Speed Director Jan De Bont Talks About The 1994 Action Epic That Put Him Out There

Jan de Bont, the director of the 1994 action thriller Speed, took a walk down Memory Lane recently and has shared some candid comments about his very important blockbuster: “It is important that the concept of Speed was so unique, and who the hell would want to make a bus movie in Los Angeles? An actor sitting in the bus, but you cannot move– they cannot get out, cannot get in?” De Bont, now retired, saw his career suddenly grow when he became a blockbuster director overnight. Thirty years later, he provides some insight about the experience of making the action behemoth about the bus that couldn’t stop.

In an interview with Comic Book, de Bont talks about the unique premise and Hollywood’s lack of trust in the concept. He had to sell the film’s premise as nothing like it had ever been attempted before in the industry:

“I knew how difficult it would be for an actual bus to make that same trip. It would be absolutely impossible. So I saw all those difficulties and thought, ‘Wow, this could be really, really exciting.’ And Paramount, who had the project early on before this, they said no to me and said, ‘Well, who wants to see a movie about a bus?'”

Speed

Release Date

June 9, 1994

Runtime

116

Studio

20th Century Fox

Tagline

Get ready for rush hour.

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De Bont also adds: “The combination of the actors, that was perfect. Sandra Bullock was absolutely somebody you could believe was riding a bus…That’s ironic, really was. If somebody did not have that experience, I made sure that weeks before that they actually made many bus trips, where they saw how boring it could be sitting on the bus, and know what to do and how to respond, what people do on a bus. Because you cannot make it up, you have to experience that.”

Speed: A Wild Action Ride Unlike Any Other That’s Ever Been Made

In 1994’s Speed, the city of Los Angeles is dealing with a vicious terrorist (this was before terrorists in movies were mostly foreign) who likes to blow up stuff. SWAT officer Jack Traven and his partner Harry Temple frustrate the latest attack by the extortionist bomber, and Howard Payne is presumed dead. However, Payne resurfaces in a horrific attack where a bus transporting passengers blows up. Traven is contacted by Payne, who lets the officer know there’s another bus rigged with a bomb, which will activate once it goes faster than 50 miles per hour, and it will explode if it drops below 50.

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The film was critically well-received and commercially acclaimed: it made over $350 million for Fox on a budget of less than $40 million. Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock weren’t exactly unknown in the industry, but the film consolidated their careers very quickly. Jan de Bont’s career was kickstarted, as the groundbreaking debut put him out there as a potential action director. His background as a cinematographer for classics like Die Hard, Black Rain, and The Hunt for Red October meant his films would always look pristine. Speed would also end up winning two Academy Awards for Best Sound Effects Editing and Best Sound in 1995.

Of course, Fox capitalized on the concept and produced a sequel called Speed 2: Cruise Control, which Jan de Bont also directed. Bullock also returned, but Reeves stayed away from what would eventually become a box office bomb that critics destroyed upon release. De Bont would only make two films after that, both of which weren’t exactly successful.