{"id":241567,"date":"2021-05-04T09:01:27","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T06:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/24-things-we-learned-from-the-speed-commentary\/"},"modified":"2021-05-04T09:01:27","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T06:01:27","slug":"24-things-we-learned-from-the-speed-commentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/24-things-we-learned-from-the-speed-commentary\/","title":{"rendered":"#24 Things We Learned from the &#8216;Speed&#8217; Commentary"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a276aa0a7485\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a276aa0a7485\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/24-things-we-learned-from-the-speed-commentary\/#Speed_1994\" >Speed (1994)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/24-things-we-learned-from-the-speed-commentary\/#Best_in_Context-Free_Commentary\" >Best in Context-Free Commentary<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/24-things-we-learned-from-the-speed-commentary\/#Final_Thoughts\" >Final Thoughts<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#24 Things We Learned from the &#8216;Speed&#8217; Commentary<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\">\n                <\/aside>\n<p><!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 3.7.9--><i data-stringify-type=\"italic\">Welcome to\u00a0<\/i><b data-stringify-type=\"bold\"><i data-stringify-type=\"italic\">Commentary Commentary,<\/i><\/b><i data-stringify-type=\"italic\"> where we sit and listen to filmmakers talk about their work, then share the most interesting parts. In this edition, Rob Hunter boards a bus destined for destruction with the 90s action classic, Speed<\/i>.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p><strong>Jan de Bont<\/strong>\u2018s directorial debut, 1994\u2019s <strong><em>Speed<\/em><\/strong>, remains one of the decade\u2019s great action hits, and it continues to thrill on multiple rewatches over the years. It\u2019s new to 4K UltraHD this week, and to celebrate we finally gave a listen to the filmmaker\u2019s commentary track. Keep reading to see what I heard on the commentary for <em>Speed<\/em>!<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"graf graf--h3\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Speed_1994\"><\/span>Speed (1994)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\">Commentator: Jan de Bont (director)<\/p>\n<p><strong>1.<\/strong> The opening credits sequence descending down an elevator shaft was created with a thirty-five-foot miniature laying horizontally.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2.<\/strong> He views the title track during the credits as a prologue of sorts to the entire score. \u201cAll the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">theme<\/a>s in the movie, every single one, is represented,\u201d he says while complimenting Mark Mancina\u2019s work.<\/p>\n<p><strong>3.<\/strong> After nearly three decades as a cinematographer on films like <em>Die Hard<\/em> (1988) and <em>Basic Instinct<\/em> (1992), De Bont decided he wanted to take a shot at directing. \u201cQuite often when I worked with other directors I felt like \u2018Oh my god I would have done this different,\u2019 and at one point it became a frustration for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>4.<\/strong> When he was first given Graham Yost\u2019s script for <em>Speed<\/em> it came with a warning that \u201cit was about a bus.\u201d De Bont thought it would be boring, but he was happily proven wrong as the script im<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>tely filled his head with images.<\/p>\n<p><strong>5.<\/strong> He helped shape the elevator scene based, in part, on his own experience being stuck in an elevator while filming <em>Die Hard<\/em> at the Fox Plaza building in Los Angeles. They were stuck hanging at the 40th floor and had to be rescued by the fire department through the rooftop hatch.<\/p>\n<p><strong>6.<\/strong> Keanu Reeves wasn\u2019t all that interested in starring in an action movie, so De Bont had to convince him that it would be fun. How? By telling Reeves he\u2019d be allowed to do as many of his own stunts as possible on <em>Speed<\/em>. The filmmaker credits Reeves\u2019 willingness to do more stunts with the film\u2019s success as it\u2019s clear that the cast is enmeshed in the action. \u201cOf course, you have to be really careful because then they want to do everything themselves, which of course you can\u2019t let them do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>7.<\/strong> It was Dennis Hopper\u2019s idea to stick his fingers in Jeff Daniels\u2019 nose to lift him up, and while De Bont worried it would look silly he agreed after trying it and discovering it\u2019s actually pretty painful.<\/p>\n<p><strong>8.<\/strong> \u201cI had to cast the bus as much as I had to cast the actors,\u201d he says which led him to an older model Santa Monica line bus.<\/p>\n<p><strong>9.<\/strong> His preference when it comes to effects \u2014 both visual and stunts \u2014 is to include the actors in the shot. He mentions the bus exploding over Reeves\u2019 shoulder, the reflection of fire in the phone booth, the out of focus flames behind Hopper. \u201cWhatever happens, you get the sense that there\u2019s more in the shot than the effect.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>10.<\/strong> It was Sandra Bullock\u2019s idea to get out of the Alan Ruck situation by feigning a gum emergency.<\/p>\n<p><strong>11.<\/strong> The bulk of the freeway action was filmed on an unfinished freeway stretch in LA. All of the cars, on both sides, are production cars under their control. \u201cIt was a major choreography every time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>12.<\/strong> They used a total of thirteen busses standing in for the main one. Some were designed for exterior shots, others for interiors, some to house a hidden stunt driver, and more. One version, dubbed \u201cthe Popemobile,\u201d featured a plexiglass front which allowed cameras clear access to film characters by the steering wheel.<\/p>\n<p><strong>13.<\/strong> Gang violence in LA was at a high in the mid 90s, and De Bont recalls how they would hear not-too distant gunshots nearby during <em>Speed<\/em>\u2018s production.<\/p>\n<p><strong>14.