# Speed (1994 film)

Speed is a 1994 action-thriller film that focuses on police officer Jack Traven who must race against speed to foil the crazed plan of an insane bomber/extortionist, who sets up a bomb on a city bus which Traven boards, which must keep moving above 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) or the bomb will explode.
    Directed by Jan de Bont. Starring Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper and Sandra Bullock

## Jack Traven

* Tell me again, Harry. Why did I take this job?
* Pop quiz, asshole. You have a hair trigger aimed at your head. What do you do? What do you do? Turn around. TURN AROUND!

## Howard Payne

* A bomb is made to explode. That's its meaning. Its purpose. Your life is empty because you spend it trying to stop the bomb from becoming. And for who? For what? Do you know what a bomb is, Jack, that doesn't explode? It is a cheap gold watch, buddy.
* [hearing Jack on the subway car roof] Hey, Jack! Is that you? He's so persistent, he always gets his man. Wouldn't be able to interest you in a bribe, would I? I've got, uh, plenty to go around! [he opens the money bag, only for a rigged purple dye pack to burst in his face, ruining the money] My money! YOU BASTARD! [shooting at Jack through the train roof] HOW DOES THAT FEEL?! YOU LIKE THAT, HUH?! YOU LIKE IT, YOU BASTARD?! MY MONEY! [he runs out of bullets] Shit! You! I'm coming for you, Jack! [runs for the subway door, screaming in rage]

