Speed 2: Cruise Control

Starring:Sandra Bullock, Jason Patric, Willem Dafoe, Temuera Morrison, Brian McCardie, Christine Firkins, Michael G. Hagerty, Colleen Camp, Lois Chiles, Francis Guinan, Tamia, Jeremy Hotz, Enrique Murciano, Jessica Diz, Connie Ray, Patrika Darbo, Kimmy Robertson, Charles Parks, Susan Barnes, Bo Svenson
Director: Jan de Bont
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Anybody seen Keanu? The action star of Speed opted out of this overbearing sequel, which finds costar Sandra Bullock in love with another guy (Jason Patric) and in trouble aboard a cruise ship under the control of a mad extortionist (Willem Dafoe). Speed director Jan de Bont is back at the helm for part 2, but even he seems to have forgotten that what made the first film work was the simplicity of its hook (the bomb, the bus that can't drive below 50 mph, the handful of sympathetic passengers, etc.). Speed 2 is all about hugeness: big ship, lots of places to get into trouble, and so on. Even with an eye-popping, endless finale of the vessel crashing into port (and causing mondo destruction), there is nothing about this movie that is remotely as involving as its predecessor. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Oh no!.......2007-04-19

With a little more thought invested in the screenplay, 1997's "Speed 2" could have been another jewel in the crown of the series, instead of a death blow to the franchise. Keanu Reevves bowed out of this installment, so Officer Traven, Bullock's first boyfriend, is replaced by Alex Shaw (Jason Patric of "Rush" and "Sleepers"). Bullock's Annie thinks Alex is completely different than Traven, but finds out via an early crash course with Tim Conway (as her driving instructor) that Alex is also a cop on LAPD's "Suicide Squad." (She almost runs him over.)

To make up with one another, the two sign up for a cruise. Unfortunately Geiger (Willem Dafoe), a computer genius with a grudge, is on board, with plans of taking over the ship and crashing it into an oil tanker unless one of the passengers is able to define irony. Out of everyone here, it looks like Dafoe put the most effort into developing his character, like he's warming up to be Green Goblin.

Geiger has all sorts of resources at his disposal, like a bath of leaches to suck the copper poisoning from his veins, a remote controller for the ship's controls, and a nifty set of gadget golf-clubs. At one point he seems like he's even able to control the ship's crew with a "these aren't the droids you're looking for" Jedi (Sith?) mind trick. Maybe the filmmakers were just trying to show that he had planned so well that he knew exactly what they were going to command before they voiced it. This could've been a little clearer.

The only defense anyone seems to have are Annie and Alex, with Alex doing most of the fighting and Annie assisting and providing a few laughs.

The first hour of the film really held my interest for all the weird peripheral stuff going on: Bullock watching "Lolita" followed by a scene of a young deaf girl wearing pink glasses who keeps flirting with Jason Patric because he said "hello" to her in sign language. Later Patric has to rescue her from drowning in an elevator shaft. Reggae covers of popular songs pop up at eerie times, having little to do with the plot of the film. (This film, anyway.)

The second hour loses all focus and literally had me feeling seasick. Geiger is dispatched in the explosive fashion you'd expect given the budget and nature of the film, and all reasons for his commandeering the vessel disintegrate with him. Too bad, because he seemed to have a legitimate concern for the safety of future ship workers, and it would've been nice if the filmmakers had made Geiger less of a villain caricature, and more of a misguided soul who wanted to use the boat's destruction as a symbol to shake people out of apathy into action. Instead, Geiger's Syriana-ish demise is overshadowed by a finale of the ship crashing into a crowded pier with tourists dodging the craft in an awful slapstick montage that would've been more at home in "Airplane!" And I'm left sitting on my couch staring at the TV, mysteriously craving a Big Gulp.

Stuck In Neutral.......2007-01-31

Hollywood does seem to be the one place where they don't believe in the law of diminished returns, given how many sequels to first-rate blockbusters keep coming at us year after year after year. SPEED 2: CRUISE CONTROL is a case in point.

The original SPEED, released in 1994, was that rarest of jewels in Hollywood--an action blockbuster of considerable suspense, involving a bomb-laden bus that will blow up if its speed should fall under 50 miles per hour at any given point. Made for a relatively inexpensive $30 million, it grossed something on the order of $150 million and actually won Oscars for sound effects and film editing. But with all that success, did it necessarily warrant a sequel?

