Enjoyable 90's action flick.

Rating: 7/10 (26 December 2007)

Speed is set in Los Angeles where disgruntled & bitter ex-bomb squad psycho Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper) holds an elevator full of people to ransom, either he gets three million dollars or he blows the emergency brakes but his plan is thwarted almost single handedly by LAPD cop officer Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves). Afterwards Payne feels even more bitter & angry so decides to play a deadly game with Jack, he tells Jack that he has placed a bomb on an LA bus & when the bus goes over 50mph the bomb will arm & if the bus falls below 50mph it will explode killing everyone on board. Jack risks his life to board the speeding bus to warn the driver & passengers, unfortunately the bus has already reached over 50mph, a way to disarm the bomb must be found or pay Payne his three point seven million dollar ransom...
Directed by Jan de Bont this is a highly enjoyable fast paced action thriller from the 90's the likes of which they don't seem to make anymore. The script by Graham Yost was apparently rewrote by script doctor Joss Whedon who went uncredited & is an action packed adventure film that is very entertaining although is rather silly at times. The idea behind the film is great, I mean we all love a good car chase & Speed's plot basically gives us an entire film based around vehicular mayhem which is no bad thing. The thing moves along like a rocket, at over 110 minutes in length it certainly doesn't feel that long & it's hard not to like a film which is so single minded in trying to provide plenty of action, thrills & excitement for it's audience. I liked it & I think most people will like it, I certainly think most 90's action film junkies will love it. The character's are just about given enough development to bring them to life although I'd have liked a bit more motivation & explanation behind Payne's actions as it's said he was pensioned off & that's his whole reason for the bombings. Sure some of it was pretty silly & very far fetched but what the hell when a films this downright fun & entertaining who really cares?
Director de Bont does alright, he certainly keeps the pace going & there are numerous memorable set-piece action scenes from the speeding bus dodging it's way through the LA traffic to a fight on top of a speeding train to exploding planes to a taught hostage situation at the start. I do have to say that while it's well made there's not much style & the opening credit sequence is maybe the most repetitive & boring I've ever seen in a big budget Hollywood film. There are some continuity issues here, the amount of times the bus hits something head on (smashing that cars door off, hitting the other car up the tow truck ramp & hitting other various sign posts & parked cars) without sustaining any visible damage is stretching things a bit, I mean there isn't even a scratch on it for the first half. It's also nice to watch a film where the majority of the stunts & action was filmed live rather than created using CGI computer effects like most films these days do. The actual violence levels are low & the body count kept to an absolute minimum which is a surprise.
With a supposed budget of about $28,000,000 Speed didn't have as big a budget as I had originally thought, maybe they were allowed to film on that unopened freeway for free? Apparently Speed ran out of money during it's production & the subway sequence at the end hadn't been filmed but after good preview screenings (with the subway scene present as storyboards) the studio stumped up the cash to finish it. The acting is alright from a decent cast, Keanu Reeves is OK but doesn't have much presence & Sandra Bullock in her breakthrough role fares much better & comes across as more likable, Dennis Hopper is good as the villain but then he's a great actor anyway so it's expected.
Speed is one one of those great macho big budget action thrillers from the 90's with huge amounts of mindless carnage & mayhem that are so enjoyable, it's a bit more silly than usual as well especially the ridiculous jump across an incomplete freeway which is as far fetched as they come. Followed by Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997) which has seemingly killed the franchise.