Speed (1994)

Speed (1994) Full Recap

A security officer conducts his routine checks of the city's elevators but comes across a suspicious character operating without a work order. He questions this strange man but gets stabbed in his ear for his troubles. This man is none other than Howard Payne, a former officer of the Atlanta police bomb squad who has turned to blackmail. Right upstairs, the executives take the elevator to the ground floor, thirteen of them to be precise.

They're all waiting to touch down when Howard arms the first of three explosives he attached to the elevator, cutting off the wires and sending it falling at a rapid pace. The lift screeches to a halt on the 30th floor, thanks to the preinstalled emergency brakes. The cops surround the place in about 30 minutes, officers trooping into the building, well, like there's a bomb in it. Gathering his team, Lieutenant McMahon fills them in on the situation, explaining that Howard wants 3 million dollars or he'll blow the elevator's emergency brakes.

Unfortunately, out of the hour Howard gave, the cops have only 23 minutes left. Just then, cocky officer Jack Traven nominates his colleague, Harry, to check out the explosive device. For this reason, the lieutenant sends both officers to check it out instead. As the team disperses, Jack and Harry make their way up the stairs and onto the 32nd floor.

Gun in hand, they continue down the hallway until Jack finds the closest access panel to the elevator. As he drills into it, the folks in the elevator start to cause a ruckus. Meanwhile, Howard, who never left the building, hears the drilling sounds. Jack and Harry don't know this, but they follow the access panel and carefully climb down onto the elevator.

Jack announces himself to be an officer with the Los Angeles police department, lying to the hostages that the elevator is simply malfunctioning. In truth, the officers stare in disdain at the elaborate explosives Howard attached to the elevator. All the while, Howard listens in. The officers can't do anything without Lieutenant McMahon's say-so, but after staring at the setup for a moment, Jack feels like the culprit is going to blow the elevator anyway.

Inside, Bob, a friend of one of the executives, begins to worry that the cops are taking too long, and rightfully so. Jack leaves the elevator shaft in a heartbeat, forcing his partner to follow. They make their way to the roof, and Jack notices a crane sitting in the distance. They climb further up, Jack retrieves the crane wire, and Harry shoves it down a vent and into the elevator shaft.

With 6 minutes left on the clock, McMahon berates the government officials to just send him the money. Meanwhile, Harry gently lowers Jack into the elevator shaft, crane wire in hand. He tries his best to hold steady, and in a few minutes, Jack successfully attaches the crane's hook to the roof of the elevator. Howard can sense that something is wrong, so he begins his contingency plan – blowing the second explosive.

Luckily, Harry is already pulling Jack back up. Chaos breaks out in an otherwise tense situation, sending all thirteen hostages screaming as the elevator drops a couple of more floors. A section of the elevator's floor gets destroyed in the blast, and an unfortunate hostage almost falls through. Luckily, Bob and the others pull her back up.

Too bad the crane wasn't built to handle this much weight. Soon, the bolts holding down the crane come off, and it bursts through the vents and into the elevator shaft, sending the hostages down an additional three floors. Panicked, Jack and Harry hurry down the stairs, telling the lieutenant to send them help. They locate the access panel closest to the elevator, open it up, and then pry the elevator doors open just enough to save one hostage at a time.

The crane, unable to hold everyone's weight, continues to slowly scrape its way down, lowering the elevator as it goes. The officers manage to save 12 of 13 hostages, but the last lady refuses to climb out for fear of getting crushed at the door. Jack screams some sense into her, and the moment they pull her out, the crane falls all the way through alongside the elevator. The crash scares the daylight out of Lieutenant McMahon and his men on the ground floor.

Meanwhile, all the hostages make a run for it, leaving Jack and Harry to take a breather. Soon, Jack realizes that Howard is in the building, seeing as he blew the elevator when they still had 3 minutes. Harry doesn't want to believe him, but the conviction in Jack's eyes wins him over. They brainstorm for the next few minutes about where Howard could be hiding, only for Harry to remember the freight elevator.

