Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock
Exactly 30 years ago they drove in the “Speed” bus
Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock pressed the action accelerator in 1994.
© MGM / Courtesy Everett Collection
It’s not just the bus that’s racing at 50-mile speed – has it really been 30 years since Keanu Reeves & Sandra Bullock sped through the cinema in “Speed”?
“Quiz question, you smart guy: There’s a bomb on a bus. As soon as the bus goes faster than fifty miles, the bomb is armed. If it goes less than fifty miles, it will explode. What do you do?” With this two-liner, the wonderfully diabolical villain Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper, 1936-2010) not only made police officer Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves, 59) was part of his diabolical plan. He basically explained the entire, absurd and effective plot of the action film “Speed” to the cinema audience. The film, which Homer Simpson once devoutly praised as “The Bus That Wasn’t Allowed to Slow Down”, was released in US cinemas on June 10, 1994. Just in time for its 30th anniversary, the film is to be honored again.
Make a lot out of a little
The directorial debut of Jan de Bont (80), who had previously made a name for himself in Hollywood for his work as a cameraman, turned out to be a real resource miracle in several respects, making a lot out of comparatively little. For example, the content: The plot, which with a few exceptions is set in the manageable interior of a bus, carries over the entire running time of almost 120 minutes. This is not least because temporary driver Annie (Sandra Bullock, 59) is faced with tasks that are not always realistic, but are incredibly nerve-wracking. From a (thankfully childless) stroller to an incomplete bridge, where the bus, which weighs several tons, shows astonishing jumping power…
Necessity is the mother of invention. And in the case of “Speed” this does not only apply to the screen dream couple Annie and Jack. In today’s world, when an action blockbuster sometimes costs ten times as much, it seems almost surreal that “Speed” was made with a budget of around 37 million US dollarsIn the end, the action chamber drama grossed almost 350 million US dollars.
Refreshingly straight despite numerous curves
One of the keys to “Speed’s” success, in addition to the chemistry between Reeves and Bullock, is that the film is not artificial and tells a story in which the journey is the destination. The fact that such straightforward plots can also be successful in recent cinema history was proven in 2015 by “Mad Max: Fury Road” – a two-hour, high-octane chase.
Perhaps the biggest plus point from today’s perspective: As over-the-top as the plot may be, the film and all of the characters in it take themselves very seriously. That’s not to say that “Speed” completely forgoes humor. It just doesn’t do it at its own expense to justify supposed plot holes, as seems to have become established in blockbuster cinema recently – the focus is on you, “Jurassic World”.
In other words: Even 30 years after its release, “Speed” is the epitome of honest popcorn cinema that has aged surprisingly well thanks to its practical effects. Almost as well as its two main actors.