Speed
SPEED (15)
D: Jan de Bont
20th Century Fox (Mark Gordon)
US 1994
115 mins
Action/Thriller
W: Graham Yost
DP: Andrzej Bartkowiak
Ed: John Wright
Mus: Mike Mancina
Keanu Reeves (Jack Traven), Dennis Hopper (Howard
Payne), Sandra Bullock (Annie Porter), Jeff Daniels (Harry Temple), Joe Morton (Lt. 'Mac' McMahon), Alan Ruck (Doug), Carlos Carrasco (Ortiz)
There's a bomb on a bus. Once the bus goes over 50mph
the bomb is armed. Once it drops below 50mph the bomb goes off. What do you do?
That's the dilemma posed by maniac Dennis Hopper for
LAPD cop Keanu Reeves in this high octane action thriller dubbed "Die Hard on a Bus".
Though it follows a familiar path of cliches, cheesy
dialogue and hammy acting, there's more than enough thrills to keep you on the edge of your seat, chewing your fingernails as your eyes are glued to the screen waiting for the next big
set piece.
There's not much defence for the terrible acting and
atrocious dialogue, but if you want something more Shakespearian, you'd doubtlessly be watching this in the first place. It has faults, but it's still amongst the best action movies of
the 1990's. Fasten your seat belts and enjoy the ride.
8/10
SPEED 2: CRUISE CONTROL (15)
D: Jan de Bont
20th Century Fox/Blue Tulip (Jan de
Bont)
US 1997
125 mins
Action/Thriller
W: Randall McCormick, Jeff Nathanson & Jan de
Bont
DP: Jack N. Green
Ed: Alan Cody
Mus: Mike Mancina
Sandra Bullock (Annie Porter), Jason Patric (Alex
Shaw), Willem Dafoe (John Geiger), Temeura Morrison (Juliano)
Keanu Reeves reportedly turned down a huge $12m payday
to appear in this needless sequel and it turns out it was the best money he never spent.
From the look of it, even the bus said no, with the
action switching to a luxury ocean liner which is hijacked by cackling, wild-eyed diamond thief Willem Dafoe.
Sandra Bullock reprises her role from the original
film, but is given little to do with none of the sass which made her performance in the original film so appealing and she's paired with Jason Patric's police officer Alex Shaw, obviously
written with Keanu Reeves in mind and tweaked when he stuck his two fingers up to the script.
Perhaps the intention was to attract some of the
audience from the other boat-in-peril movie released the same year by the same studio (Titanic), but it was this one which sank at the box office.
2/10