Immediately, they hurry to the freight elevator, and Jack forces it open with a pocket knife. All the way from the top, the duo can hear Howard coughing, and this is proof enough for Jack to slide down after him. Left with no choice, Harry follows his colleague. They land ever so quietly, but Howard is aware of their presence.

He fires his shotgun, and it eats through the elevator roof easily. More shots are fired until Harry falls through the roof, joining Howard in the elevator. Thinking on his feet, Howard pushes the button to the 46th floor, and the elevator lurches to life, ascending faster than Jack imagined. With no room to run, he jumps into the elevator, and is met with Howard's shotgun to his face.

He flinches as the psychopath shoots, only to discover that Howard is out of bullets. Quickly, Jack slams the shotgun out of his hands, but Howard pulls out a bomb and draws Harry closer to himself. Meanwhile, word reaches Lieutenant McMahon about the freight elevators being in use, and it stops on the third floor right before his eyes. With this, he and a bunch of operatives make their way to the scene.

Unfortunately, Howard isn't scared. In fact, he taunts Jack with the bomb, and Harry, being held hostage, asks Jack to shoot him. Instantly, Jack shoots his partner in the leg, asking Howard not to move. The bomber doesn't listen, and the moment he disappears into the back room, he detonates the bomb.

Days later, the commissioner gives Harry and Jack medals for saving the lives of 13 people, including the fact that Howard lost his life in the bomb blast. In truth, Howard is alive and well, and even applauds Jack as he watches him on TV. Jack and Harry's after-party is the bomb. Everyone shows up with smiles on their faces, and within minutes, beers in their hands.

After Lieutenant McMahon gives a toast, everyone gets right to drinking. They later advise Jack not to be so cocky, adding that guts will only take him so far. Harry then limps his way out. The next morning, Bob, a bus driver, finds Jack at their usual cafe. They joke about his wild night, and Bob says goodbye after picking up his order.

He's barely driven a block when the bus explodes, going up in flames like a terrible gas leak. Jack drops everything to chase after the bus, but the flames are too hot for him to do anything. Just then, a nearby payphone rings. Curious, Jack answers it, only to hear Howard's voice.

He's shocked at first, and then wonders why Howard didn't just come after him. In response, the bomber quips that he wants his 3.7 million dollars, claiming that Jack can't mess with his life's work and get away with it. He goes on about a bomb on another bus, explaining that once it reaches 50 miles per hour, it'll be armed. If it drops below 50, the bomb will detonate.

Howard even offers to tell him which bus it's on, but promises to detonate the bomb if he tries to save any passengers. With this, Howard gives Jack until 11 A.M – that's 3 hours – to get the money. He reveals that it's bus number 2525 running from Venice, corner of Ocean Park and Main. Jack doesn't even hang up the phone before racing to his car and driving off like a madman.

Meanwhile, Sam, the driver of bus 2525, makes Annie Porter, one of his regular passengers, run to catch the bus. He eventually stops the bus for her to get in and they laugh about it. She switches to Helen's seat later on, tired of the yapping tourist behind her. At the same time, Jack is racing through traffic.

Up ahead, there's a hold up, so Sam's bus has to slow down, pulling complaints out of the passengers. This buys Jack enough time to catch up with the bus. Dumping his car, he chases after it on foot, trying to tell Sam that he's with the LAPD. Of course, Sam is egged on by his passengers and doesn't stop the bus.

Stranded, Jack uses his position as an officer to bully a man named Maurice, and steps into the driver's seat of Maurice's jaguar. They tear through the highway, meandering past various vehicles until they come side by side with bus 2525. Jack manages to identify himself as a cop, but all attempts to warn Sam about the bomb fail. Just then, Jack drives ahead of the bus, instructing Maurice to get a piece of paper and a marker, and write a warning for Sam.

As luck would have it, the wind transports the paper onto the windshield of the bus, putting the fear of God into Sam. He takes his foot off the gas as a result, and Jack instantly notices. Jack slows down just enough to come side by side with the bus, yells at Sam to open the doors, and then warns him not to go below 50 miles per hour. The moment Sam signals that he understands, Jack has Maurice call Harry.

