hence this post.

and here, have a link :
http://blogs.amctv.com/movie-blog/2011/03/ten-reasons-we-cant-get-enough-speed.php

@lindawn
Even after 17 years, it's still a good action movie to watch. And who didn't fall in love with Jack Traven? ;)

Was it a hit because the characters were reduced to quick quips? Because “Die Hard on a bus” was an easy sell for audiences? Or was it a hit because of Keanu? He’s compelling here in a way that today’s movie-star-wannabes — the Chrises and Ryans and Justins — can’t touch, a pretty face paired with blunt machismo and given free reign to scream profanities when the situation calls for it. Perhaps it’s simply a matter of how much he cares about stopping this bus, saving these people, stopping this psycho that makes him so watchable. Because when he cares, so do we.

ahem ;)

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Because when he cares, so do we.

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Exactly.

reynard_the_fox:

My mother was actually the set decorator on Speed. Funny story - since they were filming part of it on an emergency landing area for planes, they had to prove they could pack up everything within 5 minutes.

One day, a random security guy made them actually do it. They broke every lightbulb they had throwing everything into trucks - literally throwing - and hightailing it off the set.

http://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/n62lf/keanu_reeves_the_dude_has_class/c36n3es

Edit:

I just had to add this too, from the same sub-thread:

thelogikalone:

In 6th grade I got a gf because I was one of the few kids to own a copy of Speed (ON VHS) & this girl was in loooooooooooooureve with Keanu. I happened to meet him a bit later when he was filming Chain Reaction in Chicago. Super super super nice guy.

http://youtu.be/CtoZXZyG44g

http://youtu.be/CtoZXZyG44g

Another funny fact is that the director (Jan de Bont) "insisted that Keanu Reeves get a sensible haircut as would befit a hard-working cop. 20th Century Fox were horrified when they saw the buzzcut that he adopted for the film, threatening to postpone the film to allow his hair to grow back."

(Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111257/trivia)

My favourite interview from Speed times is this one :-)
(note that his shirt is the same as in the film):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZZX5JE4PFY

I need help to understand that part, when Jack is saved from under the bus (where he unsuccessfully tried to disarm the bomb). After that there is a dialogue like this:

Ortiz: You're not too bright, man, but ya got some big round hairy cajones.
Jack: That's very gross, Ortiz.
Ortiz: Huh, can't even pay him a compliment.

O.k., I get what cajones means :-), but I don't get, why Ortiz says something like that.

Can somebody please explain?...was there something R rated that I haven't seen? ;) Or is it a phrase or something?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cojones
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cojones

Meanwhile it came to my mind that there is a similar phrase in Hungarian, too :-) You say that somebody is "a guy with testicles" if he is tough / spirited. So it's really positive, I think.

http://youtu.be/oZcb0A6kWc0

http://youtu.be/oZcb0A6kWc0

am I the last person to hear that Joss Whedon did uncredited writing for Speed?

He also worked as a 'script doctor' on various features, notably Speed (1994).

Joss began by sharing his thoughts about Keanu Reeves as an actor; sounds like an odd way to start but it was quite lovely. He explained how Keanu has mastered his own career by embodying a rare and authentic style all his own typified by a sense of compassion for humanity and a subtle detachment. He shared a story about when he was "fixing" the script for Speed and working with Keanu on the character, how Keanu had spent some time with detectives and law enforcement to get a sense of the character and he said he was struck by how polite they were. How they all used "sir" and "Ma'am." Joss was impressed by how Keanu objected to certain lines and actions in the script because they seemed outside of what the character would truly do. He explained how Keanu's choices of roles has been indicative of his style and how he has kept his private life private. He described Keanu as having an international appeal both by his "pretty" and by his multi-ethnic aesthetic. Ultimately, Keanu is the perfect Neo.

and

The Keanu panel was very interesting. I think we all were surprised by how Joss took a topic - which in some ways we were all expecting to be a joke - and created some interesting insights - both about Keanu as an actor and as an example being the type of person who can have a positive influence on the Hollywood machine. By looking at how Keanu embodies a sense of “otherness” (not stereotypically male, having a feminine aspect to his presence, having different intonation, speech patterns, and physicality from what you would normally expect from a Hollywood Action Star), you start to see that it allows people to identify and connect with him as an “everyman” – which is why he is so successful in his performance as Neo in the Matrix. Joss also commended Keanu for his sense of integrity - as a movie star not running after fame, but willing to choose projects that he wants to do, that he believes in. The Hollywood culture is built by those who work in the industry as part of it. The Importance of Being Keanu is that if more people in the industry were thoughtful about their work as an artist, their integrity as a person, their substance as storytellers – rather than chasing fame or that next mega-blockbuster movie – the culture of the Hollywood industry could change for the better. (At least that was my take from it)

Source:
WHEDONesque - A Conversation with Joss Whedon '87: Things and Stuff
(Comments from students who were there)
http://whedonesque.com/comments/12997