<\/strong> The sequence where the bus exits the freeway and hits several cars on its way down the ramp actually saw the bus stop every twenty-five feet or so \u201cbecause it didn\u2019t have enough power.\u201d They obviously couldn\u2019t actually keep the bus going over fifty mph \u2014 movie magic! \u2014 so it often came down to camera tricks, movement, and speeds.<\/p>\n<p><strong>15.<\/strong> He says sharp-eyed viewers will spot \u201chidden\u201d cameras during some of the bus action as they often only had single takes and had cameras in cars, trucks, and elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p><strong>16.<\/strong> The scene where the injured driver is helped off the bus to the waiting cops sees De Bont comment about a change he wishes he made. \u201cOne of the things that I wish I would have done in this particular scene, I wish I would have had everybody try to storm to the front and try to get off, so that you really get more sense of the urgency.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>17.<\/strong> He was given the opportunity to add back any deleted scenes of his choice, but he declined. There aren\u2019t really much in the way of completed scenes that didn\u2019t already make the cut, in part because <em>Speed<\/em> was storyboarded so rigidly that there was no excess filmed.<\/p>\n<p><strong>18.<\/strong> The bus jump over the \u201cmissing\u201d piece of the raised freeway was the most expensive shot in the film due both to the digital effects and the stunt work. There\u2019s no actual gap meaning it was created via visual fx, and De Bont had them add birds where the gap is to help complete the illusion. He was also told that the bus would only go fifteen feet or so, despite being a s<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trip<\/a>ped down model, so he set most of his cameras accordingly to catch the landing. In reality, the bus jumped over and past the cameras having more than doubled the expected distance. It landed on and destroyed one camera set further back while a second was able to capture the landing.<\/p>\n<p><strong>19.<\/strong> Yost\u2019s script originally had the bus head to Dodgers Stadium where it would circle around in the parking lot, but De Bont thought that would be \u201cso boring\u201d and changed it to LAX.<\/p>\n<p><strong>20.<\/strong> \u201cThe bus needed an ending too,\u201d he says as each lead character needs an arc, so they bought an old freight plane for $80,000 and blew them up together.<\/p>\n<p><strong>21.<\/strong> The prosthetic dummy head of Hopper was \u201ctoo realistic\u201d and looked grotesque as it got beheaded, so they went with the rear shot instead.<\/p>\n<p><strong>22.<\/strong> He remains a big, big fan of miniatures. \u201cIf you do it right it looks so incredibly real, something you can never never duplicate [with] computer effects.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>23.<\/strong> The subway car that comes crashing out of the tunnel was actually a bus dressed up to look like a subway car.<\/p>\n<p><strong>24.<\/strong> De Bont loves Stanley Kubrick and tries to include a nod to the filmmaker in all of his <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/watch-movies-tv-seriess\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Watch Movies &amp; TV Series\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">movies<\/a>. Here it\u2019s a literal reference as they crash in front of the Grauman\u2019s Chinese Theatre where they\u2019re showing a re-release of <em>2001: A Space Odyssey<\/em> (1968).<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"graf graf--h3\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Best_in_Context-Free_Commentary\"><\/span>Best in Context-Free Commentary<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p graf--startsWithDoubleQuote\">\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of miniatures in my movie.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was a very low budget picture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no way a director can do everything himself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat do you do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn\u2019t want to blow up any people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe all like to destroy things, especially when they\u2019re not ours.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSimple devices are quite often the best illusions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t be a movie about LA if it didn\u2019t have either a surf or a skateboard in it.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"graf graf--h3\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Final_Thoughts\"><\/span>Final Thoughts<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\"><em>Speed<\/em> was a massive hit for 20th Century Fox, kickstarted Jan de Bont\u2019s directorial career with a bang, cemented Keanu Reeves as a star, and launched Sandra Bullock towards her own stardom. It\u2019s the kind of simple, high concept action\/thriller we really don\u2019t get enough of anymore. De Bont\u2019s commentary has some gaps here and there, but he maintains most of the running time with production notes, anecdotes, and thoughts about filmmaking in <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a>. It\u2019s a solid listen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"graf graf--p\">Read more Commentary Commentary from the archives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social Media category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/speed-commentary\/#utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=speed-commentary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#24 Things We Learned from the &#8216;Speed&#8217; Commentary&#8221; Welcome to\u00a0Commentary Commentary, where we sit and listen to filmmakers talk about their work, then share the most interesting parts. In this edition, Rob Hunter boards a bus destined for destruction with the 90s action classic, Speed. Jan de Bont\u2018s directorial debut, 1994\u2019s Speed, remains one of&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":241568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/speed.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[22447,76281,78039],"class_list":["post-241567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-commentary-commentary","tag-jan-de-bont","tag-speed"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/241568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}