Everything clicked in this 1994 action hit, from the premise (a city bus has to keep moving at 50 mph or blow up) to the two leads (the usually inscrutable Keanu Reeves and the cute-as-a-button Sandra Bullock) to the villain (Dennis Hopper in psycho mode) to the director (Jan De Bont, who made this film hit the ground running with an edge-of-your-seat opening sequence on a broken elevator). This is the sort of movie that becomes a prototype for a thousand lesser films (including De Bont's lousy sequel, Speed 2: Cruise Control), but Speed really is a one-of-a-kind experience almost anyone can enjoy.
Fox puts the pedal to the metal for the two-disc Five Star edition of the high-velocity action hit. Check out the five brand-new production featurettes, especially the behind-the-scenes revelations of the two action highlights of the film--the bus jump and the subway crash--and then get a different angle (actually eight different angles) on the scenes in the multiangle comparisons. The highlight of the dozens of supplements, however, is the commentary on disc 1. Jan de Bont's reflective take is interesting if dry, but the high-spirited, back-and-forth duet by screenwriter Graham Yost and producer Mark Gordon, longtime friends and collaborators, has the feel of a vaudeville comedy act. All energy and ego, this funny, fast, and furious commentary is highly informative (tidbit: the script originally had a different villain) and unflaggingly entertaining. Like the bus, it never drops below 50 mph.