Bullet Train Explosion

Bullet Train Explosion
Film poster
Directed by	Shinji Higuchi[1]
Screenplay by	Kazuhiro Nakagawa Norichika Ōba
Based on	The Bullet Train by Ari Kato, Ryunosuke Ono, and Junya Sato
Produced by	Kota Ishizuka
Starring	Tsuyoshi Kusanagi Kanata Hosoda Non Takumi Saitoh Machiko Ono Jun Kaname Hana Toyoshima
Cinematography	Yusuke Ichitsubo Keizō Suzuki
Edited by	Kaori Umewaki Atsuki Sato
Music by	Taisei Iwasaki Yuma Yamaguchi
Production company	Episcope
Distributed by	Netflix
Release date	23 April 2025 (2025-04-23)
Running time	134 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Bullet Train Explosion (Japanese: 新幹線大爆破, Hepburn: Shinkansen Daibakuha; lit. 'The Shinkansen's Big Explosion') is a 2025 Japanese action thriller film directed by Shinji Higuchi and starring Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Kanata Hosoda, Non, Takumi Saitoh, Machiko Ono, Jun Kaname and Hana Toyoshima. A sequel to the 1975 film The Bullet Train, the film premiered on Netflix on 23 April 2025.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Plot

An E5 Series Shinkansen operating the Hayabusa 60 service to Tokyo departs Shin-Aomori under the supervision of first-line manager Kazuya Takaichi. Shortly after the train's departure, someone contacts the JR East headquarters, claiming they have planted a bomb on the train that will explode if it slows down below 100 km/h. To prove the threat's legitimacy, a bomb is detonated on a nearby freight train. Following this, JR East to stop all trains on the Tōhoku Shinkansen line to clear a path for Hayabusa 60, whose driver, Chika Matsumoto, is ordered to pass through all stations and maintain the train's speed.

To avoid panic, the bomb is initially kept a secret from the passengers. The bomber demands a ransom of ¥100 billion from all citizens of Japan in exchange for the lives of those aboard Hayabusa 60, but the government refuses to fulfill the ransom due to its policy of not negotiating with terrorists. Panic and distrust of the train's staff quickly spreads among the passengers when Takaichi is ordered by his superiors to announce the bomb emergency, while the bomber hacks into the television networks and streams a video of the bomb being planted.

A problem arises when a southbound train stalls at Morioka due to a bird strike, prompting JR East to switch Hayabusa 60's route to the northbound track. With dispatcher Yuichi Kasagi's calculations, Hayabusa 60 manages to avoid the stalled train but hits the rear car of a northbound train. On board, millionaire influencer Mitsuru Todoroki announces an online platform to raise the ransom money, prompting the passengers to share the link and make donations before being confronted by politician Yuko Kagami, who attempts to use the situation to restore her tainted reputation.

TMPD inspector Kawagoe and his team note that the threat is a copycat of the 1975 Hikari 109 incident. Back on the train, two livestreamers approach disgraced businessman Masayoshi Goto and demand an apology for an accident involving one of his tour helicopters, triggering a fight between them that results in Goto being knocked unconscious.

Kasagi informs Takaichi of a plan to rescue the passengers without stopping the train, which would require the train crew to disconnect the last two cars to allow a temporary bridge between Hayabusa 60 and a rescue train. The rear cars are cleared out before the crew uncouples them, causing the bomb to explode when they slow down. However, the crew suspects that there are more explosives aboard the train.

The crew successfully evacuate most of the passengers to the rescue train, with the exception of a high school student named Yuzuki Onodera, who has gone missing after becoming separated from her classmates, and Goto, who goes on a suicidal rampage before Kagami calms him down. The emergency brake on the rescue train suddenly activates, destroying the bridge and seriously wounding assistant manager Fujii. Despite this mishap, a total of 340 people are successfully rescued, leaving just nine people—Takaichi, Fujii, Matsumoto, Kagami, Todoroki, Goto, and Onodera—aboard Hayabusa 60.

When a senior advisor to the Prime Minister says he wants to make sure Hayabusa 60 does not reach Tokyo, Takaichi asks JR East to direct the train to the Tokaido Shinkansen line to buy them time. Meanwhile, Onodera calls her father Tsutomu and reveals herself to be the bomber. She kills her father with a similar bomb before calling JR East and explaining that the detonators are linked to a heart monitor in her body, meaning they must kill her to defuse the explosives. Kawagoe learns that Tsutomu was one of the police officers sent to arrest Masaru Koga, one of the Hikari 109 terrorists. Though Koga blew himself up when police surrounded his hideout, Tsutomu was branded as a hero, with the authorities claiming he shot Koga in self-defense and saved the Shinkansen industry. With the help of Koga's son, Masatoshi, Onodera plotted a copycat attack to tarnish the legacy of her abusive father and the Shinkansen.

