July 11, 1994 -- ``Blown Away'' is a better-than-average summer action film with some memorable performances, including two members of one of Hollywood's premier acting families.

The plot of ``Blown Away'' is very similar to ``Speed.'' You have the bomb squad cop Dove, played by Jeff Bridges, trying to outsmart the mad bomber Gaerity, well-played by Tommy Lee Jones. Two very similar roles were played by Keanau Reeves and Dennis Hopper, respectively, in ``Speed.''

While ``Blown Away'' is not quite as entertaining as ``Speed,'' Director Stephen Hopkins does achieve a lot of suspense and does a marvelous job of using location shots in Boston to achieve a nice sense of time and place. The excellent Irish accents affected by Tommy Lee Jones and Jeff Bridges' father, Lloyd also help with the atmosphere. Lloyd also plays Jeff's father in the film.

Forest Whitaker (``The Crying Game'') also appears in the film as a cocky bomb squad cop. Jeff Bridges and Tommy Lee Jones both turn in strong performances in the film. Unlike ``Speed'' there is some character development in the film, but the pace of the film is slower and it isn't nearly as much fun, being a more serious film with darker overtones.

There are some minor logical flaws in the film, but none of them seemed to be quite as glaring as the impossible flying bus in ``Speed.''

Another thing the film has going for it is the astonishing sound effects and the excellent sound track, which includes some songs by the Irish group U-2. The sound is achieved through the use of compact discs which are synchronized to the film. The recently upgraded system at the Fox Theatre's screen four room uses a 35-speaker surround sound system, with a six-channel amplifier. The sonic effect of the blasts in the film come from two 21-inch subwoofers behind the screen. There is remarkable clarity and lack of distortion in the sound. Helicopters in the film moving from left to right across the screen, can also be heard to move as the sound moves from the left speakers to those on the right.

A few years ago I heard a THX sound system in a Cheyenne theater. At that time the THX system was the state of the art in theater sound. Theater manager Bob Austin said the Fox's new DTS (Digital Theater Sound) system is the new state of the art in the industry, and that it is a substantial upgrade from the number four room's already fine sound system. It does sound like it. The next film to carry DTS sound will be ``Forrest Gump,'' which will move to screen number four at the Fox a week after it opens in Laramie.

What would really be great is to see ``Speed'' with the DTS sound system. ``Blown Away'' rates a B.

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