50 Greatest Action Movies Of All Time

46. Speed (1994)

Speed 2
20th Century Fox

High-concept, high-stakes and high-octane, Jan de Bont's action classic overcame the derisory 'Die Hard on a bus' comparisons to maximise the potential of its brilliantly simple pitch to turn 'The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down' into one of the genre's all-time greats. Wait, that doesn't sound right...

Unusually for a Hollywood blockbuster the villain is introduced barely a minute in, and Speed keeps up this relentless and adrenaline-fuelled pace throughout the entire running time. Leads Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock generate plenty of chemistry, Dennis Hopper is at his demented best and the practical stunts are often breathtaking.

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