Speed

Synopsis
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.

Distributor Notes
Hold on tight for a rush of pulse-pounding thrills, breathtaking stunts and unexpected romance in a film you'll want to see again and again. Keanu Reeves stars as Jack Traven, an L.A.P.D. SWAT team specialist who is sent to diffuse a bomb that a revenge-driven extortionist (Dennis Hopper) has planted on a bus. But until he does, Jack and passenger Sandra Bullock must keep the bus speeding through the streets of Los Angeles at more than 50 miles per hour - or the bomb will explode. A high-octane chase of suspense, non-stop action and surprise twists, Speed is a joyride sure to keep everyone on the edge of their seats.

Production Notes
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.

Reviews
"...[De Bont] delivers a wild ride that's worth the fare..." - Recommended (Premiere)

"...A crackling blend of suspense and fun that gives you the rush of a runaway roller coaster..." (Rolling Stone)

"...Delivers wall-to-wall action....[Reeves has] become an actor of real charisma....Hopper finds new ways to convey crazy menace..." (New York Times)

"...[A] dazzling action thriller....Even Hitchcock, I think, would have approved..." -- Rating: A (Entertainment Weekly)

"...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 (USA Today)

"...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..." (Los Angeles Times)

"...It's a smart, inventive thriller....A great entertainment..." (Chicago Sun-Times)

"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..." (Wall Street Journal)