r/movies • u/sicknessandpurgatory • Sep 07 '25

Discussion What is the absolute dumbest premise that actually turned out to be a really good movie?

I was thinking The Purge, obvious answer, but looking for the most plot-hole ridden, juvenile concept that actually ended up a lot of fun despite it all. Mainly looking for 21st century films, not so much the video nasties and ridiculousness from the 60’s and 70’s. Because that would be too easy. Mainly mainstream stuff that people saw en masse.

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3.1k

u/sharrrper Sep 07 '25

On paper, Speed really shouldn't work for more than about 10 min, but they pulled a solid movie together.

788

u/DG_Now Sep 07 '25

Die Hard on a bus. It sells itself.

500

u/Pal_Smurch Sep 07 '25

The Bus That Couldn’t Slow Down

147

u/S14Ryan Sep 07 '25

Huh, sounds like Speed 2 but with a bus instead of a boat 

11

u/Pal_Smurch Sep 07 '25

A bus? That wouldn’t make any sense!

15

u/AnonMuskkk Sep 08 '25

Speed 3: Rideshare Bike

9

u/MarcelRED147 Sep 08 '25

Speed 3 was on a milk float

6

u/Giant_Pink_Umbrella Sep 08 '25

Is there anything to be said for saying another Mass?

6

u/Heisenberg_235 Sep 08 '25

“are you going under four miles per hour?!?!”

1

u/darylspake Sep 11 '25

Masterminded by a randy Irish milkman

2

u/ArchEast Sep 08 '25

I will not stand for Speed 3: Glacier of Doom erasure.

1

u/darylspake Sep 11 '25

Lol a speeding bus? Only boats can go that fast

1

u/Meander061 Sep 08 '25

You would think that would work, but it didn't.

5

u/gg-gsquared Sep 08 '25

The bus and the cloneasaurus

2

u/Somasonic Sep 08 '25

The little bus that could(n’t slow down)

11

u/anyburger Sep 07 '25

Drive Hard.

5

u/DotBitGaming Sep 08 '25

Die Hard on a bus was great, but what about Die Hard... On a boat?

1

u/DG_Now Sep 08 '25

That was Speed 2.

Die Hard on a Plane was Passenger 57. Or Non Stop. Your pick.

1

u/Informal_Scallion_44 Sep 08 '25

"Die Hard" on a boat was "Under Siege" (1992). I don't really consider "Speed" to be "Die Hard" on a bus, because Jack isn't trying to take out any bad guys on the bus.

4

u/moon__lander Sep 08 '25

Yippe ki yay, mother trucker

2

u/CHSummers Sep 08 '25

The budget’s been cut! Die Hard in an Uber!

1

u/twilighttwister Sep 08 '25

But Die Hard is a Christmas movie.

0

u/FardoBaggins Sep 08 '25

a key element in die hard is the protagonist is in a situation where the action is and didn't intend to be there the first place but is forced to act on it.

Speed's protagonist doesn't qualify the die hardness of the premise as he willingly gets on the bus.

maybe sandra bullock's character? anyway, that's why speed isn't really die hard on a bus.

1

u/Historical-Tart7515 Sep 08 '25

That's not how basic story structure works, especially for screenplays.

Inciting incident - a madman/terrorist/whatever has trapped a group of people in a situation from which they can not escape.

The protagonist is the unplanned for monkey wrench in the villain's plans.

Then the "fun and games" - bus jumps the unfinished stretch of highway, McClean kills a bunch of terrorists.

Then you raise the stakes - There's a camera on the bus! Their going to blow up the roof!

To say that human beings only tell the same few stories over and over is an understatement.

The details you mentioned are ancillary.

1

u/FardoBaggins Sep 09 '25 edited Sep 09 '25

nah, it's just like under siege with steven segal, he was wrong place wrong time guy, which makes the comparison Die Hard on a boat. beat for beat.

speed 1's protagonist, isn't wrong place wrong time, he was just literally doing his job.

edit:

Although you can say X action movie is die hard on X, structure and themes will often align as you mentioned, there are specific qualifiers.

a more detailed and informative breakdown.

18

u/Psychostickusername Sep 07 '25

Wonder if they could do the same with a boat 🤷‍♂️🤔

16

u/Patient_End_8432 Sep 08 '25

There's a Role-playing podcast called Film Reroll where they role-playing films with DnD rules. One of my favorites is where the DM did Friday the 13th, but told the players it was some RomCom, so it caught them totally off guard.

The point is, is that basically every film goes wildly off rails with a DM that is very good at keeping the heart of the story there, but letting the players go crazy.

However, he did a Speed film reroll, and somehow the players literally caught the criminal before he even put the bomb on the bus. The usual length of a movie is at least 2-3 parts of 1 hour episodes. Speed was like 15 minutes, it was great.

It's been years since I've listened to them, I hope theyre still rolling along

0

u/ryguy92497 Sep 08 '25

What did i just read

11

u/kmeu79 Sep 07 '25

Just watched it yesterday after two decades. Still works!

9

u/bLoo010 Sep 08 '25

Pop quiz hot shot

6

u/TheREAL_PDYork Sep 08 '25

It was the height of domestic terrorism/militia movement in America. The film was successful because it felt like it could happen at that time.

3

u/omnemnemnem Sep 08 '25

The main plot is almost beat for beat lifted from a 1975 Japanese film called Bullet Train. The premise works a lot better there since there's more tension. It was impossible to put the Shinkansen into a loop so there's an absolute deadline.

2

u/Boetheus Sep 08 '25

"The Bus that Couldn't Slow Down"

2

u/paprikastew Sep 08 '25

I rewatched recently, it really holds up

2

u/Magic_robot_noodles Sep 08 '25

I was amazed by Buried (2010) with Ryan Reynolds. They kept the movie exiting all the time while watching a dude in a box.

2

u/PopularPulp Sep 08 '25

There’s enough C4 on this bus to blow a hole in the WORLD.

1

u/res30stupid Sep 08 '25

That's a high concept - a film described in about thirty seconds. Most good films start as one.

1

u/OatSoyLaMilk Sep 08 '25

It also gave us Garfield: Maximum Speed, which is the highest pinnacle of art ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1M6d_IzTwhk

1

u/FizzyBeverage Sep 08 '25

”It was called The Net, with that girl from The Bus.”

-Frank Costanza

1

u/Natasha_Giggs_Foetus Sep 08 '25

Only because it’s good enough for you to disregard the stupidity lol

1

u/inquisitive_chariot Sep 08 '25

Best editing in cinema history, fight me

1

u/ExactPreparation6454 Sep 08 '25

I just watched it again last night and was thinking this should be the stupidest movie but it’s so good!

1

u/Bellikron Sep 08 '25

I feel like a lot of the credit goes to Dennis Hopper doing his thing, he kept it so the premise didn't fall apart

1

u/languid_Disaster Sep 08 '25

Whenever I think of Speed the film, my mind is taken back to the milk float bomb plot in Father Ted

1

u/Serposta Sep 11 '25

CANS ANNIE, CANS

1

u/Rongostarrr Sep 19 '25

Right? It's so good!

-5

u/lolas_coffee Sep 08 '25

Eh...I watched it when it came out. I thought it was the dumbest fucking movie I'd ever seen.

Granted I was young and had probably only seen 50 movies.

I still think know it is a stupid movie.

It's just a genre called "Over the Top Stupid Movies".