Howard Payne, a disgruntled former Atlanta police bomb squad officer, has built an explosive device on a Los Angeles city bus. The rules are diabolical: once the bus exceeds 50 miles per hour, the bomb is armed. If the speed drops below 50 mph, the bus explodes. And if anyone tries to get off, the bus explodes. Payne demands $3.7 million in ransom, and the clock starts ticking.
SWAT officer Jack Traven — who previously thwarted Payne’s elevator bomb scheme — boards the speeding bus and must keep everyone alive while navigating Los Angeles traffic, road construction, a 50-foot gap in an unfinished freeway overpass, and the ever-present threat of Payne watching via a hidden camera. Annie Porter, a passenger with a recently revoked license, takes the wheel when the driver is injured, forming a quick partnership with Traven under impossible pressure.
The genius of Speed lies in its pure, elegant simplicity: a bomb, a bus, and a ticking clock. Director Jan de Bont, a former cinematographer for Paul Verhoeven and John McTiernan, strips the action film to its essential elements and delivers 116 minutes of escalating tension that never slows down. The film launched Sandra Bullock to stardom and proved that a high-concept thriller executed perfectly could rival any blockbuster.
Director & Cast
Director: Jan de Bont — the Dutch cinematographer-turned-director whose previous work on Die Hard and The Hunt for Red October gave him the visual language to craft the ultimate high-speed thriller.
Cast: Keanu Reeves as Jack Traven, Sandra Bullock as Annie Porter, Dennis Hopper as Howard Payne, Jeff Daniels as Harry Temple, Joe Morton as Captain McMahon, and Alan Ruck as Stephens.
Behind the Scenes
The film used real buses throughout filming, and the famous freeway gap jump was performed practically with a real bus rigged with a ramp. Sandra Bullock was a relatively unknown actress before Speed made her an overnight sensation. The film grossed over $350 million worldwide on a $30 million budget and won two Academy Awards for Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing.