However, a very hungover Harry answers the phone, but before he can joke around, Jack informs him that Howard, the bomber, is not only alive but has set a bomb on a bus. Harry immediately relays the news to Lieutenant McMahon, and they get preparations underway. Back on the highway, Jack is hellbent on making it onto the bus. He only confirms that Maurice inspired his jaguar before breaking off the door.

Asking Sam to drive straight, Jack swipes Maurice's phone and instructs him to take the wheel. Jack comes close enough to the bus and jumps without a second thought, the soles of his shoes scraping the road. Unfortunately, Maurice can't control the car and eventually crashes into the barrels used as roadblocks. Annie, concluding that Jack has lost his mind, gets up to scold him for making the passengers scared.

Jack still doesn't inform them about the bomb, but he gets Annie to sit back down. Things become complicated when a felon on the bus thinks Jack is there for him. They point their guns at each other at first, but Jack drops his in an attempt to make peace. One of the other passengers takes this opportunity to tackle the felon, but this leads to Sam getting shot in the shoulder.

The bus swerves to the extreme right, grazing a number of vehicles in its wake. Meanwhile, Annie rushes to the driver's seat to check on Sam. She manages to take over the wheel while Jack tackles the felon. Annie's plan is to stop somewhere to get Sam the help he needs, but Jack overhears this and yells that there's a bomb on the bus.

The passengers grow quiet for a moment before some of them speak up, claiming that Jack's kidding. He doesn't have time to indulge them, so he walks over to Sam, takes off his Jacket, and has Helen put it under the driver's head to elevate it. After this, he talks with Annie, confirming that she can handle the bus moving forward. Back at the precinct, Lieutenant McMahon and his men gear up and head to the chopper, leaving Harry behind.

They take off in pursuit of the bus, but a news chopper gets there first, broadcasting the whole thing for everyone, including Howard, to see. Now on the phone with Harry, he and Jack discuss the location of the bomb. After checking the driver's seat in vain, Sam mentions an access panel, and Jack hands the phone to the yapping tourist and takes a peek. Jack notices three triggers; one on the bus's axle, a cellular remote, and a timer attached to a gold watch.

He's still talking to Harry when Annie yells into the public address system to get his attention. There's an incoming hold-up, so Jack advises her to drive on the shoulder of the road. Annie scrapes multiple cars in the process, barges into a couple of barrels and a bunch of road signs, but Jack warns her not to stop. He even steps on her foot just to make sure she doesn't, and they drive right into heavy traffic, causing smaller vehicles to crash.

Gratefully, the bus finds balance. Back at the precinct, Harry is pretty tired. Other bombers use just one method of bombing, but Howard uses everything from C4 to dynamite, with a different trigger every time. This lets Harry know that Howard must know everything cops look for in a bomber.

He then sends officer Robin to get him ten years worth of records on Los Angeles cops. Jack gets word from McMahon, and is told to continue down a straight path. Sadly, an incoming truck leaves Annie no choice but to swerve onto the left lane – a one-way street. More cars suffer because of this, and to stop from killing some kids, Annie misses the turn Lieutenant McMahon had planned.

Multiple police cars and bikes escort the bus as the Lieutenant comes up with another plan. He sends word about a hard right coming up, and Annie concludes that the bus will tip over. Concerned, Jack asks all the passengers to move over to the right side of the bus. With this, Jack and Annie join hands to swerve the bus onto the right lane, everyone screaming as part of the bus gets elevated.

Thanks to all their weight being on the right side, the bus finds balance once again. They celebrate this minuscule win by heaving sighs of relief, and Lieutenant McMahon and his men touch down at the closest interchange. In turn, the lieutenant ensures that the freeway is clear for bus 2525 to continue moving. Soon, a partial truck frame housing the lieutenant and a couple of officers catches up with the bus.

McMahon tries to save the passengers but Jack informs him about Howard's conditions, pointing at the news chopper above. Luckily, Howard already saw the lieutenant's truck on the news, and calls Jack to talk about it. Jack clarifies that they only need to let the injured bus driver go. Howard refuses at first, but the idea of currying favor with the government changes his mind.