## Dialogue

    Security Guard: Hey, this area's restricted.
    Payne: Oh, hi. Yeah, I know. They called me down here, some of this wiring got screwed up.
    Security Guard: Nobody called it down to me. I'm going to have to see a work order.
    Payne: Yeah. Just a second. [Payne reaches into his bag and holds up a piece of paper] There you are. [Payne pulls out a concealed knife and stabs the guard in the ear, killing him] Nothing personal.
    Mac: Alright, gentlemen. What we have here are 13 passengers in an express elevator, below floor 30. Bomb's already taken out cables. Bomber wants $3 million, or he blows the emergency brakes.
    Harry: What's our clock?
    Norwood: He gave one hour. [checking his watch] That leaves us 23 minutes exactly.
    Briggs: Anything else that'll keep this elevator from falling?
    Jack: Yeah, the basement.
    Mac: The city would like to avoid that event, Officer Traven.
    Harry: We can't just unload the passengers?
    Mac: This is an express elevator, gentlemen. The only way in or out is through access panels. The bomber's also wired the hatch to trigger the bomb, which seats him in the crazy but not stupid section.
    Jack: Sir, Harry volunteers to examine the device.
    Harry: [scoffs] Yeah, right.
    Mac: Fine. The two of you check it out.
    Norwood: The nearest access panel's on the 32nd floor in the lobby.
    Mac: I want reports only. We're in a holding pattern. Worthy and Briggs, I want you to secure the base area. No one in or out. Everyone else, I want you to affirm building evac. MOVE!
    Harry: Alright, pop quiz. Airport, gunman with a hostage. He's using her for cover. He's almost to a plane. You're one hundred feet away. [Jack doesn't respond] Jack?
    Jack: Shoot the hostage.
    Harry: What?
    Jack: Take her out of the equation. Go for the good wound and he can't get to the plane with her. Clear shot.
    Harry: You're deeply nuts, you know that? "Shoot the hostage." [chuckles]
    Jack: Harry, this is wrong. He's gonna blow it anyway.
    Harry: Why?
    Jack: I don't know. Gut feeling.
    Harry: Well, right now Mac outranks your gut, so we sit.
    Jack: How much do you think that elevator weighs?
    Harry: Jack, come on.
    Jack: Maybe we can do something about those hostages.
    Harry: We're not gonna shoot 'em, right?
    [Harry and Jack move to the roof where there is a small service crane]
    Jack: No, we just take them out of the equation.
    Jack: Tell me again, Harry. Why did I take this job?
    Harry: Aw, come on. Thirty more years of this, you get a tiny pension and a cheap gold watch.
    Jack: Cool.
    [Payne is holding Harry hostage in the parking garage at gunpoint with explosives strapped to his chest.]
    Payne: End of the line. This day has been real disappointing, I don't mind saying.
    Jack: Why, 'cause you didn't get to kill everyone?
    Payne: There will come a time, boy, when you'll wish you'd never met me.
    Jack: Mister, I'm already there.
    Payne: [on the phone, after blowing up an empty commuter bus, killing the bus driver Bob] What do you think, Jack? You think you pick up all the bus driver's teeth, they'll give you another medal?
    Jack: Jesus...
    Payne: You think I wouldn't have been prepared? Two years I spent setting up that elevator job, two years I invested myself in it. You couldn't understand the kind of commitment that I have. You ruined a man's life's work and you think you can walk away? You got blinders on to the world! But I got your attention now, didn't I, Jack?
    Jack: Why didn't you just come after me?
    Payne: No, this is about me! This is about my money. This is about money due me! Which I will collect! $3.7 million! It's my nest egg, Jack. At my age, you have to think ahead.
    Jack: [angry] When I find you...
    Payne: [cuts him off] Pop quiz, hotshot. There's a bomb on a bus. Once the bus goes 50 miles an hour, the bomb is armed. If it drops below 50, it blows up. What do you do? What do you do?
    Jack: I'd want to know what bus it was.
    Payne: You think I'm gonna to tell you that?
    Jack: Yes.
    Payne: [chuckles] Aha, very good. There are rules, Jack, and I want you to get this right: No one goes off the bus. You try to take any passengers off the bus, I will detonate it. I want my money by 11AM.
    [Jack glances at his watch, which shows 8:05AM]
    Jack: We can't pull that kind of money in time.
    Payne: Focus, Jack! Your concern is the bus. And don't try to call. The radio's down. Now, the number of the bus is 2525, it's running downtown from Venice. It's at the corner of Ocean Park & Main.
    [Jack takes off for his car as sirens from approaching fire engines can be heard]
    Jack: Stop! LAPD! Get out of the car!
    Tuneman: Man, this is my car, I own this car, it's not stolen!
    Jack: [draws his gun] It is now. Move over!
    Tuneman: Fuck! Man, you scratch this puppy, and you and me are gonna have words, you understand?
    Jack: [shouting at Sam from car] Hey! I'm a cop!
    Sam: What?
    Jack: I'm a cop! [waves his badge] LAPD! There's a bomb on your bus!
    Tuneman: There's a— What?! Fuck!
    Jack: There's a bomb on your bus!
    Tuneman: Watch the road!
    [Jack calls Harry in his office while he is trying to get on the bus and tells him the bomber's back. Mac enters Harry's office.]
    Mac: We got a random demand from your dead terrorist. He's rigged a city bus. Where's Jack?
