Speed is an action thriller movie that debuted in 1994. The movie tells a story of a bus that’s rigged with a bomb that will explode when the bus decelerates below 50 miles per hour, and an LAPD cop tries his best to save civilians on the bus. The movie was breathtaking and starred some of Hollywood's leading characters like Joe Morton, Alan Ruck, Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Daniels, and Dennis Hopper. In fact, if it was made today, most sections of the bus would be filmed on a film set against a bluescreen.

However, the 1994 movie was staged differently. Every bus shot took place on a real bus, and there were about ten buses reconstructed for diverse kinds of actions in the movie. Some were designed to rise on their sides, one was designed to jump a freeway, others were filled with gasoline and later on, blown up, while others allowed a driver to sit on the rooftop.

Introduced in 1963, the TDH-5303 was part of the second-generation new look bus lines. The bus featured minor revisions for excellent reliability and easier serviceability. Despite the bus’s age at the time of filming, and even though Los Angeles transit companies and Santa Monica Municipal Bus Lines had started shifting to the RTS, the new looks were familiar to LA residents. They were also rigged with filming requirements: sufficient and cheap, easy to modify, noisy, rugged, and battered by years of service.

Here’s everything we know about the bus from speed.

The Bus Drove Itself

Keanu reeves and Sandra Bullock in Speed
Via: NY Times

Around three buses had a driver on the roof to create room for exterior and interior shots below the roof, filmed with someone who sat in the driver’s seat. When the bus made a sharp turn heading 50 miles per hour, the Steer wasn’t actually on the diver's usual seat inside the bus. The stunt team assembled a rig on top of the bus to perform the dangerous move, keeping the stunt driver off the frame.

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The Bus Turned on Two Wheels

Speed bus on two wheels
Via Befores & Afters

The bus in the movie often made a few sharp turns on two wheels. Because of that, the bus was fitted with a truck on its side with a hydraulic ram. Whenever the bus turned, the team pulled the ram and the bus up on its wheels. Weights were also put at the back of the truck so that when the ram gets pulled, the truck goes in there. However, it had sufficient weight. It would drag the bus over, which saw the bus move on two wheels.

The Blown-Up Bus Nearly Resulted in an Unintended Disaster

Speed blown up bus
Via: Lido Cinemas

Among the most practical effects of the film 'speed', is the moment Dennis Hopper destroyed a Venice Beach bus to get Keanu Reeves’s attention. It was a spectacular scene with the bus exploding behind Reeves, just when he was about to get into his car, after which the character escaped the scene down the street.

However, while the crew was filming the whole scene, a lady ran down the hill towards the bus. She had no idea the crew was shooting a movie and jumped on the bus like she’d missed her bus. Later on, all she’s looking at is a whole lot of mortars and bombs in the bus and a dummy in the driver’s seat.

She was seconds away from being blown up by the bus. How the crew dodged that bullet was unbelievable. Earlier on, the lady was seen running down the street. One of the team members was standing next to the fire inspector when she saw the lady jump in the bus and instructed the team to abort.

The crew's foreman, who held the fire button in his hand, was also just about to detonate a few seconds before they saw the lady aboard the bus. He was armed and ready to push the button. However, that was such an exciting morning that started the movie off.

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The Access Panel in The Floor

Keanu Reeves under bus in Speed
Via: Rusal Jones

At one instance in the film, Keanu Reeves went underneath the bus to diffuse the bomb. Though, one of the buses was raised much higher which barred that from happening. Another bus was engineered to allow filming on a trolley vehicle.

This bus, a little Chevrolet V8, had a built-in motor and was made chain drive so that in case the character ‘Keanu Reeves’ got in trouble and the bus had to spit him out, he would avoid hitting the motor. There were coverings in front of all tires, and the back end was all rubber, so in case Reeves got in trouble, he would be spit through the back of it.

As much as the bus in Speed might scare away some viewers from the morning commute, the film apprehends what’s special about public transit. Whether we like them or not, trains, buses, and other means of transport draw us closer to the world beyond ourselves.

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