FOX GIVES IT’S FIVE STAR FILM THE FIVE STAR TREATMENT
The nineties produced more action movies than anyone could ever remember. One of the few that still brings a smile to faces is the Keanu Reeves high-speed flick Speed. Although the current DVD release is adequate, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is prepping a Five Star Special Edition DVD for release in July.
Keanu Reeves stars as Jack Traven, an L.A.P.D. SWAT team specialist who is sent to diffuse a bomb that a revenge-driven extortionist (Dennis Hopper) has planted on a bus. But until he does, Jack and passenger Sandra Bullock must keep the bus speeding through the streets of Los Angeles at more than 50 miles per hour – or the bomb will explode.
Going well beyond the original DVD release, the new two-disc set will feature an anamorphic widescreen transfer and audio in Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1, the numerous extras include an audio commentary by director Jan De Bont and a second audio commentary featuring Graham Yost and Mark Gordon, 5 extended scenes including Jack shoots Payne in the neck, Payne lives/cops party, Annie’s job, After Helen’s death and Ray’s Crime), four multi-angle stunt comparisons, five featurettes titled On Location, Stunts, Visual Effects, Bus Jump and Metro Rail Crash, storyboard to film comparisons, interviews with Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Dennis Hopper, Jeff Daniels and Jan De Bont, the HBO First Look special, the original theatrical trailer, TV spots, a music video, production notes, the original screenplay and an image gallery.
Whew. Fox certainly doesn’t mess around when it comes to their five star editions. The new disc will street on July 30th. The disc will be available for $26.98 by itself, and will also be available boxed with a newly restored version of the dreadful Speed 2 in a box set priced at $39.98.