Keanu Reeves’ bomb disposal technique in 1994’s Speed has been lambasted by a real-life explosives expert. Following the story of Reeve’s LAPD bomb disposal officer Jack Traven, the action movie takes its name from a city bus that has been rigged with explosives and is set to detonate if its speed falls below 50 miles per hour. Following on from his leading role in 1991’s Point Break, Speed would cement Reeves’ position as an emerging action hero. Despite the movie’s popularity and considerable box office success, however, Reeves declined to return for the 1997 sequel Speed 2: Cruise Control.
In a video for Insider, Master EOD Technician Jay Ly unpacked the scene from Speed where Reeves’ character boards a moving trolley to examine the bomb strapped to the bottom of the bus while still in motion. Suggesting that there are “probably a dozen other ways” to examine the device while still inside the bus, the expert also criticized the decision to use a radio to communicate while next to a device that is electronically initiated. He also indicated that Reeves’ character should have known more about how the device works and not relied solely on the bomber to assist. Check out his comments below:
That thing is apparently the Cadillac of trolleys. Can I say that 100% that this wouldn’t be entertained? No, because it might, but what I do know is there are probably a dozen other ways to attack this device from inside the bus. I mean something as rudimentary as getting a stick with some film, so we can take an X-ray of the device so we can actually see what’s going on.
He is talking on a radio and/or phone right next to this thing. It’s electronically initiated, they don’t know if that energy will cause that device to fire or not. So that whole thing is not realistic whatsoever.
Yeah, collapsing circuits are real. It’s where there’s two or more detonators, and when you cut one, the other will fire. It’s common for us to train to that. It’s very unlikely to encounter that. In, well, at least in Afghanistan, in my experience, we didn’t encounter a lot of collapsing circuits. It was mainly pressure plates, stuff like that. Very simple circuits.
No, they should 100% do something to this device and not just solely rely on the bomber helping them out. There are tools we have to disrupt an IED and a component, so it’ll disrupt the firing train. It’ll disrupt all the circuitry and separate the components remotely, and then we’ll go down, check the disruption and then separate the components further and do our thing.
Jack, I believe he is a bomb-disposal officer with the LAPD. He should know these component-recognition things and be able to identify how this device works, or at least have a good idea of it. This definitely gets a zero, because he knows better, and he should have taken action.
Why The Time Is Ripe For Keanu Reeves’ Speed 3 Return?
Despite its questionable portrayal of bomb disposal techniques, the original Speed not only stands as one of the most iconic action movies to come out of the 1990s, but it also served as the highest-grossing film of Sandra Bullock’s career until 2013’s Gravity. Given both its warm critical reception and healthy box office returns, it came as little surprise when 20th Century Fox sought to capitalize on the original movie’s success with its 1997 sequel.
While Bullock agreed to return as her character Annie Porter, Reeves sadly opted out of returning as Jack Traven, forcing the filmmakers to retool their script and introduce a new character in the form of Jason Patric’s Alex Shaw. Earning only a fraction of the box office returns of the original movie, and widely derided by critics, Speed 2: Cruise Control would go on to be considered one of the worst sequels of all time.
With Reeves’ popularity as an action star currently sitting at an all-time high thanks to the enormous success of the John Wick franchise, perhaps the time is ripe for him to reteam with Bullock and deliver the Speed sequel that the franchise deserves. Both Reeves and Bullock have expressed their interest in the project and original screenwriter Graham Yost is also keen to board a potential Speed threequel. No matter how inaccurate the original movie’s bomb scenes may be, it still stands as one of the best entries in Reeves’ eclectic and celebrated career.
