Part of Action Distraction
In perhaps the most nail-biting crime drama of the 20th century, L.A.P.D. officer Jack (Keanu Reeves) thwarts a heinous scheme from retired bomb squad member Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper) who has taken hostages for a ransom of $3 million. In retaliation, Payne arms a public transit bus with a bomb that will explode if the bus speedometer doesn’t remain at least at 50mph — a nearly impossible task in bumper-to-bumper L.A. traffic. With the help of spunky passenger Annie (Sandra Bullock), Jack and his partner Harry (Jeff Daniels) try to save the people on the bus before the bomb detonates.
“At the time of year when Hollywood traditionally bludgeons its audience back into the Stone Age…you can still pick your poison. The summertime no-brainer needn't be entirely without brains. It can be as savvy as SPEED, the runaway-bus movie that delivers wall-to-wall action, a feat that's never as easy as it seems. This film's dialogue isn't much more literate than a bus schedule, but its plotting is smart and breathless enough to make up for that.” —Janet Maslin, New York Times (Jun 10, 1994) “Films like SPEED belong to the genre I call Bruised Forearm Movies, because you’re always grabbing the arm of the person sitting next to you. Done wrong, they seem like tired replays of old chase cliches. Done well, they’re fun. Done as well as SPEED, they generate a kind of manic exhilaration.” —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times (Jun 10, 1994) “The film takes off from formula elements — it’s yet another variation on DIE HARD — but it manipulates those elements so skillfully, with such a canny mixture of delirium and restraint, that I walked out of the picture with the rare sensation that every gaudy thrill had been earned.” —Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly (Jun 17, 1994)
