Movie Smarts

Speed Quiz: Hold On to Your Score

Fifteen chances to prove that all those movie nights paid off.

Published 2026-10-24 Updated 2026-10-24 15 questions

Speed: This Is a Terrible Day to Miss Your Stop

A police officer gets pulled into a deadly game with a bomber who enjoys making public transport even less pleasant. A bus full of strangers becomes the center of the crisis, and an ordinary passenger suddenly has a very demanding new job. There are traffic problems, impossible choices, and very few chances to pull over. Nobody on this commute is getting to work on time.

Hold on to something. Your memory is taking the next turn.

1. Who plays Jack Traven?
- Tom Cruise
- Brad Pitt
- Johnny Depp
- Keanu Reeves
Reeves cropped his hair almost to the scalp before shooting, which alarmed the studio, and the film made him an action lead after a run of slacker parts. He passed on the sequel, so Speed 2 sent Bullock to sea on a cruise ship with Jason Patric instead.
2. Who plays Annie Porter?
- Sandra Bullock
- Julia Roberts
- Marisa Tomei
- Meg Ryan
Bullock had been a supporting player, in Demolition Man the year before, until Speed made her a star; Halle Berry had turned the part down. She was the one lead to come back for Speed 2, and the character's driving does not improve much.
3. Who plays bomber Howard Payne?
- Gary Oldman
- John Malkovich
- Willem Dafoe
- Dennis Hopper
Payne is a retired Atlanta bomb-squad officer who lost a thumb to a device that went off early and wants the money he feels he is owed. Hopper, a specialist in unhinged villains since Blue Velvet, ends up decapitated by a signal light on top of a subway train.
4. Who directed Speed?
- Tony Scott
- Renny Harlin
- Jan de Bont
- John McTiernan
It was de Bont's first film as director after years as a cinematographer, shooting Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October and Basic Instinct. He went straight on to Twister, and John McTiernan, among the wrong answers here, is the one who directed Die Hard.
5. Below what speed will the armed bus bomb explode?
- 40 miles per hour
- 50 miles per hour
- 60 miles per hour
- 70 miles per hour
Payne arms the bomb once the bus passes fifty and rigs it to go off if the speed drops below that again, turning Los Angeles traffic into a lethal obstacle course. His briefing for Jack opens with 'Pop quiz, hotshot,' the film's most quoted line.
6. Why has Annie been taking the bus?
- She is a bus inspector
- Her car was stolen
- Her license was suspended for speeding
- She never learned to drive
She takes the wheel when the driver, Sam, is shot by a panicking passenger who thought Jack had come to arrest him, and only owns up to the lost license once she is driving. The reason, speeding, lands as the film's best joke.
7. What number is painted on the endangered bus?
- 8080
- 7474
- 2525
- 1010
The bus is a Santa Monica Big Blue Bus, and the production bought several identical ones so the stunt crew could wreck them in turn. Jack boards it from a Jaguar he has commandeered from an owner who objects loudly, and who turns up again in Speed 2.
8. Where does the opening rescue take place?
- At an airport gate
- In a trapped elevator
- Inside a subway tunnel
- On a suspension bridge
Payne rigs an express elevator in a downtown office tower, passengers trapped and a bomb on the cables, and demands three million dollars. Jack and Harry hook the car to a crane from above and get everyone out through the roof hatch just before it drops.
9. In the elevator job, how does Jack stop Payne from using Harry as a hostage?
- He shoots Harry in the leg
- He hits Payne with a fire extinguisher
- He offers himself in Harry's place
- He cuts the building's power
'Shoot the hostage,' Jack had said when Harry quizzed him on the scenario, and he does, which leaves Harry on a cane for the rest of the film. Harry, played by Jeff Daniels, then works the case from the office until it leads to Payne's wired house.
10. Which city is the main setting?
- Miami
- San Francisco
- Seattle
- Los Angeles
The bus runs from Santa Monica toward downtown and ends up at LAX, and the finale uses the Metro Red Line, parts of which were still being built, so the unfinished track in the script was real. Speed 2 moved the series to the Caribbean and a cruise ship.
11. What does the bus jump over?
- A railway platform
- A raised drawbridge
- A gap in an unfinished freeway
- A canal
The gap is in the unfinished 105 freeway near the airport, and the jump was done for real off a ramp, with the missing stretch of road added digitally afterward. The film's two Oscars were both for sound, which is where the landing is felt.
12. Where does Jack take the bus to give it open space?
- An airport
- A racecourse
- A military parade ground
- A football stadium
Jack has the bus driven onto the LAX runways, where it can circle without traffic, while he goes under it on a dolly to look at the bomb. Once the passengers are off, the empty bus is left to plow into a parked cargo plane and explode.
13. How is Payne secretly watching the passengers?
- Through a passenger's glasses
- Through a camera on the bus
- Through a police helicopter
- Through a traffic satellite
The camera is hidden on the bus, so Payne watches on a monitor at home and knows the moment anyone tries to get off. Helen finds that out when she makes for the door and he sets off a charge under the steps. The ransom for the bus is 3.7 million dollars.
14. What visual trick do the police use against Payne?
- They switch all the road signs
- They loop the camera feed
- They fake a television bulletin
- They repaint the bus
A news helicopter picks up the camera's signal, and the police record a stretch of calm footage and loop it back to Payne, so he watches passengers sitting still while they climb onto a truck alongside. He catches on when the bus explodes on live television.
15. What vehicle carries the final chase?
- A cable car
- A ferry
- A cargo plane
- A subway train
Payne drags Annie onto a Red Line train in a vest of explosives, and once he is dealt with, Jack finds he can't stop the train, so he floors it to jump the unfinished track. It bursts out onto Hollywood Boulevard, where the closing kiss happens.

