The bus jump leads; Hopper’s decapitation is another pick
In the discussion (8)
- The opening elevator rescue is nominated
- The stretch from the first bus explosion through Annie boarding is nominated
- Sam’s rescue and Helen’s failed escape are nominated
- The bus jump is favored for tension and the passengers’ relieved celebration
- Donnie finds the jump less impressive on rewatch and favors the film’s cumulative tension
- Hopper’s decapitation is also nominated
- Jason explicitly chooses the bus jump
- The absurd upward trajectory becomes part of its appeal
Sandra Bullock, Keanu Reeves and the relentless premise
In the discussion (7)
- Bullock’s kindness and easy humor are praised
- Reeves’s close haircut, physique and increasingly dirty white shirt hold up
- The stay-on-or-get-off exchange remains memorable
- The bus’s speed threshold supplies an instantly understandable premise
- The action starts quickly compared with Die Hard
- One participant prefers Reeves’s trustworthy command of the bus
- Another chooses Reeves’s haircut specifically
Stereotyped passengers and implausible Los Angeles driving
In the discussion (8)
- The lack of cell phones is raised
- The bus jump’s physics are criticized
- The panel rejects criticism of Hopper’s broad performance
- Sustaining fifty miles per hour in Los Angeles feels implausible
- Passengers are reduced to ethnic and personality stereotypes
- The gun-carrying passenger’s panic and Jack putting down his badge are questioned
- An oral history reportedly describes passenger backstories removed from the film
- The panel also defends Jack’s de-escalation and notes that realistic frightened people can seem annoying onscreen
Joe Morton gets two choices; Alan Ruck and Helen also receive picks
In the discussion (6)
- Hopper is treated as a star and excluded from this role-player award
- Glenn Plummer’s Jaguar driver is nominated
- Alan Ruck is chosen for his airport-tourist complaint
- Joe Morton receives two selections for calm authority
- Helen’s failed escape earns one selection
- Sam and the construction-worker passenger are also mentioned
Reeves and Bullock still had higher peaks ahead
In the discussion (5)
- The panel thinks Reeves later rose higher
- Bullock’s later star power is judged greater; Amanda Dobbins’s off-podcast Miss Congeniality view is reported
- Hopper is proposed but Easy Rider is raised as an earlier peak
- Jeff Daniels’s combined Speed and Dumb and Dumber year is floated
- Sam the bus driver is jokingly suggested
Most Rewatchable Scene
