50 MPH

It's time to talk about "the jump." Cast and crew look back at the centerpiece moment of SPEED and film's most immortal sequence: Bus 2525 sailing across a gap in the freeway.

50 MPH goes deep inside production on the first half of the bus section of SPEED as cast and crew recall a hair-raising hell-ride through Los Angeles aboard Bus 2525.

As SPEED launches into production, let’s take a moment to meet the production department heads and other artisans tasked with lifting Graham Yost’s (and Paul Attanasio’s and Joss Whedon’s) screenplay off the page and onto the screen!

SPEED is an all-time great Los Angeles film. In that spirit, 50 MPH is joined by Tribune Publishing film critic Katie Walsh to help us forge the ultimate LA movie guide, from LA LA LAND and SWINGERS to NIGHTCRAWLER and COLLATERAL and all points in between!

Before the cast and crew for SPEED really get out to set, what IS the set? From Venice to Long Beach, downtown to LAX, strap in for a guided tour of the many locations from the film as Jan de Bont and company set up shop in Hollywood's back yard.

It's high time we met the passengers of SPEED's doomed city workhorse... ALL of them. 50 MPH goes deep into the film's ensemble with insights from the many character actors who filled out Bus 2525.

In his new book "The Last Action Heroes," author Nick de Semlyen charts the rise and stall of the '80s action gods. This week 50 MPH talks to de Semlyen about the era that paved the way for SPEED and where Jan de Bont's film fits in the action movie canon.

An examination of the Easy Rider himself! 50 MPH talks to journalist and author Mark Harris (Pictures at a Revolution) about the life and times of one Dennis Hopper and what he brought to SPEED.

We still need a bad guy! And we won't get one until two weeks into production. The team recounts the whirlwind search for Howard Payne, a role that would be offered to any and everyone under the sun, from Robert Duvall to Christopher Walken. In the end, the film ends up with American icon Dennis Hopper. Hopper passed away in 2010 but his spirit is kept alive by those who remember him and his impact on SPEED.

We need a bad guy, but it's hard to discuss the villain of SPEED without also discussing the journey of Harry Temple, Jack Traven's LAPD SWAT team partner who, until the big 11th-hour rewrite, was actually revealed to be the mad bomber at the center of the story. Actor Jeff Daniels comes to the table with his memories and experiences as a character actor, at the time, desperate for a career turnaround.