Speed (1994) - Review

Director: Jan de Bont

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock, Joe Morton

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 115 min

Most Die Hard rip-offs are enjoyable in how they inhabit the shell of the Die Hard plot whilst offering up new settings and interesting action sequences. Under Siege offers up Steven Seagal's Aikido styled action on a battleship, Sudden Death places Jean Claude Van Damme and his charisma into a hockey arena, Air Force One makes Harrison Ford the President of the United States while upon a plane, and Olympus Has Fallen reverses the situation by making Gerard Butler a Secret Serviceman while inside of the White House. Although all of these movies are rip-offs of one of the all time great action films, they are still fun to watch for how shallow and entertaining they are. The key differences that set apart the rip-offs from Die Hard itself is their lack of interesting characters, failure to focus on story over plot, and an all around lack of tension or suspense. You don't watch Under Siege or Sudden Death to see if Seagal or Van Damme are going to stop the terrorists, you watch them simply to see how they take out the terrorists. Therefore, both the filmmakers and the viewers engage in a guilty relationship in which both know they are neither going to recreate, duplicate, or experience the successes of John McTiernan's masterpiece.

That being said, I think that Speed might by the only Die Hard rip-off that transcends its sub-genre and influences to the point where it nearly matches Die Hard for all of its action sensibilities, high tension, engaging romance, and memorable characters. Although I would not go as far as to say that Speed is as good or better than Die Hard, as Keanu Reeve's Jack Traven is no John McClane, just about every element of Speed matches Die Hard on a pure visceral and entertainment level. Speed not only certified Keanu Reeves' place in the halls of action cinema, but it also introduced director Jan de Bont to American audiences and certified Sandra Bullock as a movie star in her own right. With over $300 million worldwide and two Academy Awards under its belt, Speed is the perfect success story in every way possible. And it's a rip-off, sort of.

Not the best way to start off a shift.

Although I am not a fan of plot, as character should always drive story, Speed has one of the all time great movie plots. Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves), an L.A.P.D. Officer, picks a bone with psychopathic ex-cop, Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper), when he stops him from blowing up an elevator full of people and prevents him from receiving his ransom money. Although Traven believes the ordeal to be over, his partner, Harry Temple (Jeff Daniels), believes that Payne will strike back again. Payne decides to engage in a game with Traven the next day when he calls him and informs him that a bus on the freeway is in danger of blowing up. The game: once the bus goes over 50 miles per hour, the bomb is armed. If the bus goes under 50 miles per hour, the bomb will blow. And if anyone tries to get off of the bus, it will blow. Once Traven makes his way onto the moving bus full of people, he and Annie Porter (Sandra Bullock), an adorable citizen turned bus driver, do their best to keep everyone calm and communicate with the police in order to keep the bus moving at all times and to get Payne his ransom money. It's non-stop action for two hours. You literally could not ask for more as an action fan.

At the time of its release, Speed heralded the arrival of the hottest new voice in action cinema. De Bont, who had been a cinematographer for decades, had strong experience in the film business before tackling Speed. He had previously photographed such action films as Die Hard, Lethal Weapon 3, Black Rain, The Hunt for Red October, and Total Recall. With such quality films like those under his belt, it only makes sense that De Bont knocked Speed out of the park with excellent direction that even the likes of his fellow compadres John McTiernan and Paul Veerhoven would tip their hats too. De Bont showcases incredible directorial abilities here, crafting both inherent tension, exciting action, and engaging romance all within the same picture. It's hard to believe that this is the same director whose career would end as soon as it began, but de Bont's direction for Speed is still exemplary and outstanding, especially for a debut filmmaker.

After the success of Speed, De Bont directed Twister, another hugely successful action/disaster film that certified his action dominance. Unfortunately, De Bont's directorial career ended just as quickly as it begun, as he immediately ruined his career with 1997's Speed 2: Cruise Control, one of the worst reviewed films in cinematic history. Failure after failure followed, as De Bont went on to direct similarly cheesy films such as The Haunting and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. 

De Bont has to yet to direct another film since 2003, which might as well confirm his departure from blockbuster cinema once and for all. While it's a shame that de Bont's career ended early, I find his career very interesting. If it weren't for Speed 2, de Bont easily could have gone on to become a major A-list director. One could even compare de Bont's minor success to other Dutch filmmaker Paul Veerhoven, whose most successful films, RoboCop, Total Recall, and Starship Troopers, are still considered to be some of the greatest of the action genre, while the rest of his career is lukewarm and forgettable. It's no coincidence that both of these Dutch filmmakers collaborated on Basic Instinct and Total Recall, as each had a unique vision at the time that seemed to flourish in the Hollywood of the early 1990s. And while we're on the subject of foreign filmmakers turned Hollywood directors, how can de Bont be put into director's jail after all of these years, but Finnish director Renny Harlin is still allowed to make whatever action film he wants? Have you guys seen The Covenant or The Legend of Hercules? I rest my case.

Reeves brings the chops to one of his greatest action films.

