Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997)

Speed 2: Cruise Control is a 1997 American action thriller film produced and directed by Jan de Bont, and written by Randall McCormick and Jeff Nathanson. It is the sequel to Speed (1994) and stars Sandra Bullock (who reprises her role from the original), Jason Patric, and Willem Dafoe. Cruise Control tells the story of Annie (Bullock) and Alex (Patric), a couple who go on vacation to the Caribbean aboard a luxury cruise ship, which is hijacked by a villain named Geiger (Dafoe). As they are trapped aboard the ship, Annie and Alex work with the ship’s first officer to try to stop it after they discover it is programmed to crash into an oil tanker. De Bont had the idea for the film after he had a recurring nightmare about a cruise ship crashing into an island. Speed star Keanu Reeves was initially supposed to reprise his role as Jack Traven for the sequel, but decided not to commit and was replaced by Patric before filming. The writers had to rework the script to accommodate the addition of a new character. Production took place aboard Seabourn Legend, the ship on which the film is set.

The final scene, in which the ship crashes into the island of Saint Martin, cost almost a quarter of the budget, and set records as the largest and most expensive stunt ever filmed. Many interior scenes aboard the ship were shot on soundstages in the Greater Los Angeles Area. The soundtrack featured mostly reggae music. Mark Mancina returned to compose the film score, released as an album 13 years after the film’s release. The film was released by 20th Century Fox on June 13, 1997, to negative reviews. The acting, story, and characters attracted the most criticism, as well as the absence of Reeves and its setting on a slow-moving cruise ship, citing it as less thrilling than that of Speed on a fast-moving bus. Eminent critic Roger Ebert defended the film, calling it a “truly rousing ocean liner adventure story”. The film was also a box-office bomb, earning $164 million worldwide against a production budget as high as $160 million. It was nominated for eight Golden Raspberry Awards, winning the Worst Remake or Sequel category.

Plot.

Alex Shaw is on a motorcycle chasing a vehicle with stolen goods. After he catches the driver of the vehicle, his girlfriend Annie Porter runs into him during her driving test. She finds out that Alex is on the SWAT team after he lied and told her that he was a beach officer. As an apology, Alex surprises her with a Caribbean cruise on Seabourn Legend. Aboard the ship, deranged passenger John Geiger, a former employee of the cruise company, hacks into the ship’s computer system, and the following evening, he sabotages the ship’s communication systems and kills Captain Pollard. After remotely shutting down the ship’s engines, Geiger calls the bridge to tell the first officer, Juliano, that Pollard is dead and he is in charge. Juliano is ordered by Geiger to evacuate the ship. Geiger steals jewelry from the ship’s vault. As passengers evacuate, Drew, a young deaf girl, becomes trapped in an elevator, and a group of people become trapped behind locked fire doors in a hallway filling with smoke.

As Annie and Alex attempt to board the last lifeboat, Geiger programs the ship to continue sailing. When the winch lowering the lifeboat jams, Alex jumps into the boat to rescue the passengers, while Annie and Juliano use the ship’s gangplank to get them back on deck. Alex realizes that Geiger is controlling the ship. Armed with skeet guns, he goes with Juliano to the cabin. Geiger remotely detonates explosives inside the room. Annie and Dante, the ship’s photographer, notice the people trapped behind the fire doors, and Annie uses a chainsaw to cut the door open and let them out. Meanwhile, Alex orders the navigator, Merced, to flood the ship and slow it down by opening the ballast doors. As the ship floods, Alex sees Drew on a monitor after she climbs out of the elevator, and runs to save her.

Speed (1994) Biography, Plot, Writing, Casting, Filming, Box office, Trailer.

Alex notices Geiger leaving the vault and holds him at gunpoint, but he escapes by closing the fire door in front of him. Using the ship’s intercom, Geiger explains that he designed the ship’s autopilot system, and is taking revenge against the cruise line after being fired when he contracted copper poisoning. Geiger again escapes from Alex by attaching a grenade to a door. The crew notice that Geiger has set the ship to crash into an oil tanker off the coast of Saint Martin. Alex decides to stop the ship by diving underneath it and jamming the propeller with a steel cable. Geiger realizes that Alex is trying to stop the ship, so he jams the cable winch while Alex is underwater, causing it to break off the ship and free the cable. Geiger takes Annie hostage and escapes with her on a boat from the ship’s stern.

Casting.

declined to star in the sequel, but later agreed to get financial backing for the drama film Hope Floats (1998); she was paid a reported $11–$13 million to reprise her role as Annie. Reeves was offered $12 million to reprise his role as Jack Traven, but turned it down because he did not like the script, was financially secure from the success of Speed, and felt he was not “ready to mentally and physically” star in another action film after having completed Chain Reaction (1996). He passed on Speed 2 in order to star in the film The Devil’s Advocate (1997), which was filmed at the same time, then subsequently toured with his band, Dogstar.

