An Equal-Rights Action Thriller Gains ‘Speed’ : Movies: Analysts say the picture is as popular with women as with men--a departure for the male-dominated slam-bang genre.

Who’d have thought a Santa Monica Big Blue Bus could hold its own against such competitors as Alec Baldwin and Julia Roberts?

The bus, of course, is the centerpiece of the summer’s hot action movie, 20th Century Fox’s “Speed,” which has already taken in $84.6 million and proven itself a worthy competitor of such film fare as Baldwin’s “The Shadow” and Roberts’ “I Love Trouble.”

As an action movie, “Speed” has its assets--the prerequisite psycho villain (Dennis Hopper), some out-of-sight pyrotechnics and Keanu Reeves in his first adult role as a policeman trying to save a busload of passengers. But it also has something that distinguishes it from most films in this male-dominated genre--its appeal to women.

“This film played to women from the second they saw it,” said Andrea Jaffe, president of domestic marketing for Fox, of “Speed’s” initial test screenings, adding that the film tested well with women regardless of age.

Exit polls taken opening night by Cinema Score reflect the same data. Although fewer women went to see the film, the same percentage of women and men--97%--liked the movie. Harold Mintz, Cinema Score’s research analyst, put it simply: “Everybody who goes to see ‘Speed’ likes it.”

The film’s print ad campaign now reflects this phenomenon. Initially focusing on Reeves and the bus exploding, it now includes Sandra Bullock, whose character’s fortitude helps save the day.

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“We’ve definitely geared the campaign equally to men and women,” Jaffe said.

Jaffe attributes the film’s success among women to their interest in Reeves. “We knew (that) would take them across genres. Our tests showed that women’s interest in seeing a movie with Keanu Reeves was really high.”

Tom Sherak, executive vice president for Fox, believes that Reeves’ co-star, Bullock, whose character Annie manages to keep the pedal to the metal while ensuring that the hero doesn’t have an emotional breakdown, is a significant factor in the film’s crossover appeal.

“Sandra’s just like Keanu, she’s also our hero,” Sherak said. “Women like to see the woman as the hero, and she’s just as much of a hero as he is.”

“For the first time, there’s a supporting actress who doesn’t break down and cry or whine,” Jennifer Fos, 27, said after seeing the film at the Del Amo Mall in Torrance. “They played her as well as they played him.”

Mark Gordon, who produced “Speed,” said that making Annie an equal was intentional. “When we started three years ago,” Gordon said, “I was very interested in creating a female protagonist who was intimately and aggressively involved in the progress of the movie, rather than being saved by the man throughout the film.”

Director Jan DeBont agreed: “Sandra’s playing such a different part than the usual, she’s not helpless . . . she’s in charge of her own destiny. In fact, she’s more in charge of herself than Keanu’s character is.”

Also, this is an action movie without a lot of blood and gore. For Dena White, 25, who saw the film at the Beverly Center Cineplex, “Speed” offered a welcome respite to the usual action fare. “I usually don’t like action movies, because they’re too violent, too many people getting killed.”

But “Speed,” White said, was different. “It’s like you’re pulled along, and you’re not sure what’s going to happen next. It’s not like ‘Robocop’ where you don’t care what happens.”

DeBont acknowledges that he consciously tried to limit the violence. “I don’t like to see it myself,” he said. “I’m so fed up with seeing violence in movies, on television. There’s already so much in the city that when I go to the movies I want to have the action based on feeling and emotion rather than on violence and gore.”

“Unlike some other action movies, this one’s not done with a body count,” Sherak agreed. “People do die . . . but that’s balanced by all the people who get saved.”

Gordon concurred. “Most action pictures are all about people being mowed down by machine guns. Fewer than 10 people die in this movie. . . . (Audiences) have had it with gratuitous violence.

“One of the things that keeps people coming back,” Gordon continued, “and why it has crossed over to women, is that it’s a ride, a roller coaster ride.”

Sherak thinks “Speed” transcends its action movie status and is instead “the definition of a summer fun movie. It touches all the right buttons. . . . It’s a good movie for the public and for the film business. If you see a picture like ‘Speed,’ it makes you feel good about movies, and that’s contagious, it spurs you to see another movie.”

And Bullock has reaped the benefits that come with being in one of the biggest hits of the summer. The actress will next star in “While You Were Sleeping” for a reported $1.2-million salary.