, and it's deservedly remembered as one of the most entertaining films of the 90s.

What distinguishes Speed is its humanity, due in no small part to the character of Annie (Sandra Bullock). The best example of this is the moment when Annie, while driving the bus, thinks she has struck a baby stroller. She becomes so distraught that she lets go of the steering wheel, never mind the fact that she is in charge of driving a bomb-laden bus through the L.A. suburbs. It's one of several moments that draw us into the film by helping us identify with the characters, and it's all the more elegant for its simplicity. This movie isn't complex, but it doesn't claim to be.

There is a certain irony that Speed succeeds so well on a human level, since Jan de Bont is not generally considered an "actor's director". He started as a cinematographer, and even when he talks about directing he discusses technical aspects and seldom mentions working with actors. Nowhere was this more evident than Speed 2, which pretty much killed his directorial career. Given that, it's all the more remarkable what he pulled off in the original Speed, as everything seemed to come together for him.

The overall performances really serve this picture well. Keanu is at his best (which is to say, mediocre), Sandra launched a career based on this movie, and Dennis Hopper did a wonderful job as the sardonic villain. Plus he has one of my favorite bad-guy lines of all time (Traven: "You're crazy." Payne: "Poor people are crazy, Jack. I'm eccentric.").

8/10


51 of 58 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

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Am I the only one who prefers this to Die Hard? catfishdad
'Speed' or 'True Lies' nickenglezos
How many times did you watched speed ? haiduccristina96
Keanu Reeves' best performance? dfwiebs
It would have been cheaper just to pay the guy. j-steel
Bad editing job with Sandra Bullock? nobbieq
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