All the answers

1. Who plays Jack Traven?

Keanu Reeves

Reeves cropped his hair almost to the scalp before shooting, which alarmed the studio, and the film made him an action lead after a run of slacker parts. He passed on the sequel, so Speed 2 sent Bullock to sea on a cruise ship with Jason Patric instead.
2. Who plays Annie Porter?

Sandra Bullock

Bullock had been a supporting player, in Demolition Man the year before, until Speed made her a star; Halle Berry had turned the part down. She was the one lead to come back for Speed 2, and the character's driving does not improve much.
3. Who plays bomber Howard Payne?

Dennis Hopper

Payne is a retired Atlanta bomb-squad officer who lost a thumb to a device that went off early and wants the money he feels he is owed. Hopper, a specialist in unhinged villains since Blue Velvet, ends up decapitated by a signal light on top of a subway train.
4. Who directed Speed?

Jan de Bont

It was de Bont's first film as director after years as a cinematographer, shooting Die Hard, The Hunt for Red October and Basic Instinct. He went straight on to Twister, and John McTiernan, among the wrong answers here, is the one who directed Die Hard.
5. Below what speed will the armed bus bomb explode?

50 miles per hour

Payne arms the bomb once the bus passes fifty and rigs it to go off if the speed drops below that again, turning Los Angeles traffic into a lethal obstacle course. His briefing for Jack opens with 'Pop quiz, hotshot,' the film's most quoted line.
6. Why has Annie been taking the bus?

Her license was suspended for speeding

She takes the wheel when the driver, Sam, is shot by a panicking passenger who thought Jack had come to arrest him, and only owns up to the lost license once she is driving. The reason, speeding, lands as the film's best joke.
7. What number is painted on the endangered bus?

2525

The bus is a Santa Monica Big Blue Bus, and the production bought several identical ones so the stunt crew could wreck them in turn. Jack boards it from a Jaguar he has commandeered from an owner who objects loudly, and who turns up again in Speed 2.
8. Where does the opening rescue take place?

In a trapped elevator

Payne rigs an express elevator in a downtown office tower, passengers trapped and a bomb on the cables, and demands three million dollars. Jack and Harry hook the car to a crane from above and get everyone out through the roof hatch just before it drops.
9. In the elevator job, how does Jack stop Payne from using Harry as a hostage?

He shoots Harry in the leg

'Shoot the hostage,' Jack had said when Harry quizzed him on the scenario, and he does, which leaves Harry on a cane for the rest of the film. Harry, played by Jeff Daniels, then works the case from the office until it leads to Payne's wired house.
10. Which city is the main setting?

Los Angeles

The bus runs from Santa Monica toward downtown and ends up at LAX, and the finale uses the Metro Red Line, parts of which were still being built, so the unfinished track in the script was real. Speed 2 moved the series to the Caribbean and a cruise ship.
11. What does the bus jump over?

A gap in an unfinished freeway

The gap is in the unfinished 105 freeway near the airport, and the jump was done for real off a ramp, with the missing stretch of road added digitally afterward. The film's two Oscars were both for sound, which is where the landing is felt.
12. Where does Jack take the bus to give it open space?

An airport

Jack has the bus driven onto the LAX runways, where it can circle without traffic, while he goes under it on a dolly to look at the bomb. Once the passengers are off, the empty bus is left to plow into a parked cargo plane and explode.
13. How is Payne secretly watching the passengers?

Through a camera on the bus

The camera is hidden on the bus, so Payne watches on a monitor at home and knows the moment anyone tries to get off. Helen finds that out when she makes for the door and he sets off a charge under the steps. The ransom for the bus is 3.7 million dollars.
14. What visual trick do the police use against Payne?

They loop the camera feed

A news helicopter picks up the camera's signal, and the police record a stretch of calm footage and loop it back to Payne, so he watches passengers sitting still while they climb onto a truck alongside. He catches on when the bus explodes on live television.
15. What vehicle carries the final chase?

A subway train

Payne drags Annie onto a Red Line train in a vest of explosives, and once he is dealt with, Jack finds he can't stop the train, so he floors it to jump the unfinished track. It bursts out onto Hollywood Boulevard, where the closing kiss happens.