Patrick's 20 Favorite Action Movies

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12. Speed (1994)

Directed by Jan De Bont and starring Keanu Reeves, Jeff Daniels, Sandra Bullock and Dennis Hopper, Speed is a unique action movie in that it is pretty much wall to wall action but there is very little shooting or real violence. After foiling a mad bomber’s (Hopper) plot to blow up a building, Reeve’s S.W.A.T. officer Jack Travern finds himself racing to foil the bomber’s attempt at revenge by placing a bomb on a bus that will detonate if the bus drops below 55 miles per hour. The set up is about as unlikely as the scene were the bus manages to jump across a section of unfinished bridge but it is exciting and engaging anyway. Bullock is solid as the bus passenger who has to drive after the bus driver is accidentally shot and Daniels shines as Jack’s much smarter partner. The pace is frantic as it starts strong and never gives you time to think about how batshit crazy it all is. By the time you do, the movie is over and you’ve had so much fun you forgive the film. Harder to forgive is the gaff in which Jack mentions that the University of Arizona has a good football team instead of a good basketball team. Even harder to forgive than that is De Bont deciding to set the sequel on a cruise ship. But Speed is a great action movie despite these missteps.

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6 Comments


  1. The Professional? I effing HATED that movie SO MUCH!!!! UGH. You know when you think a movie is just so bad that it makes you angry that you watched it? That is how I feel about The Professional.

    I just don’t DIG movies like that as a general rule.


    1. Given that you never saw the Matrix because it ‘didn’t look even remotely good’ I think it is safe to say this whole list is probably not material you would dig.


    1. GJ: As I said above: I tried to keep it to movies that didn’t stray too far into other their own sub-genre where I could, for instance I avoided primarily martial arts movies as they deserve their own list.

      Ninja Assassin definitely goes on the martial arts list which currently doesn’t exist.


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