Speed (Widescreen Edition) (1994)

Starring Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Dennis Hopper and Jeff Daniels, Speed is one of those rare films that comes along every now and then that proves to be better than standard fare. Essentially one big extended action scene, the film's frenetic pace makes up for the frequent plot holes. The action never lets up, creating suspense- filled set-pieces and audience excitement. The premise of a bomb on a bus that wil explode if the speed goes below 50 makes for one far-fetched but fun thrill ride.

Keanu is the quintessential gum-chewing cool guy action hero Jack Traven who, along with Annie Porter (Bullock) tries not to get blown up by a bomb that retired cop Howard Payne (Hopper) has set on the bus to get money. The entire principal cast are great, especially Hopper, whose character is reminiscent of his crazy bad guy in Red Rock West (1992). With lines like "Poor people are crazy Jack, I'm eccentric", Hopper manages to give a good performance during his rather short screen time. Plus the added quality of the always-good Daniels is first-rate. And Keanu, now best known for The Matrix, is equally cool here.

Jan DeBont's direction makes the film a taut, entertaining action ride, and surprisingly, Bullock manages to change from nervy bus passenger to a strong character by the film's conclusion. And the pulse-driven score creates even more tension and excitement. But the film is not perfect, it's predictable at times and things get rather tedious at the end, with yet another gasping of "The track's not finished!" Minor quibbles aside, the action is impressive, and Jan DeBont's visual stylishness gives a really eye-catching look. This action-fest is one of the best.

The DVD extras are amazing, with commentaries from De Bont and the crew, extended scenes, Easter Eggs (DVD Credits, Airline Version of Bus Crash), "Inside Speed Featurettes on the location, stunts and visual effects", production Design, the original Screenplay, action Sequence Featurettes on the "Bus Jump" and "Metro Rail Crash", Multi-Angle Shots with Audio, Multi-Stream Storyboards, an interview Archive with Keanu Reeves and the cast, trailers, 11 TV Spots and production notes. Impressive stuff!

It could be argued that the film's narrative simplicity doesn't lend itself to the kind of intense scrutiny offered by Fox's fully-loaded two-disc presentation, but it's churlish to quibble - this is knee-slapping entertainment at its finest, and likely to be recognized as such for decades to come, alongside the likes of DIE HARD and the TERMINATOR franchise. Accordingly, the supplements are more than welcome: Aside from the commentaries, there are various trailers, featurettes, multi-angle stunt comparisons, and a reproduction of the original screenplay (not much different from the finished product), amongst other bits and pieces. The film itself - which runs 115m 44s - has never looked or sounded better on home video, with the Panavision frame reproduced at 2.35:1 (enhanced for 16:9 TV's), preserving all the color and clarity of a pristine theatrical print. However, on the disc viewed, there's a technical blip at 76:01 in which the image momentarily freezes and breaks up. The fault amounts to little more than one second of screen time, but given the disc's THX certification, it's unfortunate, to say the least. The soundtrack is terrific, providing fully immersive sonic thrills in both Dolby and DTS 5.1 options. English captions and subtitles are provided.

There are two notable drawbacks: Firstly, during the aforementioned Yost/Gordon commentary, both men interrupt each other on numerous occasions, sometimes on a shot-by-shot basis, curtailing more than a few fascinating anecdotes and transforming much of their freewheeling discourse into a halting exercise in frustration. Most curiously of all, they deliberately retreat from a potentially unpleasant story about Ellen De Generes which might have shown these two gentlemen in a less than flattering light. No wonder the disc opens with a disclaimer which distances Fox from the opinions expressed herein... Nevertheless, much of their conversation remains of interest, particularly their thoughts on the direction of modern action cinema post 9/11/2001. Secondly, there is no mention of the Japanese thriller THE BULLET TRAIN (Shinkansen Daibakuha, 1975), in which a terrorist bomb is primed to explode on board a packed commuter train if it falls below a certain speed. It's possible that SPEED was written and produced in complete ignorance of the earlier film, but the two scenarios share uncomfortable similarities. Besides, many reviews have already drawn attention to these narrative parallels, which leads one to wonder why they weren't addressed by this 'special edition', if only to deny a connection between the two films.