Review of Speed (1994) by Toronto905 — 27 Sep 2015

An awesome, terrific popcorn thriller and a pure adrenaline rush. Speed is definitely one hell of a ride, and the greatest ride of a lifetime. It's fast paced, mysterious and suspenseful, full of nonstop action and adventure, tense, taut and energetic, leaving you fastening your seat belt tight and hanging on to your seats (literally!) from start to finish.

The movie is divided into three sections, the falling express elevator with 13 business executives, then a Santa Monica city bus with 19 passengers and finally, a subway train with only three people, the hero, villain and victim.

Director Jan de Bont uses every form of transportation and has Dennis Hopper rig it with explosives, pushing its velocity to its maximum limits. First, you speed up an elevator, then you speed up a city bus over 50 MPH and you have to keep it moving across the downtown city streets and rush hour traffic.

The bus literally speeds through LA, swerves, accelerates, jumps and flies! (Like the Magic School Bus) before finally ending up at LAX circling the runway. The bus scene lasts over 50 minutes and becomes the main highlight of the movie, similar to how de Bont substantially expands on Annie's character as she rises in rank from an ordinary bus passenger to Jack's sidekick and love interest.

The action, thrill and excitement never stops even when the boobytrapped bus is out of the picture. When the subway train accelerates to full speed and derail on the street, because it goes much faster than a bus.

Overall, this is one of the best action film I've seen since the summer of 1994, making it true summer fun. It's the pure definition of an action film.