Speed

When a psychotic bomber rigs a Los Angeles city bus with an explosive device that will detonate if the vehicle slows below fifty miles per hour, LAPD officer Jack Traven has to act fast to keep passengers alive. He and a small team work to keep the bus moving while tracing the bomber's motives and traps across the city. When the regular driver is incapacitated, a terrified passenger, Annie, ends up at the wheel, forcing Jack to coordinate police strategy from outside and on the fly. The tension builds as time, traffic and the bomber's taunting messages tighten the stakes, turning a routine transit route into a dangerous test of skill and nerve. Every decision can mean life or death.

Speed hit theaters in 1994, directed by Jan de Bont from a screenplay by Graham Yost. It stars Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock and Dennis Hopper, combining high-concept premise with tight, practical stunts that define its look and tempo on screen.

At the box office it was a major commercial success, drawing large audiences and cementing its status as a blockbuster of the mid 1990s. The film's popularity helped make its leads household names and spawned imitation action pictures and sequels.

Lines like 'Pop quiz, hotshot' entered pop culture, and the bus-as-bomb premise became a shorthand for high-concept action stakes. Sandra Bullock's performance marked her transition to leading roles. The movie's set pieces and pacing influenced later action films and TV shows that tried to recreate its nonstop city-bound tension elsewhere.

Critics generally praised Speed for its breakneck tempo and the chemistry between Reeves and Bullock, reflected in a 7.147/10 vote average. The film focuses on improvisation under pressure, public safety and the moral weight of rapid decision making, using urban landscapes to keep suspense immediate and concrete, and memorable stunts.