Speed

10 de 10

Happy with purchase

I waited a long time to watch this movie and I'm really glad I finally did. Keanu and Sandra make a great team. The twists and turns keep coming!

Know what this is? It's a '90s update of what Buster Keaton and "The Perils of Pauline" gave the earliest movie audiences at the dawn of cinema. If fact, you could turn off the volume and enjoy it as a silent flick. That's ironic: the only Academy Awards it won were for sound design and sound effects.It's also what James Bond movies became in the '70s: thrill spectacles with no plot to speak of.None of this is to dismiss "Speed." For what it is—a two-hour roller-coaster with not one but three climaxes—it's one of the best. The real stars of this show are the stunt artists, Jan de Bont (the director, who knew where to put the camera), the photographers (who recorded it), and the film editors (who cut the film together to split-seconds). Most of the hazardous effects were practical, actually created onsite. Keanu Reaves performed one stunt so dangerous that it nearly gave de Bont a coronary. The most famous stunt, a bus leap across the wide gap on a superhighway, was done with CGI. We'll forgive that. While filming the stunt artists were convinced it could never be done in real life. Later, another set of stunt experts and physicists proved that it would have killed a stunt expert who attempted it.Roger Ebert called this a "bruised forearm movie": one where the person seated beside you clutches your forearm so tightly that it gives you a hematoma. If that's what you want to watch tonight, you'll not be disappointed.

Speed is a different type of action film that manages to be suspenseful and intense. While it is an action film, it's also a bit of a thriller too. There's not a whole lot of fighting or shootouts going on, it's all mainly on a bus.In case if you don't already know, Speed is about a SWAT bomb disposal officer who gets caught up in a bit of a cat & mouse kind of situation with a bomber, who has rigged a bus to explode if it goes under 50 miles per hour unless if he's paid millions of dollars, forcing him to board and keep the bus going in the streets and highways of LA.Now, a premise like this in the early 90s isn't easy to sell or pull off. Action films were expected to take place in a large enough area where the hero can fight a bunch of bad buys, but this was unique as there was only one bad buy and the running time taking place almost entirely on a bus. Michael Bay at one point wanted to direct (thankfully, he never got the chance to do so), and studios refused to produce it because they felt no audience would want to see it. But it found a home with 20th Century Fox, who agreed to produce the movie if it had more action scenes. Before Keanu Reeves was picked for the main lead, Tom Cruise, Weasley Snipes, and Woody Harrelson were considered. To be honest, I'm surprised this movie was even made with so many going it against during the time it was made. The very fact that Keanu Reeves got the main role over many other better well-known action stars is a surprise.But anyway, enough on the history of the movie, let's talk about the film itself.What separates Speed from other action flicks like Die Hard, Rambo, Cash & Tango, Commando, and Terminator is simply that it manages to be entertaining and suspenseful without much action. The true attention grabber are the things the bus has to go through in order to stay above 50 miles per hour. And the villain of this movie (played amazingly by Dennis Hopper) is more like a puppet master, managing to manipulate and control what is going on without the need of henchmen.Keanu Reeves as Jack does an amazing job portraying a more vulnerable hero, someone who reacts to the situations around him and doesn't always know what to do, but it's in those moments when he does take action shows why he is a hero. He doesn't mow down a bunch of bad guys, he's an officer who wants to protect the innocent.Another great addition to the cast who helps the film stand out even more is Sandra Bullock as Annie, who is pretty much the secondary hero of the movie. Sure, she is a love interest, but her role goes far beyond that. I won't give too much away, just see what I mean. All I will say is that her role helped in giving females more action roles.My only issue with the movie is in its 3rd act. I won't spoil it, so I'll just say that I wish it was rewritten to satisfy the studio and still keep with the suspenseful nature of the film. I get why it was done but it felt unnecessary.I'll give Speed a rating of 7/10.

"They've got a fast bus. They've got a ticket to anywhere." –Tracy ChapmanMaybe they can make a deal? (With Dennis Hopper.) Maybe together they can get somewhere. (LAX.) Anyplace is better, staying above 50 there's a bomb on the bus. Maybe we'll fake something, video feed is stuck in a loop.In John Bunyon's (not big) famous allegory, "Pilgrim's Podcast," the hero, Christian (christian) must face a series of real-life physical challenges like the Aggro Crag. When Christian falls into the slough of despond, that's an allegory for suffering with depression. In "Speed," same stuff. For instance, when the bus jumps over a big gap, that represent the gap between our expectation for the trajectory of our lives and our realities.Pop quiz, Hot Shot. Who of these people was an actual American Gladiator:A) PolestarB) TitanC) Jungle CatD) Keanuuɐʇıʇ :ʎǝʞ ɹǝʍsuɐIn conclusion, a lot of people think this scintillating film, "Speed." is about a bus that doesn't blow up. But... bus blows up.Sincerely, Jack Shepherd and friendPS - We loved this one.

This came in perfect condition.

I'm glad I found this movie on Amazon.I have always loved it.Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock have spectacular chemistry and Dennis Hopper delivers a profound performance as the villain.And now I get to watch it whenever I want to.