Speed, 1994 - DVD

I think it is safe to say that sometimes critics don't know what they are talking about - and other times... the viewing audience backs a bad horse. This happens more and more, now that studio executives are attempting to dazzle us more with special effects than with strong stories. Again... gems get through... I'm not that cynical that I don't believe that good movies get made... but the bad outweigh the good. Hell, there are bad movies we'll never even HEAR of... let alone see.

1994 had some pretty decent films come out that year. Forrest Gump took the number one spot away from The Lion King. True Lies, The Santa Clause, The Flinstones, Dumb & Dumber, Clear and Present Danger... Speed made the list with over $120 million ($283 world wide)... made on a budget of $30 million... it's one of those situations where the movie gelled... and not because of the direction, the story, the acting or the actors... but a small combination of all four of them.

So, in regards to the movies money making ability... Jan de Bont came off as a commodity, as did Keanu Reeves (although he was already a commodity of a sort, in regards to audience drawing power). This led de Bont down the road of the dreaded sequel... for some reason the powers that be thought that the combination of the original Speed director (who also co-wrote the script) and the original Speed... co-star... would draw the same attention. With the addition of Jason Patrick and Willem Dafoe... Speed 2 was about as bad a film as possible. With a budget of 110 million (an incredibly large jump), the movie grossed a total of just over $150 million which, on paper is a money maker, but in the eyes of the executives, theater goers and actors... it was just luck that they made their money back.

But, hey, this is a review of Speed. I agree... but I also think it necessary to track the progress of the 'director' who gave us Speed. Jan de Bont, in my opinion, will ALWAYS be an incredible cinematographer... and that is all. His choices of films... well, they seem to direct themselves. They have no real style... nothing that would say "Oh, that's a de Bont shot, all right!" And, unfortunately, that's important when it comes to a successful director.

I believe that, next to Akiva Goldsmith, Graham Yost is one of the worst writers in Hollywood. I'm not sure how much of his work was used on the 1991 TV show Herman's Head (which was a very funny show)... but Yost would go on to write a conglomerate of a large number of high profile action films... which would turn into Speed in 1994. Using one specific idea (a bomb on a bus)... and milking it for just about an hour and twenty minutes... Yost was able to fashion some semi-interesting scenes... but mostly gave us some of the worst dialog imaginable. I think that, regardless of the story, if you have to sit through an hour of clichéd dialog that hurts to hear... well, that's about the worst I can imagine... especially coming out of Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, both of which have problems with delivery in this film.

Yost would go on to write two other features - Broken Arrow, which is only entertaining because of the inclusion of John Woo - and Hard Rain, which is an incredibly terrible film. In 2000 he would help polish Mission to Mars, which I thought was a decent film... but it was very obvious the parts where Yost was brought in to polish... it's the dialog, again... he has no knack for it. He writes this clichéd stuff that gets the point across in the easiest fashion... while sucking the IQ out of the viewer.

I did not see The Last Castle, but I'm certain that since it was taken from the novel of the same name by David Scarpa (who also wrote the script)... that Yost came in to help with the dialog... and that frightens me.

I must admit that I enjoyed Twister for what it was. I think that de Bont gave us another pretty film to look at... but his work with the actors in that film is atrocious. I enjoyed the story for what it was, because I think that Michael Crichton has a knack for entertaining people, whether it's in his novels or his earlier writing and directing attempts. So, Twister I would not consider a strike against de Bont.

The Haunting, on the other hand, is another incredibly bad film... that would make it 3 for de Bont... and we have the sequel to Tomb Raider in his hands at the moment... so look forward to that nightmare.

At this stage in his career, Reeves had acted in some pretty incredible films, along with some decent mainstream movies that made a name for him. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure comes to mind as his first stepping stone, in 1989. He would follow that with Parenthood, in which he played a very similar character to Ted "Theodore" Logan... but gave a great performance none-the-less. I Love You To Death, Point Break, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey would follow. Point Break brought him into the action genre in a big way... and this would probably be the pivotal point in his career.

