“Speed”: The film that changed the action film genre 30 years ago | Culture

Before the era of endless franchises, an original film could break through at the box office on the merits of its plot alone. What is known in the world of Hollywood screenwriting as high concept: a one-line pitch that can be sold to both executives and audiences. In the case of Speed ​​- released in the United States on June 10, 1994, the idea could be summed up as “a bus that explodes when it goes faster than 50 miles per hour” (or as Homer Simpson put it, “the bus that can’t slow down”).

And this idea was enough for Speed ​​- in summer The Lion King And Forrest Gump — became one of the biggest action blockbusters of the 1990s. It starred Keanu Reeves, an actor who was not associated with the genre at the time but who would become one of its most influential figures. Alongside him were a rising star, Sandra Bullock, and the world authority on over-the-top villains, Dennis Hopper.

Structured in three long action sequences — While most of the action takes place on the bus, the first 20 minutes take place in an elevator with a bomb and there is another 15-minute climax on an explosive train because studio Fox feared the bus scenes would not be enough —, speed was a spectacle in constant motion. There’s the cat-and-mouse game between the policeman and the blackmailer who plants bombs in revenge for his forced pension after an injury and conveniently defuses one bomb in the process. But beyond that, there’s one crazy unforeseen event after another: a stray bullet that hits the driver and forces an inexperienced passenger to take the wheel, a roadworks that the bus has to jump over by accelerating, and the stroller that gets run over but luckily only contains drinks cans.

One of the biggest advantages of Speed ​​- the directorial debut of Dutchman Jan de Bont — was the special charisma of Keanu Reeves. With Dangerous surf (1991), his only action film, Reeves was an alternative face of Generation X, who starred in dramas such as My private Idaho (1991) or in niche youth comedies like Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989). He also played bass in a grunge band, Dogstar, which is still active. His foray into the big-budget film business with Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992) did not go well for Reeves: his portrayal of Jonathan Harker was the most criticized in Francis Ford Coppola’s film.

Reeves was chosen by De Bont for his “vulnerable” appearance and was unsure of his abilities as a blockbuster hero. He also had to cope with a personal tragedy: the death of his close friend River Phoenix in October 1993, in the middle of filming. “It took a toll on him emotionally. He became very quiet,” De Bont said in a 1994 article in Weekly entertainment titled Keanu Reeves, the next action star?.

In the article, journalist Melina Gerosa says, based on the actor’s shy answers in the interview, “If Reeves becomes an action star, he will probably go down in history as the shyest.” Sandra Bullock admitted in the same report that she was curious about this mysterious, tormented character. “I think there’s a lot of pain there,” she said. “I saw him walking alone and there was a hint of sadness in his eyes that made you ask, ‘What’s going on?’… But he keeps it to himself and that makes you want to know even more about him.”

“He broke the mold of an action star,” journalist and critic Chris Barsanti told EL PAÍS. “Before Speed, they were more stoic, muscular and very confident, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone or Clint Eastwood. (Reeves) is not the big guy who works out in the gym and gets his hands on a huge gun. He acts transparently, the people on the bus can see him solving the problem and that gives them more confidence than if he had pretended to solve it from the start. Part of his appeal is that he is the underdog.”

Chris Barsanti is the author of What Would Keanu Do?: Personal Philosophy and Impressive Advice from the Patron Saint of Whoawhich covers the actor’s philosophy and his evolution into a film icon thanks to his considerable series of emblematic films and his public image. Reeves is considered one of Hollywood’s most human stars, unafraid to appear sad in public or to show his infectious passion for his martial arts, animation, video game and literary projects.

And contrary to all predictions, Reeves is the person who ultimately dictated the prevailing trends in action cinema with matrix (1999) and John Wick (2014), a feat he achieved thanks to his dedication to action choreography and learning martial arts with stuntman Chad Stahelski. In 2013, he directed his own martial arts film, Man of Tai Chi.

“Each of these films marked a turning point in action cinema. They were copied but never equaled,” explains Barsanti. “It’s similar to Bruce Willis, who had previously worked for the television comedy Undeclared work (1985), has Die Hard (1988), in which he was also a normal and ordinary guy. Instead of struggling through, Reeves is the embodiment of the Zen of cinema. He stays calm, studies the landscape, and when he acts, he moves intelligently and quickly. His movements are economical, no wasted effort, which is evident in certain scenes, such as the shootout on the Parisian stairs in John-Wick 4 (2023) is like watching ballet.”