This time around, the disaster-prone Annie (Sandra Bullock) and her new fiancé Alex (Jason Patric), like her last boyfriend an LAPD officer with a penchant for dare-deviltry, are on a Caribbean cruise aboard the Seabourne Legend, when the ship gets sabotaged by a deranged ex-employee (Willem Dafoe). What ensues is considerable mayhem of the 'PG-13' variety, courtesy of original SPEED director Jan De Bont and screenwriters Randall McCormack and Jeff Nathanson. But apart from Bullock (who is as appealing here the second time), Patric, and Christine Firkins as a deaf girl whom Patric saves in an elevator shaft in the bowels of the ship, SPEED 2: CRUISE CONTROL is generally a film stuck in neutral, what I tend to call a curiously frustrating flick. It's not nearly as bad as its many detractors say, but it also isn't nearly up to the standards of the original either. Dafoe, who was so tremendous in PLATOON and CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER, does something of a Dennis Hopper rerun as the villain with a grudge, but he's even more over the top than Hopper was in the first film, and that's supposed to be hard to accomplish.

The other problem SPEED 2 has is in its basic notion that a large ocean liner can go as fast as this one does, and that it could create a great deal of damage when it slams into a marina as it does here. It's all good and fun, but it's not believable; and some of the acting and the dialogue are unintentionally funny at times too: not very promising, to say the least. One of the film's better moments, prior to Dafoe starting his mayhem, is a sequence of Bullock in her ship's cabin watching Stanley Kubrick's 1962 classic LOLITA on video--a sly reference not only to Kubrick, but to the fact that Firkins' deaf girl character has more than a few Lolita characteristics about her.

The end result is a would-be $170 million blockbuster that just seems to sit there a lot of the time--a fairly routine Hollywood piece where the action is delivered, but the payoff is only so-so.

not so speedy.......2006-10-22

Really, the reason Speed 2: Cruise Control isn't a classic like the first one is because the speed storyline is not a bus, but a BOAT this time around. Do you really think a boat can go as fast as a bus? Even if a boat is fast, do you think that's more exciting than a bus avoiding danger in the city streets? I don't. What kind of amazing dangers can a boat avoid? OTHER boats? Ocean buoys?

A bus with a bomb underneath it is more rewarding to watch. Speed 2 feels more like a way to cash in on the original. I watched the movie twice and wasn't satisfied either time. It's an okay movie, though. But don't expect "speed".

Action & Comedy on the High Seas.......2006-08-08

"Welcome to paradise. And the name's Dante!"

So begins Sandra Bullock and Jason Patric's harrowing adventure about the Seaborne Legend. The beautiful ship, friendly passengers, and attentive crew would ordinarily make a splendid cruise. Unfortunately, among the passengers is a madman who is bent on ruining everyone's vacation.

Though it would appear this film is not universally well-loved, it is actually one of my favorite action moves. I enjoyed the main setting: a cruise ship. The passengers are very funny. Among them are a couple who are selling a new diet regimen called Fat Busters, where "fat is your friend" (so the body won't try to hoard fat, making weight loss difficult). Their fellow shipmates, surrounded by the cruise ship's banquet-like meal, heartily agree. And the deaf girl who signs is wonderful.

The villain is entertaining. (Admittedly, the story behind his motivation to destroy the ship may be rather contrived.)

The action moves from the ocean-liner, to speedboat, to personal water-craft, to a propeller aircraft, then finally to a tower high atop an oil tanker. (If you've ever wondered what it would look like to see an oil tanker blow up, your curiosity will be satisfied by what happens next.)

In all, this movie is a little like a trip to an amusement park. There is lots of action in this movie, and no small amount of comedy.

AWESOME!!.......2006-07-01

BEST MOVIE OF ALL TIMES!! IT HAS EVERYTHING YOU COULD ASK FOR IN A MOVIE!! THAT CRUISE SHIP IS BEAUTIFUL, ITS AMAZING HOW WELL THEY DIRECTED THIS MOVIE, SO KEANU WASNT IN THIS MOVIE.......SO WHAT!?!!? THE MOVIE IS GREAT WITH OR WITHOUT HIM! BUY IT A+++++

Speed Collector Pack (Speed Five Star Collection / Speed 2 - Cruise Control)

Average customer rating:

Speed pack
The BEST!
Depends on which one you want!
Best Action of the 90's.
What is it with the people?

