You can tell it was directed by a director of photography...

Rating: Null/10 (22 August 2002)

Jan De Bont, director of Speed, had previously been a director of photography on films like "The Hunt for Red October". And you know what? He's great at that. Almost all of "Speed", like "Red October" looks great; lots of movement in the camera shots; gorgeous imagery. The photography adds to the pacing and tension of the film, and you rarely find yourself losing track of the action.
Unfortunately, that's about all the good I have to say about this film. It was actually kind of enjoyable the first time I saw it, but it was on TV the other night, and I noticed a few problems...
First: Why is it that Annie is told by the bus driver to put out her cigarette (which doesn't even look lit) before she can get on the bus, but then never - NEVER - through the entire film says, "Gee, I wish I had a smoke to go with this fantastically stressful situation". Now, you non-smokers might not appreciate this, but as an ex-smoker, this is A Big Deal. She would have been *dying* for a Menthol Light for three straight hours.
Second: boy, that bus has a great takeoff angle when it jumps the gap in the freeway. You'd think it had just gone up a really steep ramp or something.
Third: the kart under the bus so he can defuse the bomb. Wow, they were able to keep the speed of the bus and the speed of the truck towing the kart really well synchronized, weren't they? And while we're on the topic, even the runways at LAX are only 2 1/2 minutes long when you're going 50+ MPH...yet he spends more like four minutes under there. We'll ignore the fact that there's clearly *not* enough ground clearance under the bus as he's shown being backed up to it. And when that 1/4" cable snapped, it would have taken his head off. But that's okay.
Fourth: funny that the throttle lever on the subway can speed the train up but not slow it down. Hmmm...
Fifth: Isn't it strangely convenient that the one person on the bus who can actually drive it after the driver is shot is an attractive white woman, not, say, a black woman, or a latino guy, or maybe that tourist dude from out of town?
Sixth: Why were there tire rippers in the ground pointed toward the *entrance* to the freight terminal at the airport?
I'm sure someone could top me in making a list of the movie's faults, but that's not my point here. My point is that the movie doesn't give me enough in other areas to make me want to switch off my brain. No snappy, creative, dialogue for anyone other than Dennis Hopper - and even that's not that great. No interesting characters. No exploration of motivations. And by the time it was over, I was really hoping that Hopper would blow himself, Reeves, Bullock and the subway to shreds with the over-used "bad guy takes love interest hostage" schtick.
A good thrill ride the first time, but loses its luster quickly during a repeat viewing.