As soon as he gives Jack the go-ahead, McMahon works to get the truck frame closer. Meanwhile, with the help of a passenger named Ortiz, Jack moves Sam. Sadly, Helen, scared out of her mind, tries to leave too, only to be stopped by Jack. Annie works with the officers on the truck, pulling as close as she can to them while Jack and Ortiz try to hand Sam over.

After trying twice, they succeed, and the cops lay Sam down gently. Too bad Helen stubbornly heads for the exit. Howard notices this from the news and detonates a bomb right beneath the stairs. Poor Helen falls and gets caught under the wheels of the bus, dying immediately. Howard laughs after news of Helen’s death breaks.

Meanwhile, tensions run high on the bus, leaving Jack to calm them down and then encourage a crying Annie. On the other hand, Officer Norwood informs the lieutenant that a section of the freeway isn't finished. It gets worse. The gap spans about fifty feet, and Lieutenant McMahon has to whisper this fact to Jack.

In turn, Jack announces it to the rest of the bus, inciting another wave of panic. He then turns to Annie, asking her to floor the bus. As they draw closer to the gap, McMahon and the others hang back. Jack uncuffs the felon from earlier, advising everyone else to hold on to something.

Squeezing their eyes shut, folks begin to pray, and Annie gets the bus up to about 70 mph. Everyone ducks as the bus leaps off the edge, crossing their fingers until it staggers onto the other side of the freeway. They crash into multiple roadblocks, dropping the speed to about 53 mph. Luckily, Annie returns to driving in time to save their butts.

At this point, screams of joy erupt from the bus, and even the officers behind can't help but be happy. As they drive on, Jack notices the airport sign up ahead. Immediately, he tells Annie to take a right, and within seconds, they speed past airport security. McMahon learns of this and is proud of his officer, seeing as the bus can circle the runways to buy them more time.

While they run circles, Howard calls again, congratulating Jack on surviving so many close calls. He then makes it clear that he wants large denomination bills in two clear plastic bags. In turn, Jack convinces Howard that the other cops don't think he's worth a grain of salt. This gets Howard mad, but Jack gets him to believe that he can get the cash if he gets off the bus.

Howard reluctantly agrees, warning Jack not to do anything tricky. Jack breaks the news to the folks in the bus, and promises that he'll be back in no time. Just then, McMahon's jeep comes inches away from the bus, and Jack grabs onto its side. Seeing as the airport counts as restricted airspace, the news chopper can't catch any footage from above.

They just report the circling of the bus. Meanwhile, Jack concludes that the only way out of this situation is if he tries to dismantle the bomb. With this in mind, his comrades fetch him a creeper, complete with a reinforced wire attached to their truck. The creeper is a small wheeled instrument that'll let him go under the bus.

Annie clocks Jack as he lies on the creeper, but this only reaffirms her suspicions that he's crazy. Then, McMahon gives the creeper some leeway, and like an unwinding ball of yarn, the wire extends until Jack finds himself underneath the bus. With Harry on the phone, Jack gets instructed to peel the sheath off the green wire. He's still doing this when one of the Bus's back tires loses its first layer.

The bus bumps into a small object, and it's pure luck that saves Jack from cutting the green wire. After successfully unsheathing it, Harry instructs him to clip a battery to the green wire and then run it to another wire, but this plan also fails. At this moment, officer Robin enters the room with the name of Howard Payne, informing Harry that they can get to Howard's house in 15 minutes. With this, Harry and the others hurry up, and Jack asks the lieutenant to pull him back in.

Sadly, some rubble messes up his creeper and all of the wire attached to it gets extended. Jack's almost crushed under the tires of the bus, but he manages to hold onto the fitting underneath it. Scared, Annie has the felon check if Jack came out the back of the bus, and then the yapping tourist checks underneath. Both men come back with reports of not seeing Jack.

Things get worse. The wire holding Jack's creeper in place, breaks off, forcing him to plunge a dagger into the fuel tank just to stay in place. Pulling himself off the ground, the creeper gets crushed by the bus's tires, giving Annie the impression that something has happened to him. Meanwhile, Jack continues to struggle to stay elevated, giving Ortiz a chance to pry the access panel open.

