Speed star Jeff Daniels recalls struggling while filming Harry’s death in the hit action movie and the revelation that made the scene finally work. Released in 1994, Speed stars Keanu Reeves as Jack Traven, an L.A. cop who finds himself aboard a bus that will explode if it drops below 50 mph. Harry serves as Jack’s partner throughout the film and heads the search for Dennis Hopper’s bomber, but the character eventually meets his end when he storms into a house rigged with explosives.
During a recent interview on The Rich Eisen Show, Daniels reflects on filming Harry’s death scene in Speed and how the moment was proving troublesome.
According to Daniels, a scene from Jaws ultimately held the key to making Harry’s big moment work. Check out the actor’s full comment below:
With the success of the John Wick franchise ushering in something of an action renaissance for Reeves, it’s worth remembering that Speed, along with 1991’s Point Break, was one of the key films that first established him as an action star. The premise is one of the best high-concept action movie ideas of all time, and director Jan de Bont ultimately made a film that totally delivers on it. Even 30 years later, the movie is tense, thrilling, and a fun action throwback.
Reeves is perfect as Jack, imbuing the character with his signature likability and coolness, while also nailing the physicality that the role required. The performances from Bullock, Daniels, and an over-the-top Hopper are also fun. As for the action itself, the scenes aboard the bus remain the most exciting, and there are some notable stunts as the characters struggle to keep the vehicle above 50. The opening action scene in the elevator and the ending train sequence are also intense, however, and Harry’s death comes as a shock.
If there’s one moment from the film that doesn’t totally hold up it’s the bus jump across an incomplete section of freeway. The physics of the ordeal don’t totally make sense and the feat is obviously completely unrealistic, but it ultimately doesn’t feel totally out of line with the rest of the film. While Speed is now three decades old, it remains a seminal movie in the action genre, and it’s evidently for the best that Daniels decided to join the cast as Harry.
Source: The Rich Eisen Show