    Harry: [puts down the phone] Where do you think?
    Jack: Miss, can you handle this bus?
    Annie: Oh, sure. It's just like driving a really big Pinto.
    Jack: I need to know. Can you handle this bus?
    Annie: I'm fine, I'm fine. Just tell me what the plan is. Is there a plan?
    Jack: Just for you to drive. We're okay for now. Just keep us above 50.
    Annie: Good plan. So, you're a cop, right?
    Jack: That's right.
    Annie: Well, I should probably tell you that I'm taking the bus because I had my driver's license revoked.
    Jack: What for?
    Annie: Speeding.
    Jack: [over phone] Where do we start?
    Harry: All right, check the speedometer. Has it been fucked with, or loosened, or any wires? See any wires, anything?
    Jack: [to Annie] Excuse me, ma'am. [looking under the speedometer] No, it's clean.
    Annie: Huh?
    Harry: All right, then it's gonna be under the bus. Probably it was rigged to one of the axles.
    Jack: I can't get under the bus right now, Harry. It's kind of in motion.
    Helen: Excuse me? Excuse me!
    Jack: Hold on.
    Sam: [gasping] There's an access panel... in the floor... underneath you, man.
    Jack: [opens the floor access panel] All right, Harry, we're in. Passenger relay. Sir. [hands the phone to Stephens] take this. I want you to tell him what I see. [looking through the hatch at the bomb] Okay, we got a wad! Pretty big!
    Stephens: There's a pretty big wad.
    Jack: Brass fittings...
    Stephens: Brass fittings.
    Jack: ...I think I can reach the circuit wire.
    Stephens: He can reach the circuit wire.
    Harry: No! No, no! Don't! Don't do that! That's a decoy, classic.
    Stephens: That's a classic decoy.
    Harry: What else?
    Stephens: What else?
    Jack: Hold on.
    Stephens: Hold on.
    [Looking further under the bus, Jack sees that the bomb is rigged to a gold wristwatch]
    Jack: Fuck me!
    Stephens: Oh, darn.
    Jack: [takes the phone back] Harry, there's enough C-4 on this thing to put a hole in the world.
    Harry: Okay, all right. Just stay calm. What else?
    Jack: Three triggers. One on the axle I can't really see, a cellular remote, and a timer running off a wristwatch.
    Harry: A watch? What kind of watch?
    Jack: Gold. Gold band, fairly cheesy.
    Officer Barnette: I don't get it.
    Harry: A watch is a shitty timer. Why use it? What's he sayin'?
    Officer Barnette: Lots of people have watches, Harry.
    Harry: This guy has no M.O. A bomber falls in love with one kind of bomb, and they're very monogamous. This guy uses C-4, dynamite, different trigger every time, and now he throws in this watch.
    Officer Barnette: He's an encyclopedia of bombs. He knows every kind.
    Harry: Yeah, and everything we do to dismantle it. [pause] Wait a minute. I want to look at the files for the last ten years.
    Officer Barnette: We did the mugshots already, it's not gonna help.
    Harry: No. I want to look at cops.
    Jack: Ma'am, you did very well. Actually, you were incredible. I've never seen driving like that.
    Annie: Annie.
    Jack: What?
    Annie: It's my name. Annie.
    Jack: Annie.
    Annie: As opposed to "ma'am". [smiles]
    Jack: Okay.
    Annie: So, why is all this happening? I mean, what did we do, bomb the guy's country or something?
    Jack: No, it's just a guy who wants money.
    Annie: I don't buy that. It's not a very good way to make money. So, um... what is this guy's deal?
    Jack: A while back, he held some people for ransom. It went sour, and now he's a little pissed at me.
    Annie: What does that have to do with us?
    Jack: Nothing. It's a game. If he gets the money he wins, if the bus blows up he wins.
    Annie: What if you win?
    Jack: Then tomorrow we'll play another one.
    Annie: But I'm not available to drive tomorrow. Busy.
    Mac: Let's get these passengers off the bus.
    Jack: We can't do it, sir.
    Mac: There's no time for stunts, Traven. We gotta get these people out of harm's way.
    Jack: I got orders! We move these people, he'll see. [points to the news choppers overhead] Remember— crazy, not stupid.
    Payne: I think we have an understanding. But it looks on TV like you're trying to take those passengers off the bus.
    Jack: Look, you gotta let me have one.
    Payne: Now, we went over the rules.
    Jack: As an act of faith. We have an injured man here. The driver's been shot.
    Payne: Jack, now tell me you haven't been shooting the passengers. I thought it was customary for a police officer to, you know, shoot the bad guys. Huh?
    Jack: This man has no time.
    Payne: No one gets off!
    Jack: It'll grease the wheels with the money men if you show a little charity. There's still gonna be plenty of us to kill.
    Payne: Okay, son. You can try any unload the driver. You tell that wildcat behind the wheel not to slow down, though. Or he won't even get a chance to bleed to death. And Jack? Don't slip.
    [After Helen's death]
    Stephens: I can't be here. I can't, you know... This is the wrong bus. I mean, for me to... I can't die here.
    Ortiz: Hey, shut up, man. I got a wife.
    Stephens: Oh, you do?
    Terry: Hey! So if you have a wife, and I don't, does that mean I'm expendable?
    Ortiz: Hey, what are you talkin' about, man? The guy's just talking crazy. It gets on my nerves. Gets on everybody's nerves.