According to screenwriter Graham Yost, Speed's plot was meant to be an amalgamation of Silver Streak and Runaway Train, but with the high tension of a Die Hard picture. There's no denying it, few movie plots are as exciting and thrilling as one about a runaway vehicle that cannot be stopped, lest it explode. While Speed may be his calling card, Yost would eventually go on to write other big concept blockbusters involving terrorists, bombs, and Die Hard centric plots like John Woo's underrated Broken Arrow and the waterlogged Hard Rain. However, his Speed screenplay is made all the better because of the witty repertoire courtesy of cult favorite Joss Whedon (Firefly, The Avengers). Whedon was apparently responsible for 95% of the dialog according to Yost, as Yost felt that Whedon knew how to write dialog better than him. Therefore, Speed's excellent script can be chocked up to both Whedon, who knew how to write characters, and Yost, who knew how to place said characters into an exciting situation.

All of Whedon's witty dialog and Yost's tense situations play off of the page as well as they do because of the film's stellar cast. Reeves plays Jack Traven, a John McClane type police officer who puts his life on the line for the innocent people of Los Angeles. Although Reeves had previously shown his action chops in Kathryn Bigelow's Point Break, he shows great stride here as a far more intense and confident action hero that showcases his best acting abilities. Much like McClane, Traven takes a lot of pain and physical suffering throughout the picture, thereby making him a much more relatable and cheer worthy protagonist. It's a real treat to watch a likable hero constantly overcome hurdles, as it makes the viewing experience all the more tense and excitable. Reeves may not be one of the greatest actors on the planet, but his stalwart dedication and professionalism within his performances has proven him time and time again as one of the screen's greatest action heroes.

The other pair of lead performances from Hopper as the film's psychotic mad man and Bullock as the funny and adorable bus driver are also stellar. Hopper's Payne engages in a great revenge rivalry with Traven that makes his villain all the more fun to hate. It's easily Hopper's best villain performance this side of the 90s. Bullock gives a star making performance here, exploding off the screen with a great repertoire with Reeves. Even the smaller supporting performances shine, especially from Jeff Daniels and Joe Morton (T2, Executive Decision) as Traven's fellow officers. 

"You actually paid to see the Super Mario Bros Movie?"

And of course, who can forget all of the passengers on the buss, who become memorable players in their own right. Yost and de Bont place a great emphasis on the interactions between these smaller supporting characters and the police in order to drum up a great sense of community throughout the picture. You'll find yourself cheering along with the passengers for every small victory they achieve, whether it be in the form of them making a tight turn or jumping an impossible gap. If you ever need your faith restored in humanity through an action film, pop on Speed, as well as Die Hard With a Vengeance for good measure.

Speed has the characters, the script, and the plot to hook any cinema goer, but the whole thing comes together thanks to its exhilarating cinematic style. One of the most over used lines to describe a good action film is, "It's a non-stop thrill ride!" While that is rarely the case, as many action films take lengthy breaks in between suspenseful sequences, Speed is truly a non-stop thrill ride in every sense of the phrase. There are a whopping two scenes of breather in between each major action plot, thereby making the entire experience as action packed as they come. 

For a film with almost no shootouts, no henchmen, one villain, and a minimal body count, Speed is still more exciting and bad ass than most Die Hard rip-offs. De Bont extracts as much action and tension as possible out of the film in order to make up for the lack of superficial action entertainment that one would find in most action films. Examples include Reeves trying to get onto the bus while on a busy freeway, a criminal shooting the bus driver which causes Bullock to take over, ramming the bus into parked cars, moving everyone to a side of the bus in order to make a tight turn, and forcing the bus into a situation where it must jump a ridiculous gap that no vehicle could make. All of these tense moments are made all the greater thanks to composer Marc Mancina's excellent score, the one key ingredient that even Die Hard itself is missing. You'll have this score stuck in your head for days after watching the film, and most likely while you are driving down the road.

How about that second date?

At the beginning of this review, I stated that Speed is the best of the Die Hard rip-offs because it's only partially a rip-off. While the main bus plot may resemble Die Hard beat for beat, the initial elevator hostage situation and closing subway train face off prove that there is more than just an exploding bus plot at the center of this film. Speed has three movies worth of entertainment within it, and two of these three movie plots are merely bookends. If you take into account the romantic sub-plot as well, Speed offers up more entertainment than ten films combined, and it's merely two hours long. 

Rediscovering Speed after all of these years has been a real pleasure, as the film should be mentioned alongside the grandest of action pictures from the 90s more often. My theory for the film's minimal discussion is most likely due to its lack of old fashioned action tropes (i.e. muscled bound hero, big guns, massive body count, etc). However, Speed more than makes up for said tropes with the key elements that make up a great film nonetheless, such as an engaging plot, memorable characters, and fantastic action sequences. 

Rating: 10/10 - A stupendous summer blockbuster that proves that small scaled plots with inherent tension will always be more exciting than any grand scaled epic.

Franchise:

Speed (Jan de Bont, 1994)

Speed 2: Cruise Control (Jan de Bont, 1997)