Speed

Plot hole: When they get Sam the driver off the bus and onto the trailer, it's stressed how important it is to get him to hospital, but in all subsequent scenes, the trailer never leaves the side of the bus and no-one takes Sam off.

GalahadFairlight

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Suggested correction: It is unlikely, but they could have transferred him a second time to another vehicle off-screen.

It could've happened during the scene where the older scared woman was trying to leave the bus, and the cops told her to "grab my hand." They KNOW the hostages leaving the bus risks the bomb going off, and they still tried to get that lady off. It's literally these cops' first day on the job.

Plot hole: If Jack can speed the train up at the end, why does he not try to slow it down? Even if it can't be stopped completely, using the speed lever to reduce it to the minimum possible would be a sensible course of action. There is nothing to suggest he wouldn't be able to do this as he is able to increase the speed without any trouble. If there was something to show that slowing down the train would be unworkable it would make sense, but seems to more serve as a plot device.

Plot hole: After the bus passengers are rescued and removed from danger, why would the police take Annie back into danger by taking her from the airport to downtown LA to watch the attempted arrest of the bomber at Pershing Square? Why bring a civilian along?

Plot hole: What exactly is the point in Jack speeding up the subway car? He says so it can jump the track but the track wasn't finished anyway. Speeding up the subway at that point would make no difference, he should have just let the subway continue at the speed it was going.

jbrbbt

Plot hole: During the course of the movie Payne and Jack have been talking on the phone for a considerable amount of time yet there is no effort made by the police to track Payne's signal while he is talking.

Plot hole: Why is there no effort by any of the other cops or airport personnel to keep the runway clear of the pieces of tire? Especially after Jack nearly gets killed while trying to disarm the bomb while under the bus.

jbrbbt

Plot hole: Payne's finger prints would've been all over the elevator, on his shotgun, and near the area where he killed the security guard as he was never shown wearing gloves. Since he was a former police officer, I would assume his prints would've been on file with the FBI and in a multitude of databases. You would think they would've been able to identify him much earlier in the movie than they did by running the prints through all databases of finger prints.

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Suggested correction: IAFIS, the FBI fingerprint database, wasn't implemented until 1999. At the time this film was released, the LA police would have to individually run any prints found through the databases they wanted to search. Essentially, they would have to know beforehand that Howard Payne was a former Atlanta police officer or have made a wild guess.

BaconIsMyBFF

Plot hole: The police thought they could catch the bomber at the ransom drop because he did not know that the bus had exploded. However, the exploding bus would have created a huge plume of smoke that would have been reported by the media. (01:30:00)

subspace

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Suggested correction: The news reporters at the airport had been blocked by the Police from reporting. Reporters that weren't at the airport would see a cloud of smoke but wouldn't know what was causing it.

Yes, but the reporters would still report it, and the bomber would know what had caused it.

subspace

Plot hole: Jack or Harry would have definitely reported finding the suspect in the freight elevator before engaging him, and they would not be ordered to go alone. Also, all possible exits would be covered, even after an explosion.

Plot hole: It is never definitively stated if the bomb is tied directly to the axle, triggered by the speedometer instrumentation or throttle. Regardless, as long as the wheels keep spinning above 50mph the bomb will not explode by design. This means that if you lifted the wheels of the bus off the ground or you bottom out, you could keep accelerating without any speed at all. This could be accomplished in any number of ways. One example would be driving on grass and keeping the tires spinning.

StevensPointWI

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Suggested correction: And that would accomplish precisely nothing. They know Payne is watching them and he explicitly stated no-one is allowed to get off the bus or he will detonate it, only making an exception for the injured driver. What good is finding a way to keep the wheels in motion if everyone is still stuck on the bus?

Phaneron

The mistake is suggesting that you basically find a way to stop the bus but keep the wheels spinning such as grounding it on a hill. Then while the bus is stationary, just (I'm assuming here) put a weight on the accelerator to keep the wheels spinning and then everyone just hop off and walk away. However, you're correct in that Howard is watching the live feed so would just blow the bomb when people got off.

Ssiscool

I fully understood what the entry was suggesting, but Payne's demand that everyone stays on the bus under penalty of detonation voids it. Even if that wasn't the case, finding a way to somehow stop the bus but keeping the wheels spinning (such as lifting it with a helicopter) would be a logistical nightmare in that scenario. Their plans to drive on the otherwise unoccupied freeway and then circle the airport runway were much more practical.

Phaneron

The other glaring problem with "stopping the bus while keeping the wheels moving" is those pesky laws of physics. Momentum, kinetic energy, and inertia would all prevent that from happening under any circumstance that could be quickly cobbled together by any police department. I'm sure physicists and engineers could come up with something given a few months and a buttload of money, but for this example you could consider it impossible - especially without causing a lot of passenger injuries.

Character mistake: There is no way on earth that a police officer would shoot a hostage in the thigh to 'take them out of the equation'. Anyone who suggested such a thing would likely be taken out and shot themselves. Bullet wounds to the thigh are often fatal, as an injury to the femoral artery causes massive and frequently unstoppable blood loss. Breaking the femur often leads to fat embolisms as bone marrow gets into the bloodstream and then to the lungs. In fact a broken femur is a life threatening injury in itself, and a shattered femur - a typical bullet injury - would almost always result in a total amputation. You cannot aim carefully enough to avoid the bone or artery as their position in the body varies, (as will the bullet trajectory upon impact). Jack is an experienced cop and would know the potentially disastrous consequences of shooting someone in the thigh. He'd shoot him in the foot. (00:21:05)

More mistakes in Speed

Jack: You're crazy! You're fuckin' crazy!
Howard Payne: NO! Poor people are crazy, Jack. I'm eccentric.

More quotes from Speed

Trivia: In this movie the only reason why Howard Payne is trying to blow the elevator and the buses is because he wants money. He also gets very upset when the paint explodes in the bag. If you look on the back of bus 2525 there's a green sign that says "Money isn't everything (Yeah Right)".

ShooterMcGavin34

More trivia for Speed

Question: How would you get on the roof of a moving subway? We don't see it in the movie (Jack looks up and starts to climb - cut - Jack is on the roof.... Howard cries 'I'm coming for you Jack and runs - cut - Howard is behind Jack on the roof. after the fight when Howard 'lost his head' - cut - Jack is inside the subway again...).

Answer: Ventilation shafts or roof panels.

Toolio

More questions & answers from Speed

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