10 Action Movie Scenes So Unbelievable They're Actually Awesome

There is a bomb on the bus. It will explode if it goes below 50 miles per hour. There is a huge gap ahead on the freeway. As Dennis Hopper would say, 'what do you do hotshot?'

The answer, it turns out, is to put the pedal to the metal and leap over it. Of course everyone agrees that in real life the bus would plunge straight down to a fiery death. Yet Speed sells this moment and makes it acceptable.

First, it doesn’t rush to the big jump. It creates a ton of buildup with reaction shots really selling the characters' despair at the situation (Kudos to the orchestral score here as well).

Next, the jump is executed with practical shots making it look real. Additionally, there is no wide shot of the bus mid air as it would look ridiculous. This allows us to imagine it, making it seem just the slightest bit more plausible.

Most importantly, Speed slowed down to attach us to the characters. By this moment we already care about the passengers and are yearning for them to survive. Thus, when they miraculously make it, we are so overjoyed that we are willing to take a massive leap of faith with them.