Speed (1994)

Speed is a 1994 American action thriller film directed by Jan de Bont in his feature film directorial debut. The film stars Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock, Joe Morton, Alan Ruck, and Jeff Daniels. The film tells the story of an LAPD cop who tries to rescue civilians on a city bus rigged with a bombprogrammed to explode if the bus slows down below 50 mph. It became a surprise critical and commercial success, grossing $350.4 million on a $30 million budget and winning two Academy Awards, for Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing, at the 67th Academy Awards in 1995.

A critically panned sequel, Speed 2: Cruise Control, was released on June 13, 1997.

(LAPD) SWAT officers Jack Traven and Harry Temple thwart an attempt to hold an elevator full of people for a $3 million ransom by a bomber, who is later revealed to be named Howard Payne. As they corner Payne, he grabs Harry. Jack shoots Harry in the leg, forcing the bomber to release Harry. Payne turns away, appearing to die in the explosion of his own device. Jack and Harry are praised by Lieutenant "Mac" McMahon and awarded medals for bravery.

Some time later, Jack witnesses a city bus explode. Payne, still alive, contacts Jack on a payphone, explaining that a similar bomb is rigged on another bus. The bomb will arm once the bus reaches 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) and detonate when it drops below 50. The bomber demands a larger ransom of $3.7 million and threatens to detonate the bus if passengers are offloaded. Jack races through freeway traffic and boards the moving bus, which is already over 50 mph. He explains the situation to the driver Sam, but a small-time criminal, fearing Jack is about to arrest him, fires his gun, accidentally wounding Sam. Another passenger, Annie Porter, takes the wheel. Jack examines the bomb under the bus and phones Harry, who uses clues to identify the bomber.

The police clear a route for the bus to the unopened 105 freeway. Mac demands they offload the passengers onto a pacing flatbed truck, but Jack warns about Payne's instructions. Payne allows the officers to offload the injured Sam for medical attention, but then detonates a smaller bomb which kills another passenger who attempts to escape.

When Jack learns that part of the elevated freeway ahead is incomplete, he persuades Annie to accelerate the bus and jump the gap. He directs her to the nearby Los Angeles International Airport to drive on the unobstructed runways. Meanwhile, Harry identifies Payne's name, his former role as a retired Atlanta bomb squad officer, and his local Los Angeles address. Harry leads a SWAT team to Payne's home, but the house is rigged with explosives which go off, killing Harry and most of his team in the process.

Jack rides under the bus on a towed sledge, but he cannot defuse the bomb, and accidentally punctures the fuel tanks when the sledge breaks from its tow line. Once pulled back aboard by the passengers, Jack learns that Harry has died and that Payne has been watching the passengers on the bus with a hidden camcorder. Mac has a local news crew record the transmission and rebroadcast it in a loop to fool Payne, while the passengers are offloaded onto an airport bus. The bus suffers a flat tire, forcing Jack and Annie to escape via a floor access panel. Out of fuel, the bus slows to 50 mph and explodes as it collides with an empty Boeing 707 cargo plane.

Jack and Mac head to Pershing Square to drop the ransom into a waste can. Realizing he has been fooled, Payne poses as a police officer and seizes Annie and the money. Jack follows them into the Metro Red Line subway, where Annie is wearing a vest covered with explosives rigged to a pressure-release detonator. Payne hijacks a subway train, handcuffs Annie to a pole, and sets the train in motion while Jack pursues them. After killing the train driver, Payne attempts a bribe with the ransom money but is enraged when a dye pack in the money bag goes off. He and Jack fight on the roof of the train, until Payne is decapitated by an overhead light signal.

Jack removes the vest from Annie, but she is still handcuffed. Realizing Payne killed the driver and shot the control panel at the same time, rendering the controls unusable, Jack accelerates the train, causing it to smash through an end-of-track construction site and burst onto Hollywood Boulevard before coming to a stop. Finally finished with the adventure, Jack and Annie share a kiss.