In the 1994 film “Speed,” the bomber played by Dennis Hopper has the last name Payne.
Hopper plays Howard Payne, a disgruntled former Atlanta Police Department bomb-squad officer who turns to extortion and terrorism. He rigs a Los Angeles city bus to explode if its speed falls below 50 miles per hour, then demands a ransom from the authorities while monitoring the passengers from a distance.
The crisis brings LAPD officer Jack Traven, played by Keanu Reeves, into the operation. Traven boards the bus and works with passenger Annie Porter, played by Sandra Bullock, to keep it moving while police try to identify Payne and stop the bomb. The film’s famous speed rule is both its central suspense device and the reason the title is so memorable.
Johnson, Stephens, and Swan are not Payne’s surname. Doug Stephens is a minor passenger character, while Payne is the antagonist whose professional knowledge makes the bomb unusually difficult to defeat. “Speed” was directed by Jan de Bont.