‘Speed’ Celebrates 30 Years on June 10

Classic Cinemas will be presenting the 30th anniversary screening of Speed at the magnificent Tivoli Theatre, located at 5021 Highland Avenue in Downers Grove. The anniversary screening event will be limited to only five screenings, so there will only be a handful of opportunities available to enjoy it once again (or for the first time) on the big screen. The Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival is thrilled to show support for this special 30th anniversary celebration running from June 7-11, 2024.

If you’re not familiar with this action flick from 1994, it follows Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves), an LAPD cop on SWAT detail, and veteran SWAT officer Harry Temple (Jeff Daniels) as they thwart an extortionist-bomber’s scheme for a $3 million ransom. Weeks later, Jack witnesses a mass transit city bus explode and nearby a pay phone rings. On the phone is the bomber (Dennis Hopper) looking for vengeance and the money he’s owed. He gives a personal challenge to Jack: a bomb is rigged on another city bus – if it slows down below 50 mph, it will explode. The challenge to stop it is hard enough, but when you factor Los Angeles traffic – it’s impossible.

Speed debuted in over 2,000 theaters in North America on June 10, 1994. The film may have only held the number one spot in the box office for a single week, but it won over its audience and critics alike in the years and decades that followed.

“Films like Speed belong to a genre I called ‘Bruised Forearm Movies,’ because you’re always grabbing the arm of the person sitting next to you,” wrote Roger Ebert in his 4-star Chicago Sun-Times review. “Done wrong, they seem like tired replays of old chase cliches. Done well, they’re fun. Done as well as Speed, they generate a kind of manic exhilaration.”

In 2008, Empire magazine included Speed on their “500 Greatest Movies of All Time” list. Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino named the film one of the twenty best films he had seen between 1992-2009. In December of 2017, Mark Kermode of the BBC rewatched the film and strongly expressed that it has stood the test of time. “It’s absolutely brilliant,” he said.

The first two evening screenings on Friday and Saturday will be held in the main auditorium, the Tivoli’s big screen (Auditorium #1). These nights will be the best opportunity to experience the film with the largest possible crowd with seating available for over 1,000 guests. Beginning on Sunday, the film will move to the Tivoli’s second auditorium for a much more intimate viewing experience.

The auditoriums at the Tivoli offer digital 4K projection and 7.1 surround sound for a truly immersive experience. Concessions at the Classic Cinemas venue feature traditionally delicious popcorn and a variety of great ice-cold beverages, including fountain drinks, ICEEs™, and a variety of alcoholic beverages.

Kermode ended his 2017 Uncut segment with a great question. “What’s the film you knew you liked – that you haven’t watched for a really long time – that you finally sat down, watched again and went: ‘you know what, that is a really brilliant movie.’? Because for me, Speed is a masterpiece.”

Get tickets to see the 30th anniversary screening of Speed at the Classic Cinemas Tivoli Theatre – playing only once each day from June 7-11.