Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997)

A computer hacker breaks into the computer system of the Seabourn Legend cruise liner and sets it speeding on a collision course into a gigantic oil tanker.

Director:

Jan de Bont

Writers:

Graham Yost (characters), Jan de Bont (story),

Stars:

Sandra Bullock, Jason Patric, Willem Dafoe

1 win & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sandra Bullock	...	Annie
Jason Patric	...	Officer Alex Shaw
Willem Dafoe	...	John Geiger
Temuera Morrison	...	Juliano
Brian McCardie	...	Merced
Christine Firkins	...	Drew
Mike Hagerty	...	Harvey (as Michael G. Hagerty)
Colleen Camp	...	Debbie
Lois Chiles	...	Celeste
Francis Guinan	...	Rupert
Tamia	...	Sheri Silver
Jeremy Hotz	...	Ashton
Enrique Murciano	...	Alejandro (as Enrique Murciano Jr.)
Jessica Diz	...	Isabel
Connie Ray	...	Fran Fisher

Storyline

Annie and her policeman boyfriend Alex decide to take a romantic ocean cruise together. Once at sea, however, one of the passengers, a disgruntled computer genius named Giger, disables the ship. Alex must now foil Giger's plans and bring everyone back safely to shore, but how can he outwit a man who can control the entire ship from his keyboard?

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Plot Keywords:

computer | cruise | diamond | revenge | police | 

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Taglines:

Rush hour hits the water.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for frenetic disaster action and violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English American Sign Language Portuguese

Release Date:

13 June 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Speed: Cruise Control

Filming Locations:

Bahamas

Box Office

Budget:

$160,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$16,158,942 (USA) (13 June 1997)

Gross:

$48,068,396 (USA) (5 September 1997)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Blue Tulip Productions, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The oil tanker bears the name "Eindhoven", the Dutch hometown of director Jan de Bont.

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Goofs

Reflected in Tuneman's sunglasses during the speed boat/airplane chase.

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Quotes

[in the control room]
John Geiger: [acting drunk] I saw all the lights, thought this was the casino...

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Crazy Credits

The 20th Century Fox logo fades into the ocean as the opening credits start to roll.

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #18.1 (2010)

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Soundtracks

"Tell Me Is It True"
Written, Performed and Produced by UB40
Courtesy of Virgin Records America, Inc. / Virgin Records Ltd.

User Reviews

Made worse by the knowledge of the brilliant film it succeeds

Having long since broken things off with her boyfriend, Annie and her new beau plan a romantic holiday on an ocean liner. When onboard a disgruntled ex-employee of the liner disables the computer controls and sets it on a collision course while he escapes with his goods. Alex has to take him on and try to stop the ship as it `races' out of control.

As if Twister hadn't done it already, Speed 2 basically showed us that the potential that was shown by De Bont's debut was clearly misplaced and he has yet to show he was really anything other than in the right place at the right time when it came to Speed. The smell of desperation is in the air from the very start when Reeves declined to star, although Bullock was more desperate and did it. This caused Annie to repeatedly state that `relationships built on etc etc never work out', all in an effort to explain it away and help the audience move on. That the film is constantly harking back to a much better film is a big problem, it would almost have been smarter just to move totally away than to retread.

The plot is plain silly and never gets close to being involving. To demonstrate this, I never once gave a rats' ass what was happening - people got crushed by the boat and mangled in it's propellers (unseen) but the film (or me) never care and never lingers. Likewise the supposed big climax is unengaging and smacks of desperation - bang for buck and all that. The whole set up never really feels immediate or threatening, even when the boat swings out of control it is difficult to feel terrified as the boat slooooowly goes towards the tanker, worst come to worst people can jump off to safety. The cruiser setting also is daft when seen beside the bus concept - the vast majority of the audience will ride a bus quite often, very few of us can relate to an ocean liner! The speed is a problem and it is almost laughable it works so poorly!

The cast is another problem. Bullock tries to repeat her sparky performance from the first film - when she manages it, it only feels like an impression, when she doesn't manage it she is cast as a shrieking beauty needing saving. However she also struggles from a lack of chemistry with Patric. It is a shame as he is an OK actor but not used to a pure action role and not used to not having material to work with. He lacks charisma and is quite unconvincing. Dafoe is awful; he drags the film down as much as anyone. His villain is a joke and never threatens in the way that Hopper's did (who managed to be funny and scary). It is a bad impression all round. The support cast of `innocents in peril' do much the same as the ones on the bus did, but we care less about them - they are well off and are separated from the action; those on the bus were in the thick of it and `normal' people who we could relate to.

Overall this is as good a reason for not making unplanned sequels as any - there should be a board to approve all sequels to prevent cashing in! The memory of the original is cheapen by this nasty film that is uninspiring and unthrilling at best, dull and stupid at worst. De Bont never gets up a decent head of steam and he shows his inability to inject drama out of his own skill - anyone can point a camera, not everyone can (or should) direct. A dull 2 hours later, I was wondering why I wasted my time with a film that was so clearly all at sea.