Staff Pick (Intern Edition): Film Intern Lucca Galvao reviews Speed
In 1994 the action film Speed, written by Graham Yost, made 350.4 million at the box office, won two academy awards for Best Sound Editing and Best Sound, and solidified Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock as household names.
The story centers around a bus filled with explosives and hostages that is triggered by a terrorist Howard (Dennis Hopper). The bus can explode if it falls below 50mph or if the police officer Jack, (Keanu Reeves), does not follow Howard’s specific orders.
As a kid I remember watching this film with my dad. My eyes were glued to the screen, and I felt that I was sitting on a bomb the entire time. It felt new at the time, an action film that let everything unfold organically.
It is interesting because Graham Yost was able to visualize Speed from the movie Runaway Train, which was a story about a train that could not stop as the characters could not hit the brakes. The creative decision to change the train into a bus filled with hostages and a bomb about to explode was a game changer. It added so many woven factors that made the exciting action scenes not only believable, but also relatable.
The first elevator scene was an intelligent way to establish the characters and plot, as well as hook the attention of the audience in the first minutes of the movie as an exciting elevator action scene unravels. In an episode of Austin Film Festival’s OnStory, Yost goes on to add that this scene was also the selling point of the script. Thus, this scene right at the beginning of the film made the story not only relatable, but also explored a common fear that people share. I thought it was also a fresh spin to connect a crime to it. In other words, the hostages are always kept locked in a closet or basement, but not an elevator. That would be a weird crime to happen in real life, but it blended perfectly in the story, providing a surprising and relatable element for the plot.
In the end I was left speechless and smiling. The resolution of the hostage’s being safe really makes this film a masterpiece. The choice feels simple, yet we didn’t see it coming. The idea of connecting Annie’s wildcat nickname felt surprising, but obvious at the same time. I think this was why it was so effective. The solution was right in front of Jack the whole time, it was a detail, a moment of reflection, which I think Keanu Reeves performed extremely well.
The film concludes when Howard dressed as a police officer manages to capture Annie and lock her in a moving subway, where Jack and Howard meet for the last time. Jack, after defeating Howard, can’t stop the subway decodes to speed up and run out the trails. This resolution added one more step to the story as it further explored the relationship between Annie and Jack, as well as showing the final conflict between Jack and Howard face to face, which was satisfying to watch. It’s interesting that this story ended on a subway with no brakes. Similar with the concept of the Runaway Train, which inspired Graham to tell this story. I found it interesting to make the story all revolve around the theme “speed” and instead of commonly trying to hit the brakes to stop the subway, speed it up and hope for the best.
Watch On Story Episode:
On Story: A Conversation with Graham Yost
In this episode, we’ll hear from writer, producer, and showrunner Graham Yost. Yost was behind 90s action hits Speed and Broken Arrow, World War II epics Band of Brothers and The Pacific, and the suspenseful TV dramas Justified and the Golden Globe-winning FX series The Americans.