When asked whether he could draw philosophical lessons, Speed, Barsanti replies: “It may not be much more than a superbly executed thriller against the clock, but it is anything but mindless. Although ‘shooting the hostage’ is a terrible idea in real life, speed It serves as an interesting stimulus that encourages you to think outside the box and look for answers in surprising places.”

A model student

Although speed was his first film as a director, Jan de Bont did not come out of nowhere. He had an impressive resume as a cinematographer on some of the most important films of the late 20th century, particularly his work with directors Paul Verhoeven and John McTiernan. He was the cinematographer of Turkish Delight (1973), flesh and blood (1985), Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October (1990) and Basic instinct (1992). McTiernan – who believed speed Was Die Hard on a bus – was the person who recommended De Bont as director after he turned down the film.

“We wanted to breathe new life into action films because at that time they had become so stale, so shallow and so repetitive. We really wanted to change something,” said Jan de Bont. Collider in 2020, in relation to the style he developed with McTiernan after Die Hard. “By making it much freer, with a looser camera, and by only using three locations and doing scenes where the camera moves from one to the other, and actors doing some of their own stunts, a lot of their own stunts… You can see that.”

He added: “Basically, you’re trying to take the audience’s point of view (…) So it’s not this static, immobile, ground-tethered camera position. The camera takes the position of someone who wants to know more, who wants to see more. It’s investigative.”

But Jan de Bont’s career as a director was not as brilliant as his as a cinematographer. De Bont, who has been retired for more than 20 years, only made five films, including the sequel, Speed ​​2 (1997), which was panned by critics. Reeves did not appear in the sequel and the now famous Sandra Bullock took the lead role. Despite the actress’s commendable efforts, the script did not help her.

Instead of being the heroine in Speed ​​2, at one point she was cast as a comic character alongside a police officer named Jason Patric, who is her new love interest. The film’s odd tone (Bullock is supposed to be the lead but doesn’t play a significant role in the story) and a far-fetched plot twist (this time involving a villain, played by Willem Dafoe, who loathes his company after his blood is tainted with copper) were seized upon by critics, who also attacked the film’s far-from-ordinary action sequences and set designs.

Bullock and Patric didn’t have the same chemistry as Bullock and Reeves. In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres in 2018, the actress confessed that she had feelings for her co-star. “I think about how sweet Keanu Reeves was and how handsome he was. I had a hard time being serious,” she said, looking back on the film. “There’s something about me that I guess he didn’t like.” A year later, on the same show, DeGeneres asked Reeves if he knew Bullock had a crush on him. He said no, adding, “She obviously didn’t know I had a crush on her either.”

When esquire Bullock later asked, the star of Heavy (2013) said the misunderstanding was probably due to Reeves’ reserved nature: “It drives you crazy. When I first met him, I spent as much time as I could trying to fill a silence, just to feel comfortable. And the more I babbled, the quieter he got. And I thought, I don’t understand what’s going on! He looks at me with confused eyes. He’s quiet. Did I say something that offended him? And then a day or two later, he would come back with a note or a package and say, ‘I’ve been thinking about what you said.’ And then he got his answer.”

In Speed, Reeves’ character Jack says to Bullock: “I’ve heard that relationships based on intense experiences never work.” It was one of the many unmentioned sentences from Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997), the speed Screenwriter Graham Yost credited “98.9%” of the dialogue. In his revisions to the script, Whedon took Reeves’ idea of ​​making Jack more like a SWAT member, making the character more polite and less boastful, and cutting the film’s big twist: Jack’s partner, played by Jeff Daniels, would be in cahoots with the villain. Yost, however, reused the idea in his next film, Broken Arrow (1996).

Thirty years later Speed, Not only have Reeves and Bullock subsequently stated that they have a crush on each other, but both have also stated that they would be interested in starring in another sequel, although that is not yet on the cards. In the meantime, speed remains relevant and has a deep influence on pop culture: all kinds of productions refer to the film, from The simpsons to the Spanish film All names of God (2023).

And speed is still very relevant, with the July 17 release of Twistersa remake of his 1996 disaster film Twistersa classic of the 1990s. De Bont’s career as a director may have been short-lived, but his legacy endures.

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