Gotta go fast. The release of was an earth-shattering moment for Hollywood’s blockbuster industrial complex. Bruce Willis, a TV star, had fronted a major action movie with a remarkably straightforward premise and turned it into a smash hit.
And, just a year after John McTiernan cemented himself as one of the best action filmmakers to ever pick up a camera. Even though few have succeeded in making happen again ( ), it’s easy to understand why so many have tried. The decade after was rife with movies that tried to mimic its simple formula — a man gets trapped somewhere with a bunch of hostages, and has to save them.
, , , , and , among many others, all used elements of that formula to try replicating ’s tremendous success. Among all of the knock-offs, it was that cracked the code. The movie, infamously described as on a bus, proved it was possible to make again in a way that mostly worked.
What made so brilliant was that it took a simple setting and used it to its fullest. We get time on Nakatomi Plaza’s roof and air ducts, and we visit all sorts of different floors (including some that aren’t finished). does the same thing.
Set on a bus where a bomb will explode if the vehicle goes under 50 miles per hour, what follows is a tour not just of the bus, but the environs of Los Angeles as the passengers are forced to do whatever they can to keep themselves from blowing up. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the most effective clone was directed by McTiernan’s cinematographer. Ja.
