Speed (1994)

Directed by Jan de Bont
Written by Graham Yost

Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Daniels, Joe Morton, Alan Ruck, Beth Grant, Hawthorne James

Months after stopping him from blowing up an elevator, LAPD Detective Jack Traven (Reeves), is called back in by bomber Hopper, who has now put a bomb on a bus. When it goes over 50 miles an hour, the bomb is armed. If it drops below 50, it blows up. Jack is the only man to stop the madman, and his first step, get on the bus..

From the opening credits, with the absolutely brilliant theme and score from Mark Mancina, this action film barely lets up for the entire 110m runtime. I’ve mentioned before that I am a big fan of opening credits in movies. While the choreography of this one isn’t as ‘engaging’ visually, it is the theme and score that is a big win here.

With easily memorable and quotable lines (Oh Darn) – the screenplay is one of the best that came out of the 90s action films. The film does not skip a beat. Every minute of screen time is utilized to the nth degree and this a testament to the Yost’s screenplay. He would go on to write one of my other guilty 90s pleasure Hard Rain which I have previously reviewed.

The cast of characters are all brilliant, with lead Reeves in his the  middle of his “first heyday” . Hopper is always on point as the antagonist, and Bullock is adorable as the passenger tasked with becoming a bus driver. The supporting cast are all great too, with Morton and Daniels as Jack’s co workers. The late great Hopper excels here, and his antagonist is one of the best written villains of the 90s, with an ‘understandable’ enough motive, as well as being a physical enough foil for the protagonist.

The mixture of tension as well as the dramatic moments still leave you on the edge of your seat even after umptieth viewings.

There are only minor “nit-picks” and that is some issues with the timeline (it looks like they were filming later in the day for “early morning” on screen) and the “jump” scene is probably technically impossible… but I’m letting these slide. This is quite possibly the best action film of the 1990s.

4.5/5