That part when they were driving over the bumpy road and they had to keep the truck going over 40 in order to prevent the nitroglycerin from blowing it up really reminded me of the city bus part in Speed. It's interesting to see the origins of different plot ideas, and that "over/under a certain speed to survive" idea being used so effectively, even if only for a small part in Wages of Fear. Makes for good suspense.
shareI had the same thought about Speed when I heard that discussion about keeping it over 40.
There was one tension building scene where the camera flicked around from face to face or to hand during a pause before something happened(cant remember exactly where in the movie) that reminded me of Sergio Leone close-ups of eyes and faces in his westerns and made me wonder was he inspired by it.
The film also reminded me of an episode of Gemini Man, (the only episode I remember) where he was driving a truck with a container of nitro-glycerine suspended on elastic cords in the trailer. Naturally somebody had tampered with the brakes which came into play on a twisty down-hill stretch and thanks to CB radio and other truckers the day was saved.
About time for a remake of this I reckon. Get some of the older character actors together, eg Sean Penn, Gary Oldman, James Gandolfini, Ed Harris, Jean Reno but put them with a good action director, Paul Greengrass or someone (shame Tony Scott's gone), have a role for Tom Waits somewhere, and Tommy Lee Jones. (But no shaky camera). I'd go see that.
I never actually made that connection, but it's obvious now that you mention it. Movie ideas just get recycled over and over again. With all the movies out there it's no wonder ideas just get recycled. They take one idea from one movie and just alter it a bit, and do the same thing with another movie and then combine them all to make a new story.
shareSearch Youtube for Everything is a Remix, gives some good examples of ideas being recycled in Star Wars and The Matrix, among others.