I watched this again last night after picking up the two-disc version at Target for a mere five bucks. It’s been close to a decade since I last popped it in the player, and that was probably a VHS it was so far back.
Can I just say it’s a damn-near flawless actioner and part of a mid-90s stable that I continue to look back on with fondness and nostalgia. Into the action immediately, never lets up for 115 minutes and as a result, feels like a two-and-a-half-hour urban epic.
And I’ve always loved that Ebert handed it four stars back in ’94. Very cool.
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15 responses to “Not like it was”
Ahh, the summer of 1994. Speed, True Lies, and the very underrated Blown Away. I had so much fun that summer watching all of those explosions. The one at the end of Blown Away is still the best I think.
As for Speed, what Ebert says is all spot-on. Inventive, exciting, and tightly plotted. I remember being so pissed when Jeff Daniels got killed. I watched Speed not too long ago and was reminded of how excellent it was. Jan De Bont has never matched that film.
I was 8 when this movie came out, and it was the first R-rated movie I ever saw. My parents said no, so I snuck down and watched it behind the couch. I was caught after shrieking at the end of the first scene, and they decided if I saw that, I might as well see the rest. Probably ignited my love for film as much as anything.
Love Dennis Hopper in this movie, love Jeff Daniels. Without them, the second movie (obviously) suffered.
Ebert gives every other movie 4 stars. Doesn’t have the same “perfect” connotations.
Blown Away, Speed and The Professional turned my shit upside down that summer and I was 10 years old.
reality bites
pulp fiction
natural born killers
true lies
four weddings and a funeral
speed
leon: the professional
interview with the vampire
the shawshank redemption
legends of the fall
Pulp Fiction, NBK, Speed, Shawshank and Ed Wood for sure. Maybe The Lion King would make it, probably Bullets Over Broadway, too. And I have a soft spot for The Shadow. But I haven’t really thought a list for 94 through before.
Don’t forget Quiz Show, probably my favorite Redford offering.
Kris, not a fan of Forrest Gump?
10/10 imo for 94:
Pulp Fiction (my favorite ever and the best movie of the 90s IMO), Shawshank.
Forrest Gump is a 9, NBK was cool, Ed Wood was great.
’94 was a great year. Other great titles from that year are “The Adventures of Priscilla Queen of the Desert”, “The Last Seduction”, “Heavenly Creatures”, “Eat Drink Man Woman”, “Muriel’s Wedding”, “Swimming with Sharks”, “Shallow Grave”, “Priest”, “Wes Craven’s New Nightmare”, “The Ref”, “Threesome”, “When a Man Loves a Woman” and probably the best film of the year “Hoop Dreams”.
Oh, and yeah, I love “Speed”. I still watch it often.
Speed came out the last day of 5th grade. Went to go see City Slickers 2 with a friend and then we snuck into Speed since CS2 sucked so bad. I loved the movie so much that I went with my dad to see it again the very next day, and coincidentally ran into my same friend who went with his dad too.
“Three Colours Red” and “Pulp Fiction” still duke it out for my film of 1994, and I’ve never been able to choose between them.
Nothing else even comes close, though there was plenty of good stuff that year.
Ed Wood tops the list for me.
Ahh the glory days of Jan de Bont. Our other director in Hollywood.
Great action film in every respect. High concept, killing tempo (pun intended) and a very effective score. I just adored that opening btw.
“I saw this movie about a bus that had to SPEED around a city, keeping its SPEED over fifty, and if its SPEED dropped, it would explode! I think it was called “The Bus That Couldn’t Slow Down.”
– Homer Simpson