Speed Collector Pack (Speed Five Star Collection / Speed 2 - Cruise Control)
Starring: Keanu Reeves , Dennis Hopper , Sandra Bullock , Joe Morton , and Jeff Daniels
Director: Jan de Bont
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

Action & Adventure | Boxed Sets | Stores | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

Five Star Collection | Fully Loaded DVDs | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Net
Demolition Man
Beverly Hills Cop - The Complete Line Up
Air Force One
Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology 1989-1997 (Batman / Batman Returns / Batman Forever / Batman & Robin) (Two-Disc Special Editions)

ASIN: B000067J1A
Release Date: 2002-07-30

Description

*See individual titles

Customer Reviews:

Speed pack.......2007-05-13

This was the best way to buy two of my favorite movies - Speed & Speed 2 - Cruise control.

The BEST!.......2003-10-31

Speed is my favorite Sandra Bullock movie. She is just...phenominal in it. And Keanu Reeves...what a hunk!!
The way they put this film together was great: the stunts, the action, the suspense and thrill of it all! Jan DeBont needs to get back together with Sandra to do another action movie. That would be cool!! I CANNOT think of another movie that is better that Speed! It's definitely #1 on my list.

Depends on which one you want!.......2002-12-15

Let's face it, Speed(5 stars) is a wonderful Action movie, problably the best Action movie of the year, but Speed 2(3 stars) doesn't live up to the original as well as I thought it would. The movie would be so much better if Keanu Reeves reprised his role as Jack Traven. Dennis Hopper was a great villian in the original.

Best Action of the 90's........2001-12-28

Despite what some may say, these two films offer an endless supply of edge-of-your-seat action, some of the most amazing stunts, and very good special effects. THE ACTION FILMS OF THE 90's!

What is it with the people?.......2001-10-22

Ok, let me guess ... You saw Speed and thought it was a great movie? Or at least you heard it was great movie. Well, it is - bet ya! And now you heard people talking - Speed 2 is a terrible movie, the winner of the golden raspberry (the worst movie of the year). So, why buy it, especially when it is a set?

Ok, let me set it straight. Speed 2 isn't a bad movie - it just isn't as good as Speed 1. The story of Speed 2 is dumb (as in every other action movie - take Eraser, or M:I-2), but it makes a nice background for the action and nobody ever goes to see an action-flick for the story. And if we are honest than even Speed 1 didn't have that much of a great story - it isn't so much better than the stroy of the second movie.

What counts is action, and you get plenty of it here. It's the same class of action as in Speed, with a different playground. You get even the cute Sandra Bullock and a cute Jason Patrick (instead of Keanu Reeves). In addition you get a little bit of romance, 'cause the character of Jason Patrick wants to marry the character of Sandra Bullock ...

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

Oh no!.......2007-04-19

Stuck In Neutral.......2007-01-31

not so speedy.......2006-10-22

Action & Comedy on the High Seas.......2006-08-08

AWESOME!!.......2006-07-01

Average customer rating:

Speed 2: Cruise Control [Region 2]
Starring: Sandra Bullock , Jason Patric , Willem Dafoe , Temuera Morrison , and Brian McCardie
Director: Jan de Bont
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Thrillers | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0000X7S84

Average customer rating:

Speed 2: Cruise Control [Region 2]
Starring: Sandra Bullock , Jason Patric , Willem Dafoe , Temuera Morrison , and Brian McCardie
Director: Jan de Bont
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Thrillers | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video

( S ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00004VY2T

Average customer rating:

Oh no!
Stuck In Neutral
not so speedy
Action & Comedy on the High Seas
AWESOME!!

Speed 2: Cruise Control [Region 2]
Starring: Sandra Bullock , Jason Patric , Willem Dafoe , Temuera Morrison , and Brian McCardie
Director: Jan de Bont
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Thrillers | Mystery & Suspense | Genres | DVD | Video