The Classic That Upped the Stakes for All Action Movies and Transformed Keanu Reeves' Career Is Now on Max

There were a lot of great pivotal moments in the action movie genre in the 1990s. From Heat(1995) to Léon: The Professional (1994), these movies dominated the box office for their action-packed sequences and innovative plots. One of the most popular movies of that decade, Speed, revolutionized the action genre. Directed by Jan de Bont and starring Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, and Dennis Hopper, the 1995 film is quintessential in the genre for giving high stakes, a realistic premise, and a new style of shooting these exhilarating action sequences that were genuinely dangerous. Speed centers on an LAPD cop, Jack Traven (Reeves), who has to save a lot of people from a bomb that will blow off if the bus drops below fifty miles per hour. This is a simple yet thrilling plot that changed the layout of action movies and also introduced audiences to a new kind of hero that defied the brooding, muscular physique.