Many actors were considered to replace Reeves including: Simon Baker Denny, Jon Bon Jovi, Patrick Muldoon, Johnathon Schaech, Christian Slater, and Billy Zane. Bullock initially suggested Matthew McConaughey, who passed on the role, prompting her to suggest Jason Patric, with whom she had wanted to work since seeing his performance in After Dark, My Sweet (1990). De Bont was skeptical of featuring a relatively unknown actor such as Patric, but was reminded by the studio that Bullock and Reeves were also relatively unknown prior to Speed, and chose Patric based on his role in Sleepers (1996).

Filming.

Principal photography took place from September 23, 1996, to late February 1997. Film crews moved to West Palm Beach and Miami, Florida in July 1996 anticipating shooting in each location for several weeks later that year. However, due to scheduling issues with Patric, production did not take place in West Palm Beach and there were “just a few days” filming in Miami. The Miami production took place in a gymnasium and boat hangar at the Dinner Key marina complex, rented by Fox. After spending over $55,000 on repairs to the facilities, Fox refused to pay the $35,000 in rental fees to the City of Miami. The city sued for the rent since Fox did not seek approval for the repairs, and a compromise was reached when the city credited some repair costs, resulting in Fox paying around $26,000 rent.

Severe weather conditions from Hurricane Lili delayed production activity on the ship for several days, and caused seasickness among the cast and crew for the remainder of the production at sea. To make the ship appear faster, all exterior shots were filmed from a moving vehicle. Scenes on the bridge were filmed in a mockup dubbed the “bridge ship”, a large-scale reconstruction of the bow and bridge built atop the hull of a cargo ship. Additional ship interiors were filmed at Sony Pictures Studios and Warren Entertainment in Los Angeles County,

The Peacekeeper (1997) Biography, Plot, Trailer

Reception.

Speed 2: Cruise Control did not receive the same positive feedback as its predecessor. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 4% based on reviews from 71 critics, with an average rating of 3.4/10. The website’s consensus reads: “Speed 2 falls far short of its predecessor, thanks to laughable dialogue, thin characterization, unsurprisingly familiar plot devices, and action sequences that fail to generate any excitement.” On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 23 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating “generally unfavorable reviews”. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade “B-” on scale of A to F.

Box office.

Speed 2: Cruise Control premiered at the Cineplex Odeon in Century City, Los Angeles on June 9, 1997, and was released into theaters on June 13. The release date was rescheduled twice—originally set for July 2 and pushed up to June 6 to avoid competition with Men in Black and Titanic (which was then scheduled for July), then moved back one week to avoid competition with Con Air. During its opening weekend, Speed 2 was shown on 2,615 screens and grossed $16.2 million. It ranked at number one in the box office, grossing just $500,000 more than Con Air in second place. Box office sales for Speed 2 dropped 54 percent the following weekend, grossing only $7.8 million and ranking at number five. The film grossed $48 million in the United States, and had a total gross of $164.5 million worldwide. Moviefone and Time have both ranked the film among the biggest box office bombs of all time, with estimated losses for the studio ranging from $40–70 million.

Home media.

Speed 2: Cruise Control was released on VHS on December 2, 1997. A LaserDisc version would be released that same month. The film would be released for the first time on DVD on November 3, 1998. It was once again released on DVD on July 30, 2002 along with its predecessor. This THX certified DVD release features animated menus that resemble Geiger’s computer. Bonus features include a half-hour HBO special called “The Making of Speed 2: Cruise Control” and three trailers. These are a single trailer for Speed and two others for its sequel. On May 6, 2014, Speed 2: Cruise Control was released on Blu-ray as part of the Speed Collector Pack.

Cast:

Sandra Bullockas Annie Porter
Jason Patricas Officer Alex Shaw
Willem Dafoeas John Geiger
Temuera Morrisonas Juliano
Brian McCardieas Merced
Jeremy Hotzas Ashton
Bo Svensonas Captain Pollard
Royale Watkins as Dante
Tamia Hillas Sheri Silver
Kimmy Robertsonas Liza
Christine Firkinsas Drew
Lois Chilesas Celeste
Francis Guinanas Rupert
Michael G. Hagertyas Harvey
Colleen Campas Debbie
Joe Morton(uncredited cameo) as Lieutenant Herb ‘Mac’ McMahon
Tim Conwayas Mr. Kenter
Glenn Plummeras Maurice
Patrika Darboas Ruby Fisher

Speed 2 (1997) Biography, Plot, Casting, Filming, Box office, Scene.