Speed Blu-ray delivers great video and reference-quality audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
L.A.P.D. SWAT team specialist Jack Traven is sent
to diffuse a bomb that a revenge-driven extortionist has planted on a bus. But until he does, Jack and passenger Sandra Bullock must keep the bus speeding through the streets of Los Angeles at more than
50 miles per hour -- or the bomb will explode.
For more about Speed and the Speed Blu-ray release, see the Speed Blu-ray Review
Guts will get you so far and then they will get you killed.
If Commando
represents the iconic 1980's action film, then Speed perhaps deserves the same respect for
the 1990's. It's a slick, fast-paced, adrenaline-pumping flick that everyone who has
any inkling towards action has probably seen.
More refined than the somewhat raw, unforgiving action movies of the 1980s, Speed takes
the action genre in a new direction, toning down the on-screen violence in favor of a somewhat
more general audience-friendly film. It is short(er) on gore but nevertheless high in tension
and higher in
production values, polish, and quality of script than its predecessors from the previous decade, but
also retains the levity so prevalent in 1980s action films.
Ma'am, please don't cry. The sequel's not as bad as people say it is!
Keanu Reeves (Point
Break) and Jeff Daniels (The Lookout) play bomb squad officers Jack Traven and Harry Temple.
As the movie begins, this duo find themselves defusing a dangerous situation that has several
people trapped in an elevator, a bomb attached to the elevator cables the only thing between
them
and
death. The inventive pair mount a rescue operation and hunt down their suspect (Dennis
Hopper,
Hoosiers), a
crazed
man with a grudge who plants the bomb on the elevator with the intention of extorting money
from the city. With the suspect
presumed dead in
an explosion, the city presents citations for valor to Traven the Temple, but Traven soon discovers
the
bomber
lives on -- and has planted yet another deadly device on a crowded city bus, one that innocent
passenger Annie (Sandra Bulllock, Premonition)
soon
finds herself driving. Thankfully, this speed-demon is on the bus because her license
has been revoked for, you guessed it, speeding. Once the bus passes 50 miles per hour, the
bomb activates.
Should the vehicle drop below that speed, it will detonate. Traven must locate the bus, guide it
through nightmarish Los Angeles city traffic without slowing down, and with the
help of Temple, disarm the bomb and locate and put an end to their adversary once and for all.
Jack Traven represents a new breed of action hero, one catering more to the "X-Games" or
extreme sports crowd rather than appearing as one of the many musclebound bodybuilder stars
of the 1980s, seeking out
trouble rather than getting into it only when absolutely necessary.
Schwarzenegger's character "Dutch" in Predator turned
down missions that
weren't his "style;" Matrix from Commando sought to escape violence by moving
with his daughter to a mountain retreat; Sylvester Stallone's "Cobra" (from the
film with that same title) only worked when called upon. In Speed, however, it seems
that Jack Traven goes looking for trouble. He's
always willing to stir up the pot, disregard orders, and create "inventive" solutions to
problems. He even goes so far as to recommend (and then actually does) shooting hostages for
the sake of the
final outcome of the mission. What Jack lacks in physical muscle he more than makes up for in
adrenaline, truly representing the more "balanced" action hero seen throughout the 1990s, a
perfect fit between the extremes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and, say, Jason Statham in a film
such as Crank, a film where
we see extreme gore make a comeback in the action movie.
Speed launched Keanu Reeves to stardom, and provided yet another opportunity for
Dennis Hopper to prove that he is Hollywood's quintessential maniac. Speed's story comes close
to being brilliant, but it's the cast that really makes it work. In its own right, Speed
achieved
notoriety
worthy of its fast-paced action and a complement of characters we can believe truly exist -- from
the
villain, to the police, and even the innocent passengers on the bus. Never mind that
Speed is not smart cinema. Rather, it's fun cinema, a movie with wall-to-wall action,
well-developed and played characters, and a concept that proves most frightening to anyone
whose
ever driven in city traffic before. Implausible? Absolutely. Improbable? More than likely.
Nevertheless, movie goers willing to forego a bit of logic and reason, who want to sit back and
enjoy the ride,
will come out of this experience exhausted yet excited, and even after nearly 14 years of
entertaining audiences around the world, Speed still manages to hold our interest and
keep us on the
edges of our seats for nearly two hours of thrills.
While delivering a fine looking transfer, this 1080p, 2.35:1 image is definitely not Fox's best
effort, but is
impressive nevertheless for a film that saw its first release in 1994 (time flies when
you're watching Speed). Definitely benefitting from a high-definition release, the movie
holds up very well. I cannot compare it to the DVD releases of the film as I never purchased it for
that format, but I have owned this film on both VHS and LaserDisc, and the quality obvious blows
those two out of the water. I'd imagine it fares much better than the DVD as well, as the overall
presentation makes for an above average Blu-ray viewing experience. This image is best
described as "very good." The image retains the fine layer of natural grain inherent to film,
though it is so light at times that it is hardly visible. Detail is only moderately good. We can see
sweat on close-ups of faces, but little other very fine definition (either that or these actors had a
lot of make-up on to smooth them out). There might be just a hint of red in flesh tones, but
they look very good and accurate for the most part. Some scenes exhibit a small amount of
softness, notably during one of the close-up shots of Joe Morton's character. Colors appear
natural and pleasing -- from the bus' light blue exterior and its yellow and blue interior seats, to
the clothing
worn by the passengers, or to the interiors of various locations -- all are reproduced exceptionally
well.
