Shinkansen daibakuha a.k.a. THE BULET TRAIN (1975) MOVIE REVIEW

Storyline

One of the Japanese Shinkansen "Bullet Trains" is threatened with a bomb that will explode automatically if the train slows below 80 km/h, unless a ransom is paid. Police race to find the bombers and to learn how to defuse the bomb.

Review

High drama aboard the Bullet Train

I picked up a six-pack of Sonny Chiba movies and this was one of them. Lucky for me it was the uncut, original Japanese language version!! The Bullet Train is a bit of a more complex drama than the much later "Speed" which was pretty much a straight action movie. There are key differences between the two. "Speed" uses an over-the-top villain type in Dennis Hopper, a man completely evil who we're not expected to sympathize or feel sorry for. "Bullet Train"'s villain is a more complex, serious, darker sort of character, and we come to understand and even sympathize a little with his reasons for ransoming the Bullet Train.

I found it a little long at 2 1/2 hours. But I liked that it was a more serious film than Speed, delving into the ransomer's motives and the consequences of his actions, not just for his victims but for his accomplices, the train company employees, and himself. And 1.5 hours in, I realized I had no idea how it was going to end.

If you enjoy Japanese cinema in general, this isn't one of the best films, but you will probably enjoy it as I did. 

Directed by
Jun'ya Satô

Writing credits
Ryunosuke Ono		(screenplay) &
Jun'ya Satô		(screenplay)
Arei Katô		(story)

Cast

	Ken Takakura	...	Tetsuo Okita
	Sonny Chiba	...	Aoki (as Shin-ichi Chiba)
	Kei Yamamoto	...	Masaru Koga
	Eiji Gô	...	Shinji Fujio
	Akira Oda	...	Hiroshi Ôshiro
	Raita Ryû	...	Kikuchi
	Masayo Utsunomiya	...	Yasuko
	Yumiko Fujita	...	Akiyama
	Yumi Takigawa	...	SAS Staff
	Etsuko Shihomi	...	Telephone Operator
	Fumio Watanabe	...	Miyashita
	Toyoto Fukuda	...	Tashiro
	Hiroko Fuji	...	Female Teacher
	Junko Matsudaira	...	Cashier
	Koreharu Hisatomi	...	Hirota