This is film school homework, but I loved this presentation coz it’s one of my favourite movies. Keanu is a babe and it introduced us to Sandra Bullock.
Does Speed fit the criteria of an action adventure film, how does or doesn’t it?
Narrative Trajectory:
Jack Traven’s decision to go after the bus to prevent it from blowing up combined with risking his life on several occasions proves that he knowingly accepted the impossible mission to save a society from a state of siege and was willing to face death to defend a personal code of honor that society shares. Based on Narrative Trajectory, “Speed” does fit the criteria of an action adventure film, because Fisk put not only the people on the elevator, bus and train at risk but all those on the highway who could potentially have been killed along the way. ‘Speed’ moderately represents a true Narrative Trajectory.
Bounded World:
With several of the action sequences taking place in elevators, cars, buses, highways, trains, underground tunnels, even at Fisk’s alleged house, it is indicative of surroundings that are open and available for action and beyond everyday experience. Based on Bounded World, “Speed” does fit the criteria of an action adventure film even though car chases and bombings are typical of most action films, the majority of the scenes taking place on a bus is beyond our everyday experience and thus “Speed” stand outs as a good example of the parameters of Bounded World.
Time Frame:
The events occurred over the matter of one day from the time the first bus exploded to when Fisk was caught. Over the course of these hours several states of siege took place: car chase 1, foot chase, car chase 2, Ray pulling the gun, driver shot, woman run over, bus hitting the stroller, jumping the gap, going under the bus, leaking gas, off-loading the passengers, bus exploding, Annie kidnapped, underground tunnel chase, cornered on the train, fighting on top of the train, and each event built unbearable tension that was eventually broken by decisive action. Based on Time Frame, “Speed” does fit the criteria of an action adventure film and the amount of extraordinary feats accomplished in such a short space of time really adds to the intensity of the film.
Character Ethos:
Just through the nature of his job as the member of a L.A.P.D SWAT team we know that Jack is a character willing to die for an idea, code, value or society. From the early shots of him hurling himself through the access panel when the bomb blows in the elevator shaft, all the way through to killing Fisk we know that he does not stop until the villain is caught or dead. It’s ironic that he would joke with Harry in the bar that cops are psychotic when actually it’s the criminals they pursue who suffer from the most psychoses. Ortiz says Jack maybe psycho but he’s got some big, round balls. Jack battles an equally motivated but morally different antagonist in Fisk in a showdown moment of truth.
Harry warns Jack that guts will get him only so far and then they’ll get him killed but Jack doesn’t shy away from danger, and almost can’t resist the challenges from Fisk especially when he’s goaded with the hot-shot quizzes. We also get a sense that he’s very intuitive from the early scenes when he’s sure Fisk is in the building to when he hears the ringing pay phone and answers it to when he connects the “wildcat” comment to the hidden camera.