Bullet Train Explosion

Bullet Train Explosion (Shinkansen Daibakuha) (2025)

Runtime: 134 minutes

Directed by: Shinji Higuchi

Starring: Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Kanata Hosada, Non, Jun Kaname, Michiko Ono

From: Netflix

This is an example of what I don’t like about modern movie-making! It seems like for every Sinners, there’s a torrent of nonsense irritating films like Bullet Train Explosion, which just debuted on Netflix yesterday. This review had to be posted earlier than usual due to my schedule.

As sometimes happens, messageboard discussion is the only reason why this was viewed. A trailer was posted and unlike everywhere else (where people read the plot and presumed “it’s a ripoff of Speed” when Speed was based on the 1975 Toei movie The Bullet Train, whether intentionally or not) people in that thread knew Explosion was based on The Bullet Train, a movie I’ve seen and will say more about later.

This started off OK. The main players are introduced and like in 1975, a bomb is planet on a bullet train-i.e. the shinkansen-which will go off if it drops below a certain speed and there’s a mysterious figure demanding a high ransom. Sure, there are some young adults that I found to be abominations but perhaps that’s just Old Man Blair’s unusual opinions rearing their ugly head again.

Then, one character made their debut and it was a harbinger of what a bad, irritating modern movie this was. A representative of the government comes into the command center (it’s at the rail line headquarters; police are also present) and he’s all snide, dismissive of everyone else, haughtily tells everyone that the government doesn’t negotiate with terrorists, and demands that the passengers on the train hear that there’s a bomb on board. WHY?! The answer is “because the movie wants to say that the government is heartless & incompetent w/ a Mickey 17-level of subtlety, which is not a compliment.”

There was a sign to come of how irritating and hollow the film would become, a total nothing-burger which wasted over 2 hours of my time. As many haven’t seen The Bullet Train, an explanation is needed. The Bullet Train is MUCH better than Explosion. Plenty of time it spent getting to know the villains & their motivations alongside the heroes attempting to save everyone on the train. That made the 2 ½ hour runtime not as daunting as you might suspect. This new movie is full of dumb characters I couldn’t care less about, the plot is ludicrous and it exemplified the cliché “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

Another common detail concerning me and modern films: many others enjoy the picture in question quite a bit more than I do. That is already the case with Bullet Train Explosion. If my review hasn't convinced you to miss the film, hopefully the experience is a much more enjoyable ride for you than it was for me.