Scene of the Week: End of the Line

Dennis Hopper was born in Dodge City, Kansas on May 17, 1936. Hopper’s acting career would begin when he was only 18 years old getting guest spots on a variety of television series in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

Hopper would eventually move to the big screen with some of his most notable performances coming in movies like Easy Rider, Blue Velvet and Hoosiers. But my personal favorite Dennis Hopper role would come later in his career when he played the unhinged Howard Payne in 1994’s Speed.

Speed was a huge success at the box office and cemented Keanu Reeves as a force in the world of action entertainment. But would Keanu have gotten over so strong as the hero if not for the performance from Dennis Hopper as the evil mastermind?

By the end of the wild ride that was Speed, the audience wanted to see Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves) vanquish Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper) and if you want to relive that moment, you’ve come to the right place because this week’s Scene of the Week is the end of the line for Howard Payne…