The occasional black spots pop up, though I
didn't notice the first one until almost 49 minutes into the movie, and noted only a few more
afterwards, definitely not a distraction or a reason to lower the score too much. Overall, this is a
very good, but not exceptional, effort from Fox, and all things taken into account, notably the
film's age, the quality on this disc is good enough to please any Speed fans out there.
Before I reviewed for this site I screened Speed on Blu-ray at home using equipment
that decoded
only the "core" 1.5 Mbps DTS track. It sounded very good then, but the lossless mix blew me
away this go-round. It's fantastic, in fact, an entertaining mix that is boisterous,
powerful, all-encompassing, and flat out fun to
listen to. In fact, Speed won two Oscars for its sound. The first thing to notice is one of
the better action scores
(written by Mark Mancina, Training Day) that resonates and screams action, and is easily identifiable
as
the score to Speed. The theme music plays over the opening titles and sounds very nice
and
smooth as it fills the room easily and gracefully, but with subtle power and authority. Some
excellent discreet effects appear in the rear channels, some of the best, most defined, clear, and
perfectly placed I've heard. Imaging is excellent with these effects as well as with the entirety of
the
track in
general. Several of the fine discrete effects are noticed right away after the opening title
sequence and something is heard almost constantly in the back channels the rest of
the way. Dialogue reproduction is excellent, focused in the center, never lost in the action, the
voices clean, clear, and easily discernible. Bass is excellent, not quite foundation-rattling, but it
gets the job done and often sounds loud and deep without becoming overwhelming and
distracting. The elevator drop at the beginning of the film, for example, resounds with a "thud"
when it hits the bottom floor, the effect sounding fantastic -- deep, loud, exciting, and
exhilarating. The entire soundtrack, from the
loudest explosion to the softest, simplest effect is reproduced with flair and finesse, making this
mix one of the most fun I've listened to yet. Speed's DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack easily
ranks as one of my favorite Blu-ray mixes.
Speed makes its high-def debut with a few decent features, though certainly lacking for a
high-profile title, not to mention one that received the 2-disc treatment on DVD a while back.
The
highlight of the disc are two audio commentary tracks, the first featuring director Jan De Bont.
His
track is fairly interesting, and the disc does provide viewers with a short summary of what he
discusses in each chapter, making it very easy for users to skip around and choose to listen to
select sections of the commentary that seem more appealing than others. Perhaps the most
interesting aspect of his discussion is his take on the
fate of action films after 9/11, confessing to having trouble watching films with terror plots. He
nevertheless realizes the goal of a movie is to entertain, and some 14 years following its initial
release, Speed is still entertaining. The second track features writer Graham Yost
and producer Mark Gordon. Once again, participants on a Fox track first discuss the studio logo.
This track is livelier and more interesting than De Bont's, the participants very eager to share
their thoughts on the film, the excellent score, and even discussing Keanu Reeves earning his
stripes as an action star, overcoming the label of comedic actor after working in Bill and Ted's
Excellent Adventure. This track is a must-listen for fans of this film. A pop-up
trivia track is also included on this disc, occasionally providing a snippet of decent
information about the movie as the film plays.
A feature utilized on several Fox discs, Search Content allows viewers to scroll through
an alphabetical list of Speed-related terms and jump to scenes than pertain to that
item. In other words, it's a fancy, digital index, and is a cool feature. From "airport" to "wildcat,"
it's all there, allowing easy access to any part of the movie, and a superb feature to include.
Personal Scene Selections allows viewers to choose specific scenes from the film by
pressing "1" on the remote, return to the menu, and watch them in any sequence they choose.
Speed: Take Down Game lets user play as either Jack Traven or Howard Payne. As Jack,
players move
an icon around the screen, blindly searching for bombs, and an indicator will turn yellow when
one is discovered, and pressing enter disarms it. The more you disarm, the faster your speed.
Drop below 50 m.p.h. and lose. Gameplay is identical when playing as Howard, except
pressing "enter" now detonates a bomb, and players earn more money for the more bombs they
detonate. This is a moderately fun game and a good way to kill a few minutes, but not really
worth more than that. Finally, 1080p trailers for Speed, Behind Enemy Lines, League of Extraordinary
Gentlemen, Phone Booth, Planet of the Apes, and The Transporter conclude the special
features.
No
doubt about it, Speed is a major player in action movie history, one of the better ones of
the 1990s
(or any decade for that matter), a film that is infinitely re-watchable, and one that is simply great
entertainment. Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock play very well
together, and later starred opposite one another in The Lake House. Everything about Speed just works -- the
acting,
action, direction, pace, script, and plot -- all come together to create
magnificent entertainment. Despite not having seen the DVD versions, I'm willing to go out on a
limb and say that this Blu-ray edition is the best this film has ever
looked or sounded for the home video market. The video quality is definitely above average,
though
not top flight. As you might imagine, for a film that took Academy Awards for both (1) Best
Effects, Sound Effects Editing, and (2) Best Sound, the audio quality on this Blu-ray disc is
superb. A decent but ultimately skimpy group of extras don't necessarily hinder the
overall
package. Speed is a must-own film in its own right, and owning it on Blu-ray is a
no-brainer. Highly recommended!
