Speed

The UW’s cine-fan theater pays tribute to one of its own, film scholar David Bordwell, who passed away in March, with a series called “Thank You, David Bordwell.” All the Wednesday night screenings this summer will be 35mm prints of films from Bordwell’s own collection, now housed at the Wisconsin Center for Film & Theater Research. On July 3, Jan de Bont’s bus/bomb thriller Speed “exemplifies the fairly well-crafted action picture,” as Bordwell wrote. July 10 features the French film Vagabond from 1985; July 17 highlights Laura, the Otto Preminger murder mystery of 1944; and the series closes July 24 with Tiger on Beat, a Hong Kong buddy-cop film that Bordwell praised as “exciting, even exhilarating.” All films are at 7 p.m. at 4070 Vilas Hall.

media release: USA | 1994 | 35mm | 116 min.

Director: Jan de Bont

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Dennis Hopper

A disgruntled explosives expert (Hopper) holds Los Angeles for ransom by arming a city bus with a bomb that will detonate if the vehicle slows down below 50 mph. Attempting to foil the dastardly plot is a dedicated bomb-squad cop (Reeves) and a brave and clever bus passenger (Bullock) who must navigate the oversized vehicle through very busy crosstown traffic.

One of the best-remembered summer blockbusters of the 90s, Speed marked the directorial debut of Die Hard cinematographer de Bont and “exemplifies the fairly well-crafted action picture” (David Bordwell).

35mm print courtesy Wisconsin Center for Film & Theater Research