Without question, one of Keanu Reeves’ best films and one of the most defining action films of the 1990s, “Speed” is still widely seen as a textbook example of great action blockbuster filmmaking.
Recently former Variety writer Kris Tapley has been working on an intriguing podcast titled 50MPH which goes into the making of the film.
Tapley has gotten almost everyone involved, including director Jan de Bont along with various writers, actors and producers to detail their experience making the movie.
That includes Joss Whedon who, though largely silent in the wake of on-set misconduct allegations, appeared on a recent episode going into the film’s script and spoke about his experience.
The film’s originating writer was “Justified” creator/showrunner Graham Yost who crafted the core of the film from the bomb on a speeding bus concept to all the characters and story. As such, he received sole credit as the film’s writer.
Whedon was brought on as a last-minute script doctor, mostly to polish the dialogue. How much dialogue he did isn’t clear, with some saying he wrote up to 90% of it even as he lost out on credit for the film due to a WGA ruling. Whatever the case, he says a suggestion made by Keanu Reeves himself had a big impact on how he approached it:
“[Reeves] talked about [doing research for the role by hanging out] with the SWAT guys and how they were unfailingly polite. [He said that] they’re only about defusing the situation, they call everybody ‘sir or ‘ma’am.’ It was like click — that was it. I understand this character now.
My take on it was: He wasn’t a hot shot, he was a lateral thinker. He was going to do what felt right and have an odd approach to it, but generally speaking, it would work out. That ‘sir or ma’am’ gave me so much, because bluster [in action movie heroes] was the order of the day and this was the opposite.
He also said, ‘I don’t want to pull my gun.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t want you to either, but you kind of have to. … [The studio is] not going to let you not pull your gun.'”
Intriguingly neither Yost or Whedon claim they’re responsible for the film’s most famous line of dialogue – “Pop quiz, hot shot”. Yost thought it was Whedon’s line, whereas Whedon claims it was already in there when he came onboard.
Tapley’s investigations suggest another script doctor who worked on the project, Paul Attanasio, most likely came up with the line but Attanasio himself “couldn’t recall” writing it.
“Speed” is now available on 4K UHD disc and on VOD and streaming.