    Stephens: Oh, yeah? Well, I think I have the right to be a little bit upset...
    Terry: What are you starin' at anyway?!
    Stephens: ...after all that we've been through—
    Ortiz: Why don't you just let everybody die in peace if that's gonna happen, huh?!
    Terry: So you're a tough guy, huh?
    Stephens: I got a right to be upset.
    Terry: You're really tough, huh, Gigantor?! Why don't we just step outside?!
    Jack: [silences them both] Hey!
    Jack: How are you doing? You all right?
    Annie: [shakes her head] Mm-mm.
    Jack: What can I do?
    Annie: When that bomb went off...
    Jack: I know.
    Annie: ...I thought that was it. I thought that was the bomb, and I was dead. And when I saw her body fall under the bus, it was like...
    Jack: You were glad you were still alive.
    Annie: [nods] Mm-hmm. I'm so sorry.
    Jack: Don't be. You should be glad. We all are. It doesn't mean you don't care.
    Annie: [crying] I know, but she was so scared!
    Jack: She was scared. She was a nice lady who didn't deserve to get killed. But, Annie, if she'd gotten off, it would've killed us all. He's the asshole, Annie. The guy who put us here. Remember that, okay?
    Annie: Big asshole.
    Norwood: [to Mac] Sir, uh, we have a serious problem.
    Mac: What?
    Norwood: This freeway isn't finished.
    Mac: What are you talking about?
    Norwood: The aerial unit caught it. About three miles ahead, there's a section missing.
    Mac: Section missing? But it's on the map. It's finished on the goddamn map!
    Norwood: I guess they fell behind.
    Mac: Fuck! You're fired! Everybody's fucking fired!
    [The bus has just entered LAX]
    Briggs: He's just entered the airport.
    Norwood: The airport? There's thousands of people there.
    Mac: [laughs] That's my boy, Jack. He should be able to circle the runways and buy us some time. The choppers can't fly in there, it's restricted airspace.
    Briggs: He's headed for the end of the field.
    Norwood: That must be Bravo Tango, an emergency runway.
    Mac: Yeah, let's hope it's built. Let's move!
    Stephens: We're at the airport.
    Ortiz: Yeah, so?
    Stephens: I already seen the airport.
    Payne: Very, very exciting, Jack. Some close calls, huh? But you've done all right for yourself.
    Jack: What do you want?
    Payne: I want money, Jack. I wish, uh, that I had some loftier purpose but, um, I'm afraid in the end it's just the money, Jack. I would like, uh, large non-sequential bills, in two clear plastic bags, unmarked. Can you remember all that?
    Jack: What are you telling me for?
    Payne: Because I want you to help me to get it before it gets too late. I hate negotiators, Jack. They talk to you like they're you're best friend, and they don't even know you. Why are they messing with me, huh? Do they think I'm doing this for fun?
    Jack: Aren't you?
    Payne: Oh, that's unfair, Jack. You don't know how I feel about this. You don't even know me.
    Jack: I know you want a shitload of money you didn't earn.
    Payne: Oh, I earned it. I spent my life earning it. I got a medal too, Jack. A medal and a pink slip and a "sorry about your hand".
    Jack: You have to let me off.
    Payne: Oh, no! That's not good.
    Jack: You want me to help you? I need to talk to these people face-to-face. They think you're bullshit.
    Payne: They don't think that.
    Jack: Look, you want the money, I don't want anyone else to die. Let me get on the ground. Just me. That's not against the rules.
    Payne: All right, I want you back real fast.
    Jack: Fine.
    Payne: Jack, nothing tricky now. You know that I'm on top of you. Do not attempt to grow a brain!
    [Jack is under the bus on a tow-sled, trying to diffuse the bomb]
    Harry: Okay, we're gonna have to try and bypass the remote current with the battery. Can you find the tripwire for the remote?
    Jack: I don't know, I've got a few choices here.
    Harry: Black and red?
    Jack: And green.
    Harry: Okay. All right. Uh, I'm gonna guess he's not gonna go with standard copper for the remote, that'd be too weak. I'd use a fiber alloy. Jack, I'm gonna need you to look at the wire.
    Jack: Harry, it's covered.
    Harry: Yeah, I know. You're gonna have to cut off the sheath. But don't cut the wire.
    Jack: Right. [the bus jolts as it runs over a piece of rubber tire] Fuck me! Shit! [Jack carefully cuts the sheath off the green wire] Bullseye!
    Harry: Great! Okay, I want you to clip on the battery, and then run it to the lead wire.
    Jack: Copy. [he clips the battery to the exposed wire, and reaches to connect it to the bomb, which beeps] I can't bypass, it'll fire.
    Harry: Oh, shit! It's a collapsible circuit.
    Annie: What is that smell?
    Jack: It's gas.
    Annie: We're leaking gas?
    Jack: We are now.
    Annie: What, you thought you needed another challenge or something?
    Jack: Harry! Tell me good news, man.
    Payne: Oh, I'm sorry, Jack. He didn't make it.
    Jack: You fuck!
    Payne: It was the watch that led him to me, wasn't it? Huh? It seemed a little hammy to me to build a bomb out of my precious retirement gift, but, you know, I figured a sign that said "Howard Payne" would be pushing it.
    Jack: I'm gonna rip your fucking spine out, I swear to God.