Peeking beneath the bus, he spots Jack struggling, and asks the other passengers to hold his legs. With Annie applying pressure, they help Ortiz, who, in turn, grabs onto Jack. Together, they pull him back into the bus, and everyone, including McMahon, wonders how many lives Jack has. The cop doesn't even smile after surviving such a situation; instead, he walks up to Annie.

She soon notices that he smells like fuel, and Jack admits that they have a leak. He quickly buzzes the lieutenant, asking for a fuel truck to be brought around, and adding that they have ten minutes of fuel left. McMahon gets on it without wasting another second. As promised, Harry and other operatives arrive at Howard's residence in under 15 minutes.

They sneak in through the windows, clearing room by room in absolute silence. Unfortunately, Howard rigged his house with explosives. Harry notices this too late and just sighs, accepting his fate. The building goes up in flames seconds later, killing Harry and a handful of other operatives.

Jack's phone rings and he answers, expecting it to be Harry. Too bad it's Howard again. This time, he's calling to gloat about Harry's death. He refers to Annie as a Wildcat, adding that she and the others will die if Jack doesn't do as he's told. Jack threatens to rip Howard's spine out, but the bomber simply gives instructions for his cash to be dropped off at Pershing Square, in a green garbage can on the northeast corner.

He ends the call after this, leaving a frustrated Jack to smash the phone and scream his lungs out. Annie manages to calm him down, begging him not to give up on them. Just then, Jack notices the University of Arizona sweater hanging from Annie's seat, and she confirms that she attended the university. The university's football team calls themselves the Wildcats, just like Howard referred to Annie on the phone.

Connecting the dots, Jack realizes that Howard has been watching Annie somehow. Subtly, Jack looks around and notices a small video camera hidden behind the rearview mirror. Luckily, it has no audio, so Jack announces its presence to the remaining passengers, urging them to act naturally. He then reaches out to Lieutenant McMahon with a new plan.

Instantly, the lieutenant tracks down the closest reporter, and asks him to intercept and tape Howard's live stream. McMahon pressures the reporter to the extent that the poor guy yells at him before obeying. On the bus, everyone maintains a natural stance until Annie notices that they're almost out of fuel. She draws Jack's attention to this, and he reaches out to the lieutenant, asking him to loop the tape.

McMahon yells at the reporter once again, and within seconds, they loop the natural-looking footage over Howard's live stream of the bus. It works. Howard returns from the bathroom and doesn't even notice anything wrong with the footage. The lieutenant shows up in another bus, handing Jack some tools to rig the steering wheel and the gas pedal.

They then attach a temporary bridge between both buses, transferring passengers three at a time while Annie tries to remain steady. Other than Annie, the yapping tourist is the last civilian on the bus, but halfway through transferring him, the back tires give out. The bridge disengages, and the tourist literally hangs off the edge of the decoy bus. Thankfully, Ortiz and Norwood work together to pull him in.

Meanwhile, Annie can barely hold the steering wheel in place, so Jack retrieves the tools the lieutenant had given him and approaches Annie. They both try to stop the bus from swerving, and when they succeed, Annie holds down the accelerator with a metal pipe. Then, she ties two strings to the steering wheel; Jack ties their other ends to the access panel latch. He disengages the panel completely, asking Annie to get on it.

She's scared, but the bus is approaching a cargo plane. Quickly, Jack convinces her to get on the panel and joins her before releasing one of the strings. The panel screeches as they slide out from under the bus, going one way while the bus goes another. After the panel comes to a rough stop, Jack and Annie watch as the bus crashes into an empty cargo plane, the two of them exploding in a baptism of fire.

As the mushroom cloud of smoke settles, Jack and Annie share a laugh, joking about relationships and how the ones that start out intense never last. Then, McMahon and his men pull up in vehicles and get the makeshift couple some medical attention. It's at this point that an oblivious Howard calls the department, asking when his money will arrive. The lieutenant almost lashes out, but when he realizes that Howard is none the wiser, he lies that the bomber will be paid in thirty minutes.

