Speed (1994)
Action, Thriller • 1h 56m
Director: Jan de Bont
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock, Joe Morton, Jeff Daniels, Alan Ruck, Glenn Plummer, Richard Lineback, Beth Grant, Hawthorne James, Carlos Carrasco, David Kriegel, Natsuko Ohama, Daniel Villarreal, Simone Gad, Loretta Jean, Sherri Villanueva, Margaret Medina, Jordan Lund, Robert Mailhouse, Patrick Fischler, Patrick John Hurley, Susan Barnes, Rick Dano, Michael Sottile, Jane Crawley, Anne O'Sullivan, Beau Starr, John Capodice, Thomas Rosales Jr., James DuMont, Antonio Mora, Patty Toy, Todd Gordon, Bruce Wright, Mark Kriski, Dagny Hultgreen, Richard Schiff, Joseph Carberry, Sandy Martin, Neisha Folkes-LeMelle, Jim Mapp, Milton Quon, Sonia Jackson, Carmen Williams, Paula Montes, Loyda Ramos, Julia Vera, Marylou Lim, Brian K. Grant, Barry Kramer, Robin McKee, Paige Goodman, Christina Fitzgerald, Tara Thomas, Cece Tsou, Michael N. Fujimoto, Richard Gelb, Scott Wilder
Best audio release
UHD tiers
About the film
Jack Traven, an LAPD cop on SWAT detail, and veteran SWAT officer Harry Temple thwart an extortionist-bomber's scheme for a $3 million ransom. As they corner the bomber, he flees and detonates a bomb vest, seemingly killing himself. Weeks later, Jack witnesses a mass transit city bus explode and nearby a pay phone rings. On the phone is that same bomber looking for vengeance and the money he's owed. He gives a personal challenge to Jack: a bomb is rigged on another city bus - if it slows down below 50 mph, it will explode - bad enough any day, but a nightmare in LA traffic. And that's just the beginning...
- Alternative Titles
- The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down
Director: Jan de Bont
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
DE Turbine is similar in quality, US Warner Bros is worse (caps: EU vs US, EU vs DE)
The 4K discs have different color timing to the older master, see caps.
The 2012 DE Turbine disc is the master as the 2008 US Warner Bros, only with some sharpening and a layer of added grain.
2008 Warner Bros US Blu-ray
The EU disc from Universal has neutered bass.
4K Blu-ray Atmos track is much more compressed in all channels.
Uncut: Germany Leonine 4K Blu-ray
Cut: Paramount 4K Blu-ray
Director: Mike Judge
Video format: 4K Streaming
Director: David Fincher
Digipack release includes an Amazing Amy book the standard edition doesn’t have.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Video format: 4K Streaming
Director: Terence Young
WB 4K Blu-ray despite frozen grain
Director: David Butler
Video format: Only Unofficial Sources
Sources: archive.org (opens in a new tab)
The DVD isn't an official one, and according to a user review on Amazon:
This DVD comes from Archive.org, where the movie can be viewed for free. The original source, comes from the Fox Movie Channel
Director: James Cameron
Sources: movie-censorship.com (opens in a new tab)
Fox Blu-ray for original cuts without the extra scene added in the re-release and AI upscaling
Newer Blu-ray/4K has the extra scene, but is poor and has excessive AI upscaling
An additional scene was added to the ending of the movie in the 2022 re-release: https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=493908
Director: Peter Faiman
Australia Cut: Australia Fox DVD
International Cut: Paramount Blu-ray
Encore Cut: Germany Winkler Film 4K Blu-ray, censored but good encoding
Sources: movie-censorship.com (opens in a new tab)
US Paramount 4K Blu-ray, is the International US Cut and not the Encore Cut
Australia Cut: Laserdisc
The film exists in three versions:
- the original Australian cut (~104 minutes at 24fps/~100 minutes at 25fps);
- the American/international version (~98 minutes at 24fps/~94 minutes at 25fps) trimming some exposition in the Outback first half of the film and some shorter extensions of a few seconds in the New York section, altering some of the dialogue – including censoring a "fuck" to "screw" – but featuring one additional dialogue extension not in the Australian version (a comparison of the two cuts can be found at Movie Censorship);
- the Australian Encore Cut (~95 minutes at 24fps/~91 minutes at 25fps) which uses the international version source so it already has those alterations but also removes approximately three minutes consisting of parts of two scenes featuring Mick grabbing the crotch of a cross-dressing prostitute and a later sequence when he does the same thing at a party to a woman with a deep voice (a comparison of the international version and the Encore Cut can be found at Movie Censorship).
More Action on Blu-ray
Director: John Woo
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Arrow has a different grade and a better encode than the Shout! Factory, though the difference in either is not major. Imprint release, which leaves Shout! Factory's master and subtitles as is, is encoded by FiM. https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24473097&postcount=56
Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD
Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)
Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray (similar to Criterion LaserDisc, but less distorted)
Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD
Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)
Arrow used the alternate mix, but with extra filtering and lowered dynamic range. The alternate mix has much better fidelity.
Imprint presumably used the Shout! Factory original mix and left it as is, though no official confirmation.
Director: Buster Keaton
Kino Lorber new Seven Chances / Sherlock Jr. Blu-ray?
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
MoC 4K Blu-ray late 2027
Lobster Films (Kino Lorber?) > Cohen/Eureka https://slow.pics/c/3KWXoMyR The new Kino Lorber's Seven Chances / Sherlock Jr. might be using the same restoration as Lobster Films
Director: George Lucas
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
OG: "4K77" or "D+77" on high seas.
Special Edition: "4K97_IV" or "D+97_IV" on high seas.
2027 Original Trilogy restoration/50th anniversary rerelease clips leaked plus release confirmed
OG: LaserDisc audio is the best option for the Dolby Stereo mixes (and usually included in fan restorations). There are 16mm/TV rips of the mono mixes.
Special Edition: Cinema DTS or 1997 LaserDisc for the Special Edition.
Original Stereo mix: Columbia Pictures LaserDisc, Sony 4K Blu-ray
5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray, Sony Blu-ray
Dolby Atmos remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Original Stereo mix: Columbia Pictures LaserDisc, Sony 4K Blu-ray
5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray, Sony Blu-ray
Dolby Atmos remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Director: Michael Anderson
Arrow 4K Blu-ray scheduled for Dec 2026 release
Paramount 4K Blu-ray Purist choice: Blu-ray
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)
Paramount 4K Blu-ray new improved master with color grading and slight issues. Blu-ray is old master with original color grading
Blu-ray 5.1
The Paramount 4K Blu-ray has a much better new scan that removes the original extremely dated color grading. This is an improvement on one hand but a definite revisionist change on the other. There is the expected grain management and slight HDR issues in addition to encoding quirks from Paramount. It is a giant improvement over the original Blu-ray but the color change and other issues means that the Blu-ray is one to keep for purists to have the as-is original iteration of the film's presentation. Audio wise the film has been remixed into Atmos but it merely seems like a slightly tweaked and frankly tamed version of the original 5.1. Of the two I prefer the Blu-ray 5.1. The original Blu-ray was Dolby TrueHD and the reissue Blu-ray in the four film Blu-ray collection boxset was DTS-HDMA.
DFIC extensive review: https://youtu.be/evsrJOTIjdA?si=wtdWGxZBfhPYTIeW
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
StudioCanal's 4K release is similar in encode quality, but has significant glitches in multiple frames. See comparisons 9-16 here: https://slow.pics/c/YkSVb3Ey
The pitch of the StudioCanal 4K's English audio is too high
Criterion has more extras than StudioCanal.
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Every recommendation follows the same method — how these calls are made.