    Payne: You're gonna do exactly as you're told! Jack, we both know he was the brains of your particular operation. You can't beat me, you're gonna pay me every dollar. Otherwise, you, the wildcat, and every innocent person on that bus, are gonna end up just like your friend. You paying attention? Jack, you listening to me? Jack? Jack!
    Jack: Yeah...
    Payne: Good. Now you tell them that the drop point is Pershing Square. There's a garbage can on the northeast corner. You drop the bags and leave. I don't show until all your people are gone. It's gettin' on to 11AM, Jack, and I think it's gonna be a very pretty day! [Payne laughs maniacally and hangs up]
    Jack: [notices Annie's "Arizona Wildcats" sweatshirt] I'll be damned... You go to the University of Arizona?
    Annie: Yeah, so?
    Jack: Good football team.
    Annie: Yeah, I guess so. I don't really know.
    Jack: Arizona Wildcats.
    Annie: Right.
    Jack: He can see you.
    Annie: What?
    Jack: He can see you.
    Annie: He can see me—?
    Jack: Just keep looking straight ahead. [Looking around, Jack finally sees a hidden camera over the dashboard overlooking the whole bus] He called you a wildcat before, I didn't even pick up on it. The bastard's got a camera right in your face. He can see the whole bus. He's been playing me from minute one.
    Annie: Yeah, well, he can see me, but can he hear me?
    Jack: It doesn't look like it. He's just watching you.
    News Anchor: [on TV] We are following the progress of what is turning out to be a harrowing and amazing story as a city bus, rigged to explode if it slows down, races around literally in circles at the Los Angeles Airport. The two dead are a female passenger and the driver of another bus, both blown up by the bomber. The other people in jeopardy are, of course the passengers held hostage at the whim of a madman.
    Payne: "The whim of a madman"! [laughs] I like that.
    [after surviving the bus explosion]
    Annie: You're not going to get mushy on me, are you?
    Jack: Maybe. I might.
    Annie: I hope not, 'cause you know, relationships that start under intense circumstances, they never last.
    Jack: Oh yeah?
    Annie: Yeah, I've done extensive study on this.
    [Payne is holding Annie hostage in the subway tunnel wearing an explosive vest while he holds a pressure release detonator]
    Payne: Be prepared! It's the Boy Scout marching song. What are you gonna do, Jack? I don't think you can shoot her.
    Jack: Let her go.
    Payne: No, I don't think I'm gonna do that. [to Annie] Fill it. Now. [Annie starts emptying Payne's ransom money into a duffel bag] Well, I think Harry would be very disappointed feeling that we're right back to where we started, huh?
    Jack: Let her go. You don't need her. You have the money. Take it and walk. Come on. Just take it and walk. You don't need her. [yelling] COME ON, JUST TAKE YOUR GODDAMN MONEY AND WALK!
    Payne: Stay right there! Stay right there. I'll do it. I'll do it. I'll let go. Oh, yeah. You still don't get it, do you, Jack, huh? The beauty of it. A bomb is made to explode. That's its meaning. Its purpose. Your life is empty because you spend it trying to stop the bomb from becoming. And for who? For what? Do you know what a bomb is, Jack, that doesn't explode? It is a cheap gold watch, buddy.
    Jack: You're crazy! You're fucking crazy!
    Payne: Oh, no. Poor people are crazy, Jack. I'm eccentric. [to Annie] Get the money. Let's go. Come on! Let's go! Move it! Move it! [to Jack] You stay! Move it! Move it! [shoves Annie towards a service door] In the door! In that door, now! Bye, Jack— Punk! [shuts the door]
    [While in the subway car, after Payne has gunned down the train driver]
    Payne: Hey. Hey, buckaroo. It's not 'cause you're a woman, all right? Hey, it's all right. Looks like we're all alone.
    Annie: Look, you won, okay? You beat Jack. You beat everybody. Just throw me off the train. I don't care, okay?
    Payne: [holds up detonator] Okay. This stick, huh, works on a remote. When you explode, that's where they'll come, but that's not where I'll be. I have a different plan. Mess like that, they don't even count body parts. Gives me more time. It's not gonna hurt any.
    [Payne and Jack are fighting on the roof of the subway car, with Payne gaining the upper hand as he pins Jack down on his back]
    Payne: What do you do, Jack, huh? What do you do? You're so smart, right, Jack? Piece of shit! I'm the guy with a plan, 'cause I'm smarter than you! I'm smarter than you!
    [Jack sees an overhead signal light approaching and forces Payne into its path. Payne looks up and screams before the light decapitates him, and Jack grabs the detonator as his body falls off the train]
    Jack: Yeah? Well, I'm taller.
    Annie: You didn't leave me. I can't believe it... you didn't leave me.
    Jack: Didn't have anywhere to be just then. [they kiss] I have to warn you, I've heard relationships based on intense experiences never work.
    Annie: OK. We'll have to base it on sex then.
    Jack: Whatever you say, ma'am.
    [they continue kissing, but with more passion as a crowd gathers]

## Cast

* Keanu Reeves - Officer Jack Traven
* Dennis Hopper - Howard Payne
* Sandra Bullock - Annie Porter
* Joe Morton - Capt. McMahon
* Jeff Daniels - Det. Harold 'Harry' Temple
* Alan Ruck - Stephens
* Glenn Plummer - Jaguar Owner
* Richard Lineback - Norwood
* Beth Grant - Helen
* Hawthorne James - Sam
* Carlos Carrasco - Ortiz
* David Kriegel - Terry

## External links

* Speed quotes at the Internet Movie Database