Speed

"Fasten your seat belts: We're in for a bumpy night" could have been a line from this film if the late, great Bet had been behind the wheel. A great film for the developing claustrophobic, agoraphobic, or paranoid. Some of you will never get into an elevator or public bus again.

The dialogue is a bit thin, but manages to manipulate us into all those situations we (hopefully) will never experience personally. All action from the word go (or is it "help!"). It almost seems as if those sixties' experiments that metered a controlled audience of viewers in order to discover which scenes had the most impact on them (results: all forms of excitement, crashes, fights, accidents, violence, murder) has resulted in its perfectly consolidated manifestation.

This film definitely keeps the heartbeat and ventilation rate going. Keanu Reeves looks a treat with his new haircut and Dennis Hopper fits so well into the skin of a psychopath. Director of photography, Andrzej Bartkowiak's photography keeps the visuals as exciting.

Ex-director of photography Jan De Bont's first venture as director of a feature film certainly has hit the viewer where he loves it. And if you think sound can't be used effectively please take note that it managed to pick up the Oscars^® for Sound and Sound Effects Editing.

The box office rattles with the sound of reverberating coins as the uninitiated enter the rollercoaster world of screen-shattering thrills. Next stop? : Had hoped for a big Green Godzilla, but De Bont seems to have set this aside for the time being to work on the remake of The Day The Earth Caught Fire. Pity.