The 1990s were a great decade for movies, but if there’s one genre that really had its moment to shine, it’s action. It was an era that saw stars who made their mark with action films in the 1980s rise to new heights as franchise films grew — think Arnold Schwarzenegger with Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Bruce Willis with Die Hard With a Vengeance. It also saw the rise of new action stars as well. Groundbreaking CGI made action movies even exciting to watch and the stories told in the decade’s crop of high-octane blockbusters weren’t afraid to take some big, wild risks. The decade gave movie fans a ton of incredible movies in the genre, but there’s one that is not only iconic more than 30 years later, it’s still a masterpiece and it’s racing towards Hulu in March.
One of the most iconic films of the ‘90s, Speed is headed to Hulu as of March 1st. The film stars Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, and Sandra Bullock in the story of a city bus rigged by terrorist Howard Payne (Hopper) to explode if it drops below 50 miles per hour in speed. To try to prevent disaster, LAPD officer Jack Traven (Reeves) boards the bus and ends up having to work with Annie Porter (Bullock), a passenger who unexpectedly ends up with a major role in the whole affair. The film was a huge box office hit and was very well received by critics — and is still a standout even having been released in 1994, one of the best years for movies ever.
Speed Is Still an Absolute Masterpiece of the Action Genre (Just Skip the Sequel)
What’s truly great about Speed is that it isn’t just a straightforward action movie; it’s actually a few different genres rolled into one and the way the film is put together is kind of genius as well. First and foremost, Speed is part action film, part romance, part crime thriller, and all intense. The blending of genres works very well because it allows for the more tedious elements of the film to be carried by the action sequences that serve as a unifying undercurrent. The result is a movie that doesn’t drag not even once — which is impressive considering this is a two-hour movie largely about a bus hijacking of sorts.
However, the truly brilliant thing about Speed is that neatly divides the story into three acts and consciously has the story “move” with the acts. We start with a bombing attempt on a city elevator that sets the stage for Payne’s grudge against Jack and then shifts to the bus that quite literally carries the movie to its final act that, ultimately, ends up on a train. The stakes — and vehicles — get bigger and bigger and it makes for a brilliant frame for the story, one that you don’t necessarily notice until you’ve seen the movie a few times (which, trust me, I have.)
The film also has really great, well-crafted characters that audiences can easily connect with and come to care about, which should make it no surprise that, after the success of Speed, the movie got a sequel in 1997 with Speed 2: Cruise Control. Unfortunately, while Bullock came back as Annie and gave viewers a character they were already fond of, Reeves chose not to return and the sequel is just bad. With a dismal 4% on Rotten Tomatoes, some consider the movie to be the worst sequel ever made. We suggest that you just stick with Speed for this one when it hits Hulu on March 1st.
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