Speed (1994)

All Right, Pop Quiz: a 90’s Hollywood movie that’s like DIE HARD on wheels, directed by a Dutch cinematographer, and starring two future movie stars, one a future Academy Award winner, and set in Los Angeles, California. What do you do? … WHAT...DO…YOU…DO? Watch the 1994 action/thriller SPEED. Written by Graham Yost (Broken Arrow, Hard Rain), the film tells the story about Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves), a young rebellious L.A.P.D. SWAT specialist who must save a group of passengers, including a feisty woman name Annie Porter (Sandra Bullock), from a city transit bus that a revenge-driven bomb extortionist (Dennis Hopper) rigged to explode if it drops below 50 m.p.h. I can still remember the first time I heard about this movie was watching one of the film’s TV Spots and it was also the first movie I ever heard of both Reeves and Bullock. The film also features Joe Morton (Terminator 2: Judgment Day) as L.A.P.D. SWAT Lt. ‘Mac’ McMahon, Alan Ruck (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) as the annoying bus passenger Doug Stephens, Beth Grant (Donnie Darko) as the terrified fellow passenger Helen, Glenn Plummer (The Day After Tomorrow) as Jaguar owner Maurice, and Jeff Daniels (Dumb & Dumber) as veteran L.A.P.D. SWAT Officer Harry Temple. I think the best scene would have to be the famous jump from a 50 ft. gap on the freeway. Coming off cinematography from such hits: DIE HARD, THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, LETHAL WEAPON 3, and BASIC INSTINCT, This was Jan de Bont’s first feature film as Director and would later go on to direct the hit 1996 movie, and one of my personal favorites: TWISTER. The role of Jack Traven was turned down by a lot of big actors at that time; such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Jeff Bridges, and Johnny Depp. It was also the same thing with the Annie Porter role; it was offered to Julia Roberts, Jodie Foster, Demi Moore, Halle Berry, Diane Lane, Winona Ryder, and even Ellen DeGeneres. Reeves did 90% of his own stunts, including the jump from a Jaguar onto the bus. Released on June 10, 1994 in 2,138 theaters, the little action film debuted at the number one spot at the box office, grossing $14.5 million on its opening weekend. It went on to gross $121.3 million domestically and $229.2 million internationally for a worldwide total of $350.5 million. Next to DIE HARD and LETHAL WEAPON, SPEED is one of the greatest action movies of all time and is a true classic to all movie lovers.