Satisfaction Guaranteed: The 10 Best Comeuppances In Cinema

Speed (1994)

Dennis Hopper created an iconic villain in the action movie Speed in the shape of Howard Payne, a retired and disgruntled bomb squad officer determined to bring terror to the populace by distributing various explosive devices around town. When Officer Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves) repeatedly scuppers his plans, Payne begins to take it personally, killing Traven’s partner, Harry (Jeff Daniels), and eventually taking Traven’s love interest, Annie (Sandra Bullock) hostage.

Annie has an explosive vest strapped to her person and is handcuffed to a pole on a moving subway train. Payne holds the remote trigger and escapes onto the roof of the locomotive. As Annie sinks to the floor and awaits her messy fate, Traven pursues Payne and engages in a careful fight. As they roll around, trading punches, Traven drops his gun and Payne attempts to choke his adversary with the remote detonator.

With the train hurtling along, Payne derides Traven with comments about a lack of intelligence and Traven sees his opportunity. He pushes Payne upwards until he is decapitated by a tunnel light, just as Traven takes possession of the remote trigger. With Payne’s comments about being smarter than him still ringing in his ears, Traven says to himself, “Yeah? But I’m taller.”