SPEED: A mad bomber (Dennis Hopper) is out for revenge against LAPD rookie cop Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves), who, with the help of his partner, Harry Temple (Jeff Daniels), foils the criminals' plot to extort money from the city by holding hostage an elevator full of people. He plants a bomb on a bus, set to arm itself when the vehicle hits 50 mph, and detonate if it drops below that speed. The hero, with the help of a beautiful passenger named Annie (Sandra Bullock), must defuse the explosive device before the bus runs out of gas. This fast-paced thriller received two Academy Awards for Best Sound and Best Sound Effects Editing, as well as a nomination for Best Film Editing.
Jack Traven is a risk-taking SWAT Team officer, pitted against a mad-bomber, Howard Payne. Howard has a pattern of coming up with ingenious, deadly schemes: for example, he rigs an L.A. bus so that, after it reaches a speed of 50 mph, it will explode if it slows to below that rate.
Directorial debut for cinematographer Jan De Bont.
Released theatrically in the USA June 10, 1994.
Shot in Panavision Widescreen.
Rated BBFC 15 by the British Board of Film Classification.
Copyright 1994 20th Century Fox Film Corporation.
UMD Features:
Note: This release is in the UMD format for Sony PSP players only.
Keep Case
Full Frame - 1.33
Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
(unspecified) - English
Director of Photography
Andrzej Bartkowiak: Director Of Photography, SPECIES (1995)
Production Designer
Jackson De Govia: Production Designer, THE FOUR DEUCES
Costume Designer
Ellen Mirojnick: Costume Designer, THE SENTINEL (2006)
Review 1:
"...A crackling blend of suspense and fun that gives you the rush of a runaway roller coaster..."
Source: Rolling Stone
p.79-80 06/30/1994
Review 2:
"...[A] dazzling action thriller....Even Hitchcock, I think, would have approved..." -- Rating: A
Source: Entertainment Weekly
pp.32-4 06/17/1994
Review 3:
"...It's a smart, inventive thriller....A great entertainment..."
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
p.41 06/10/1994
Review 4:
"...[De Bont] delivers a wild ride that's worth the fare..." - Recommended
Source: Premiere
p.119 11/01/1994
Review 5:
"...Delivers wall-to-wall action....[Reeves has] become an actor of real charisma....Hopper finds new ways to convey crazy menace..."
Source: New York Times
p.C12 06/10/1994
Review 6:
"...Invigorating....De Bont and his team have turned in a visually sophisticated piece of mayhem that makes the implausible plausible and keeps the thrills coming..."
Source: Los Angeles Times
p.F1 06/10/1994
Review 7:
"...It's one of those won't quit action pics that make Hollywood the frequent envy of world cinema..." -- 3 1/2 out of 4 stars
Source: USA Today
p.1D 06/10/1994
Review 8:
"SPEED has become a classic action thriller, and rightly so. It was made in the predigital days when special effects looked real because most of them were real..."
Source: Wall Street Journal
06/12/2009