It’s hard to believe that in the year of our lord 2026, I hadn’t seen the original “it’s Speed but on a <train/airplane/blimp/roller coaster/pontoon” movie, but I just missed it when it first arrived in 1994. I’ve always known that it was a silly action movie that launched the careers of Sandra Bullock and a post-teenager movies Keanu Reeves, but I don’t think I knew just how silly it was.

But before we get to all that: Pop Quiz, Hot Shot: What passes for the “plot” of this classic film?

A Brief Synopsis of ‘Speed’: What if the guy from ‘Dumb & Dumber’ and Ted from ‘Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure’ had to outsmart the real life insane person that was Dennis Hopper? That’s the jumping off point this cinematic thriller as it begins with generic business people in a generic office building wrapping up a generic business meeting (that probably could have been an email) and heading for the elevator…as a group…like a bunch of fucking psychos. What business? Doesn’t matter. What building? Who cares. What are their names? Their names in the credits range the gamut from “Young Executive” all the way to “Female Executive” so they’re basically props. While this varied group of go-getters are ALL TOGETHER IN THE ELEVATOR (which again, is psychotic behavior. If everyone from a meeting I was in crowded into the same elevator, at the same time, I would assume we were all about to die). Meanwhile, Dennis Hopper (who’s motivation won’t be fully explained until much, much later in the film) stabs a security guard in the temple and overrides the elevator controls in the basement. He’s gonna blow up the elevator unless somebody pays him money not to blow it up, but also he’s crazy but really he’s just Dennis Hopper holding a movie hostage for a check.

Luckily for the elevator coworkers, and the movie, Keanu Reeves is here to save the day (even though he doesn’t seem to understand how bombs or physics work) and he’s brought Jeff Daniels for comedic relief! The two intrepid cops stop the bomber (or do they?) and end up the heroes. But this has all actually just strengthened Dennis Hopper’s villain origin story and led him to his opus work. His masterpiece. His Mona Lisa. A bomb on a bus…that can’t slow down…or it’ll explode.

See, that’s the whole raison d’être for the film: bus goes fast, bus keeps going fast, bus eventually explodes. Simple, efficient, totally 90s.

So some time passes and Keanu wants a coffee and pastry for his break…..KA-BOOM! A random bus explodes in Keanu’s neighborhood with a driver he knows at the wheel. Just then, a payphone rings across the street (note: yes, all payphones did have return call numbers at this point in history. Payphones were prevalent in society before communication got hijacked by big corporations, much like Dennis Hopper and a bus…but I digress). Keanu must find a bus that Hopper’s planted a bomb on and follow the rules or everyone dies and none of it can stop until he gets his money.

From there on out, it’s a pretty standard action flick which is why the pitch “It’s ‘Speed’ but on a <blank>” dominated the box office for a few years after it’s success. The bus is populated with a standardly diverse cast of characters including:

• Man who believes the cops are there for him! (they’re not)
• Kind-hearted bus driver who’s there to add to the stakes! (he’s been shot…but no one can leave the bus!)
• Old couple who only have each other hold onto during this ordeal! (they don’t speak much, but they’re in love)
• Big tough guy who’s there to give Keanu props for being even tougher than him! (and make an obligatory “Big Balls” joke)
• Cameron from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” playing Cameron from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”
• Sandra Bullock as the replacement bus driving love interest who gives the movie heart and even MORE stakes

While he does eventually get everyone off the bus by safely driving the bus around the tarmac at an airport only to somewhat intentionally crash into a 747 (bus and plane go BOOM!), the action doesn’t stop there as the LAPD continue to make bad choices with their handoff of Hopper’s money (which had been motivating his revenge against the cops brain for the entire movie because he didn’t get the pension of deserved and was still a little spicy about it).

Hopper grabs the cash and Sandra and heads into the bowels of an ad for the LA Subway. The trains are empty, clean and fast but OH MY GOD! the track isn’t finished. With one last flourish, Keanu dispatches Hopper’s head, saves Bullock and puts another city project completion behind by crashing onto Hollywood Boulevard for the big finish.

The girl is saved, the bus is gone and Hopper’s lost his head and all in less than 2 hours. But he still blew up Jeff Daniels and nobody seems to mourn him so why should we?

Why is it a Pop Culture Blind Spot?‘ ‘Speed’ was a cultural phenomenon that I just plain missed. My summer of 1994 was spent in a much more ‘The Lion King’ with my first girlfriend kind of headspace. Also, I was 14 and had religious parents so the sheer IDEA of asking to see an R-rated movie in the theaters was completely and utterly out of the question. The first R-rated movie I’d see at the Regal Cinemas in Fredericksburg, VA wouldn’t be until 2 years later when I happened to run into my Aunt Bobbie and Uncle Bill in line as I was trying to buy a ticket for ‘The Rock’ (she vouched for my ticket so I could get in, a favor I would never forget). But that summer, ‘Speed’ was everywhere! Not only did it launch the career of Sandra Bullock into the stratosphere but it showed that the weird teenager from ‘Parenthood’ was truly an action-ish star. Long before he would become Neo in ‘The Matrix’, Keanu was that cop on a runaway bus. ‘Speed’ bled into the zeitgeist with famous lines (“Pop quiz, hot shot!), great reviews and set the tone for action movies in the 90s. It built on the legacy of high velocity scripts, one liners and cool guys who didn’t look at explosions. It was the quintessential 90s popcorn action flick…and then they put the sequel on a boat.

How does it look in the rear view mirror? Pretty good actually. Much better than I thought it would. Are there some goofy moments where it seems like they’re just trying to put as many manufactured obstacles in front of the bus as possible? Sure. Is it weird that Cameron from “Ferris Bueller” doesn’t suggest that they just drive the bus backwards to try and get rid of the bomb? Of course. But at the end of the day, ‘Speed’ gives you exactly what its title promised: fast-paced action that feels like drinking too much caffeine and then trying to write your name in cursive without shaking.

Final Thoughts: Everyone should see ‘Speed’ at some point in their life if for no other reason than historical context. ‘Speed’ came to a California stop so that “The Fast & the Furious” series could drive it off a cliff…towards a plane…in space.