FAQ

The red dot is at the "55" miles per hour (MPH) mark on the bus' speedometer is a speed limit reminder. It relates to the former U.S. National Speed Limit Maximum of 55 MPH after the 1973 oil crisis. Operating a car at a max of 55 MPH was considered to be more fuel efficient. The nationwide limit of 55 MPH was repealed in 1995, but many newer vehicles still have the reminders.

LAPD officer Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves) must stop a bomb that is set to explode on a city bus if it goes under 50 miles per hour (MPH). With the help of passenger Annie Porter (Sandra Bullock), who takes over driving the bus after the bus driver is shot, Jack must keep the bus going above 50 MPH until they can figure out how to defuse the bomb ...if they can figure it out.

Speed is based on a script by Canadian screenwriter Graham Yost with extensive revisions by American screenwriter Joss Whedon. It's said that Yost got the idea from another film, Runaway Train (1985), about a train that speeds out of control, and that the ending was inspired by the ending of Silver Streak (1976). Speed was followed by Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997).

The bomber, Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper), may have placed an anonymous (dead) person strapped with bombs, possibly the security guard he killed in the opening scene, somewhere on his escape route, or perhaps in a car in the parking garage. During his escape, he'd make sure he detonated the bombs after he got out of the way. The explosion would act as a plausible cause of death for him and would also stall the police long enough to buy him time to get out of the building unnoticed. Although human remains would be found at the site, with no way to ID these and with two officers stating that Payne went into the room where the explosion occurred, the police would naturally assume he was dead. Also, Payne says something like he has: "enough dynamite strapped to him to blow a building in half." Maybe there was enough dynamite there to vaporize him, or maybe he could have placed meat or something in the area to be blown apart, faking his death, and therefore they thought he died.

There are multiple shots throughout the sequence showing the interior of the elevator where more than nine passengers are visible. The highest number of passengers visible in a single shot is 12. As no shot shows the entire interior, it's fair to assume that 13 is, indeed, the correct number.

Jack shot Harry in the upper leg, and Harry is presumably referring to the proximity of the femoral artery, a large and vital blood vessel in the thigh. If Jack's shot had hit him there, he would almost certainly have died within minutes, and they would have to give the bravery medal to his widow.

They never disclose exactly how much time had passed from the awards ceremony to the bar partying scene to the first city bus fireball explosion incident. It may have been a few weeks or even months. If Harry was not healed sufficiently, they would never have allowed him back on active duty; especially not with the LAPD SWAT team. Rather, he would be put on standby duty, i.e., sitting at a desk and doing paper/office work at the headquarters.

Incidentally, when Harry joins the unit to raid Payne's house, he yelps in pain as he runs to catch up so it's reasonable that while his leg had healed sufficiently, it could still bother him occasionally.

No. When Bob parks his bus, the faint letters of the phrase "NOT IN SERVICE" appear on the headboard. So Bob was the only person on the bus and unfortunately died. The first bus explosion also served as a wake-up call to Jack that the bomber is actually still alive.

Payne may have figured that it would be impossible for Jack to actually get to the bus in the morning rush hour in time before it reached 50 MPH. Also, the bomber may be playing the gamble. Since he lost in that elevator incident, he is testing Jack's knowledge to see who is smarter. With Jack on the bus, it's that much more exciting for Payne to watch.

Also because if Jack doesn't inform the bus driver about the bomb then the bus would have gone below 50 mph in a matter of no time and blown up, and that would mean no money for Payne.

Shooting out car tires is a bit of a movie myth, and bus tires are much more heavily reinforced, so it would be very difficult to hit and puncture a tire successfully. It would also be very dangerous to fire a gun at a small, rapidly-moving target on a busy highway, and a person shooting at the bus would almost certainly make the driver speed up to get away. Finally, one of the tires does blow out at the airport, which makes virtually no difference to the bus's speed or motion, except that it continuously yaws to the left and makes it difficult to steer and control a steady course.

Additionally, the bus has double wheels in the rear, so Jack would have to shoot out at least two tires. The inner tire on either side would be nearly impossible to hit.

It was not written that neatly, and the vehicle was not swerving through the whole scene. During the time that the letter is being written, the vehicle drives straight for several seconds as it is keeping pace with the bus. The one big swerve the car makes is when he drops the note (after it is written) and it lands on the windshield of the bus.

There appears to be 20. Some have character names and others are credited as "bus passenger".