A bunch of cops arrive at Pershing Square within minutes, surrounding the pick-up point. Then, McMahon and a select few set up in a barbershop in the vicinity. Arriving in an ambulance, Jack abandons Annie to join the lieutenant, but she's much too restless to stay put. She steps out of the ambulance in time to witness the cash being dropped into the specified trashcan, but Howard also witnesses it from his window.

In addition, he clocks all the operatives stationed around, and laughs. As he returns to his computers, he realizes that the footage has been looped and can't help but scream. Still furious, Howard changes into his old police uniform and steps into the street, clocking Annie outside the ambulance. Seeing as she doesn't know what he looks like, Howard lies that Jack sent him to keep her safe.

She just follows him after hearing this. Meanwhile, McMahon and the others are worried about Howard running late, but Jack is more suspicious because the bomber is always punctual. He pressures the lieutenant to activate the tracker they added to the cash, and they discover that it's already moving. Immediately, Jack runs across the street, kicking the trash can aside.

Speed (1994) Ending Explained

Howard had dug a hole beneath the trash can and stolen the cash into the subway without anyone noticing. Without thinking, Jack jumps into the hole and tracks down the culprit at gunpoint, only to find out its Annie with a bomb vest strapped to her chest. Then, Howard shows up, detonator in hand, and forces Annie to fill up his bag with the cash. Jack feels frustrated, helplessly watching as Howard leads Annie to the subway trains.

Firing shots in the air, the bomber clears out one of the trains, forces the driver to start it up, and then cuffs Annie to a stanchion. The train is already moving when Jack arrives, so he pries one of the doors open in time to avoid getting crushed. Stealthily, he approaches the car holding Annie, only for him to witness Howard handing her the detonator and shooting the poor driver dead. Howard thinks he and Annie are alone, so he retrieves the detonator and chats her up.

Noticing this, Jack sneaks onto the roof of the train, but gets caught when he tries to avoid a stoplight. Howard jokes about bribing Jack and heads to his loot to get some money for him. Sadly, a dye pack explodes the moment he opens the bag. Infuriated, Howard fires sporadically at the roof of the train and Jack narrowly escapes by rolling over.

Just as Jack loses his gun, Howard runs out of bullets. His anger hasn't been quenched, so he races after Jack, leaving Annie helpless on the train. Arriving on the roof, Howard smacks Jack around with the detonator, strangles him for a bit, and returns to smacking him around. The two continue to struggle as another stoplight approaches, but only Jack notices this.

Grabbing the detonator, he pushes Howard just high enough that his head makes contact with the stoplight at top speed, decapitating him. As Howard's headless body falls onto the tracks, Jack holds on to the detonator and makes his way back into the train. He joins a panicking Annie in no time, breaks the news to her, and manages to deactivate the bomb. After unstrapping the bomb vest, Jack hears McMahon's voice coming from the train's radio.

Sadly, it's a one-way transmission because Howard shot up the cab. With an unfinished track up ahead, Jack tries the emergency brakes. They don't work. He quickly returns to Annie with a plan for them to jump off the train, but there's a problem – he doesn't have the key to her handcuffs.

In a panic, they begin to struggle with the stanchion, Jack kicking it with all his might. Unfortunately, nothing works. Annie suggests that only Jack jumps off the train, but he doesn't listen. He notices a map on the wall, and that Hollywood Boulevard is up ahead while the end of the track is at a curve.

He then accelerates the train, hoping that it'll jump the tracks when they reach the bend. It works. Jack and Annie hold on to each other as the train jumps the tracks, breaks in half, and bursts out onto the streets of Hollywood. They're still holding each other when what's left of the train screeches to a halt, and a bunch of passersby stop to take a peek.

Inside the train, Jack and Annie agree to start a relationship, disregarding the rules about starting out intensely. Jack, arrogant as ever, never expected to come across someone as ruthless as Howard Payne. Despite losing his best friend Harry, almost losing a bus load of people, and even Annie, Jack came out victorious by sheer persistence. Remember, if you stay in the dark long enough, your eyes begin to adjust.