The "False" Ending... On board a bus that has been wired to explode if it drops below 50mph, cop Jack Traven manages to reroute it to an airport, where it can drive around in a circle until he figures out how to unload the innocent passengers. Aware that the terrorist, former policeman Howard Payne, can see him using a camera he fixed inside the bus, Jack tricks him using looped surveillance footage, and manages to get everybody off safely, whilst the bus crashes and explodes. Yay! The terrorist's plan has been foiled, and Jack even bags himself a love interest. But Wait... There's still twenty minutes to go, despite the fact that - at this point - audiences were probably exhausted (not to mention the bus has already blow up!). Still, there was the problem of Howard Payne to be solved, which director Jan De Bont opts to solve in face-off between the hammy antagonist and Jack on board a subway train. Jack eventually knocks Payne's head off his shoulders, though. It's not bad or anything, it's just way too much - especially since, once the bus story is over, we've kind of lost interest.