Jan de Bont makes action gripping when he gives us a clear problem and keeps the people solving it in view. Speed is the reason we rate him; its excesses also suggest his limits.
Fi1m perspective
A bus must not drop below 50 miles per hour in Speed (1994), or the bomb aboard will explode. De Bont makes that rule clear enough for us to dread the ordinary business of keeping it moving. We were tense simply watching the bus, because travelling fast is no guarantee of being able to continue. His excellent directorial debut keeps giving us enough information to anticipate what might go wrong.
He came to directing through cinematography, with frequent work for Paul Verhoeven on Dutch films before his Hollywood action credits. Die Hard (1988) helped establish his reputation as a cinematographer; Basic Instinct (1992) brought him back together with Verhoeven. His directing favours practical stunts and a camera that rarely sits still. In Speed, the movement stays legible.
Andrzej Bartkowiak’s hand-held camerawork makes movement feel unstable without obscuring the action. Editor John Wright allows each new difficulty to register before pushing on, so the pace leaves us time to worry. Graham Yost’s screenplay supplies a condition that is easy to grasp and awkward to work around. Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock give us people to care about between stunts, which matters when so much depends on our wanting them to get through the next one.
De Bont does eventually ask too much of that goodwill. Speed becomes less involving as the predicaments grow more implausible, and Yost’s thinner exchanges are exposed when the pressure eases. The premise does not need all that extra action, and the film would be stronger with less of it.
Twister (1996) followed, extending his directing career into CG-augmented disaster cinema. The later films had a less favourable critical reception, including Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997) and The Haunting (1999). His final feature as director was Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life (2003). Start with Speed, and forgive it a few stunts it ought to have left out.
Biography
Jan de Bont is a Dutch cinematographer, film director and producer. Born on 22 October 1943 in Eindhoven, he trained at the Amsterdam Film Academy.
He began his career in the Netherlands as a cinematographer, including on several films directed by Paul Verhoeven. He later worked in the United States on blockbusters such as Die Hard (1988), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) and Basic Instinct (1992).
De Bont made his directorial debut with Speed (1994). He subsequently directed Twister (1996), Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997), The Haunting (1999) and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life (2003).
