Having made a name for himself in Hollywood as director of photography on action films such as Lethal Weapon en Die Hard, Jan de Bont exchanged the camera for the director's chair in 1994 with Speed. This action film about a city bus on the loose was shot on a moderate budget and became a huge hit, partly because of the acting of Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, but above all thanks to the technically-impressive special effects.
