Speed

There's a bomb on the bus!

I was 13, this new action movie called Speed had just been released and the man of the moment – Keanu Reeves – was the star. But my parents didn't trust me to watch films they didn't approve of. And Speed just didn't make the cut. So what else could a rebel-in-the-making like me do but sneak off to watch the movie anyway?

Somehow the rush of playing truant, coupled with the intensity of the film, conspired to send my young, untested heart-rate into a frenzy.

Speed has since become the bus-shaped vehicle that catapulted Keanu Reeves into the Hollywood stratosphere, and made audiences realise that Sandra Bullock was an actress they were going to love for a long time to come.

A few weeks ago, the whole thrilling experience came back to me in a rush when I saw the movie was being re-screened on SABC1. Now, I usually steer well clear of Mzansi Fo' Sho', but made a point of tuning in that Sunday evening, if only to ogle Keanu.

I relived the entire magical thrill I experienced as a young teen, because crucially, Speed does exactly what it says on the box – it's 116 minutes of pure pleasure at white-knuckle velocity. The first act features a nail-biting attempt to rescue people stuck in an elevator that has been strapped with explosives. LA bomb experts, Detectives Jack Traven (Reeves) and Harry Temple (Jeff Daniels) are despatched to save the day, but the bomber, Howard Payne (a deliciously crazed Dennis Hopper), escapes.

And like any villain worth his salt, Payne returns to avenge his past failures with an even more elaborate stunt. This time he rigs a bus full of early morning commuters with bombs that'll detonate when the speedometer dips below 50 miles per hour. When he learns of this, our hero Traven does the unthinkable and jumps onto the doomed bus himself.

Cue a dead bus driver, panicked passengers, a now-infamous gap in the highway and a nice twist on the damsel in distress archetype with passenger Annie (Bullock) literally taking the plot by the wheel with her infectious blend of charm, wit, and of course awesome bus-driving skills.

The villain Payne is finally dealt with in a gloriously shocking moment atop a runaway train (shame on him that Traven is taller!) and we're left with the feeling that despite all the carnage in its wake, the LAPD's high-concept rescue plan was all worth the trouble.

But what ensured this cocktail remained so compelling from the start was the undeniable chemistry between the two leads. The whole ordeal is like one thrilling mating game for these two – they just happen to have this darn bomb-riddled bus to deal with. Twice they land in a missionary position-like clinch after escaping both the bus and then a derailed subway train together.

Speed probably never achieved the iconic status of similar 90s action flick franchises such as Die Hard, Terminator or Lethal Weapon primarily because its sequel, Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997), was so painfully abysmal. But this has perhaps highlighted just how good the original is. And I have proof just seeing my friends' eyes light up when I mentioned the film.

Speed may not be a critical darling (although it did win two Academy Awards in 1995, for best sound and sound effects editing) but it's one of the few 90s action films that has endured because it's so well-loved, despite a poor follow-up and a lead actor (WHO is the lead) that, let's face it, is not regarded as much of an actor at all.

- Shaheema Barodien

QUOTES FROM THE MOVIE:

Annie: So you're a cop, right?
Jack: That's right.
Annie: Well, I should probably tell you that I'm taking the bus because I had my driver's license revoked.
Jack: What for?
Annie: Speeding.

Jack: It's a game. If he gets the money he wins, if the bus blows up he wins.
Annie: What if you win?
Jack: Then tomorrow we'll play another one.
Annie: But I'm not available to drive tomorrow. Busy.

Howard Payne: Jack, nothing tricky now. You know I'm on top of you! DO NOT attempt to grow a brain!

Harry Temple: All right, pop quiz. Airport, gunman with one hostage. He's using her for cover; he's almost to a plane. You're a hundred feet away... Jack?
Jack: Shoot the hostage.

Jack: You're crazy! You're fuckin' crazy!
Howard Payne: NO! Poor people are crazy, Jack. I'm eccentric.

Lt. Herb "Mac" McMahon: Ok, Jack, this is it. Don't get dead.

Annie: You didn't leave me. I can't believe it... you didn't leave me.
Jack: Didn't have anywhere to be just then.

Annie: [Jack has just killed Payne on the train roof] Where is Payne?
Jack: He lost his head.

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