One of my favorite films of his was My Own Private Idaho, in 1991. I think this was a bold move on his part... but working with Gus Van Sant at this stage in his career (especially after Drugstore Cowboy) could only help. The film was daring, and the subject matter was such that gave Reeves an additional dimension to his acting ability.

Unfortunately, in my eyes, his next feature, Dracula, would prove to hurt him... because, well, his acting was just BAD. His accent, his forced posture and mannerisms... his performance brought the film down at least one notch, which is a shame... because the film without him would have been incredible.

Two other films would bracket Dracula and Speed... and they neither hurt nor helped his career... because they both just came and went. Even Cowgirls Get The Blues and Little Buddha. I'm sure most people either don't remember them, or are trying to forget they ever happened.

So, Speed came... and brought him into the action spotlight again. And his performance isn't bad... it's just that his character has some of the worst dialog imaginable... and it adds to the comical nature of the film, in my eyes. You just can't take any of it seriously.

Sandra Bullock got her real start as Tess McGill in the TV series of Working Girl. From there she starred in the over-shown film Love Potion No. 9... I think I've seen that on Comedy Central over 100 times... but it started something. Maybe it was the nerdy girl turned beautiful girl... I don't know. But from there she worked on the re-make of the Netherlands thriller The Vanishing, opposite Kiefer Sutherland and Jeff Bridges. Followed by starring opposite Sylvester Stallone in Demolition Man. She proved her worth as a sidekick in this film... and the role of 'sidekick' has an unfortunate negative connotation to it... I could have used the work 'supporting' actress... but she was Lenina Huxley, Spartan's helper in the film. I think, with this film, she came into her own as an actress with more range than just another decent female actress. She helped add to Demolition Man, which I really liked... and I'm sure that helped her get Speed, which came out a year later.

But in Speed, her dialog, again, was so terrible, it's not even funny. I did not enjoy her in this film, as I have in The Net, A Time to Kill or Miss Congeniality. I'm not a huge fan of her work, but when she gets it right, she's very entertaining.

I think Dennis Hopper was wasted in this movie... although he gave an ok performance (I mean, he is Dennis Hopper) and helped make a bad film tolerable (although, again, dialog... sheesh!!!). Hopper has had an incredible career, and I won't go through most of it... but he's been in a number of my favorites, and brings an incredible personality to all of his roles. Apocalypse Now comes to mind, as does True Romance, Red Rock West, Hoosiers, Blue Velvet and, hell, Easy Rider. But for each of his good ones, he has a Meet the Deedles, or Firestarter 2... so, good decisions with bad ones... if the project has him, he adds something positive, at least.

Both Joe Morton and Jeff Daniels added a little something to the film, for certain. I enjoy their work, but I think with the way the script was written, and they way the film was directed, they weren't utilized well enough.

I won't even comment on the passengers on the bus. Some of them were so annoying, I can't even begin to explain... but their personalities and some of their acting was atrocious.

Dp Andrzej Bartkowiak has done some pretty decent films, so I'm sure it's no wonder that de Bont (who was originally a DP for such films as Die Hard, Flatliners, Basic Instinct, and Lethal Weapon 3, among a large list of others) trusted him with the film... although I'm sure there were moments that de Bont wanted to transcend back to the DP world...

Bartkowiak has worked on a number of award winning films, including Terms of Endearment, Prizzi's Honor, The Morning After, Nuts, Twins, and Falling Down, prior to Speed. His films, post-Speed, teeter on the fence. Species, Jade, The Mirror Has Two Faces (again with Streisand), Dante's Peak, The Devil's Advocate, U.S. Marshals, Lethal Weapon 4 and Thirteen Days, his last film. I think the look of the film is decent, and I'm sure with de Bont at the helm there were some odd decisions made in regards to shots... but all in all it looked good.

I think this could be described as a guilty pleasure film, for certain. If you're a fan of explosions, a fan of films that look like Die Hard and Leathal Weapon... you probably already dig this film. I do not think de Bont is an accomplished director. I think his choice of films show a person who is looking for, from a marketing perspective, safe bets. So far, his first two films did well, in regards to their risk factor... but he needs another hit, and soon.