Fujii's condition worsens due to massive blood loss, and JR East is ordered by the government to stop the rail extension. The police learn from Masatoshi that the remaining bombs are in cars 1, 4, and 6. Kasagi devises a plan to divert the front six cars onto a branch where they can safely explode while using timed switching of tracks to uncouple the final two cars.

Matsumoto leaves the train running and joins the remaining passengers and crew in the rearmost car. Hayabusa 60 reaches the uncoupling point, and cars 7 and 8 are successfully disconnected while the front six cars slow down and explode. As rescue workers recover the survivors from the derailed cars, Kawagoe apprehends Onodera and reveals that Todoroki's fundraiser reached its goal. The other passengers bow to Takaichi before JR East workers approach him and congratulate him for his efforts.

Cast

Hayabusa 60

• Tsuyoshi Kusanagi as Kazuya Takaichi, the head manager of Hayabusa 60
• Kanata Hosoda as Keiji Fujii, the rookie assistant train manager of Hayabusa 60
• Non as Chika Matsumoto, the driver of Hayabusa 60
• Machiko Ono as Yuko Kagami, a female politician on board Hayabusa 60
• Jun Kaname as Mitsuru Todoroki, a YouTuber and millionaire influencer on board Hayabusa 60
• Hana Toyoshima as Yuzuki Onodera, a high school student on board Hayabusa 60
• Daisuke Kuroda as Kodai Hayashi, Kagami's secretary on board Hayabusa 60
• Satoru Matsuo as Masatoshi Goto, former president of a travel company on board Hayabusa 60
• Suzuka Ohgo as Sakura Ichikawa, the homeroom teacher of Onodera's class on board Hayabusa 60
• Naomasa Musaka as Keizo Shinohara, a type 1 electrician on board Hayabusa 60

Outside people

• Matsuya Onoe II as Yuki Fukuoka, a rescue vehicle driver
• Kenji Iwaya as Yoshiharu Kawagoe, a detective
• Kentaro Tamura as Kentaro Sasaki, senior advisor to the Prime Minister
• Pierre Taki
• Bandō Yajūrō as Shigeru Suwa, chief cabinet secretary
• Takumi Saitoh as Yuichi Kasagi, general commander
• Keisuke Hoashi as Shinnosuke Yoshimura, general manager
• Takaya Aoyagi as Mukai, transport dispatcher at Ōmiya
• Yōji Tanaka as Hajime Shinjo

Production

Unlike the original film, production for Bullet Train Explosion received support from the East Japan Railway Company, which provided actual Shinkansen units and railway facilities for filming.^[6]

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 66% of 32 critics' reviews are positive.^[7] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 63 out of 100, based on five critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[8]

Todd Gilchrist of Variety wrote, "For multiple generations of audiences weaned on the first film's downstream successors, Higuchi's follow-up may prove too straightforward or classy to elicit the same excitement. But Bullet Train Explosion feels like a blockbuster made for adults — or let's say, not for a lowest-common-denominator audience — where the priority is throwing challenges and complications at smart characters instead of sparking conflict with cheap narrative shortcuts and bad, even dumb choices."^[9]

Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com gave the film three out of four stars and wrote, "With Bullet Train Explosion, you get a straight-down-the-line crowdpleaser, replete with duty-bound authority figures in well-pressed uniforms, anxious and often self-absorbed passengers, Macgyver-like problem-solving, seat-of-your-pants close calls, that sort of thing. There are no real surprises here, just what you'd want from this sort of cheeseball entertainment."^[10]

References

1. "草彅剛主演のNetflix映画『新幹線大爆破』予告編公開 細田佳央太、のん、斎藤工も出演". Real Sound. 5 March 2025. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
2. "草彅剛主演「新幹線大爆破」に細田佳央太、のん、斎藤工ら結集【予告編初公開】". Eiga.com. 5 March 2025. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
3. "草なぎ剛主演でパニック映画の金字塔『新幹線大爆破』リブート「高倉健さんの気持ちを受け継ぎ、全力で」". Oricon. 5 March 2025. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
4. "「新幹線大爆破」リブート決定、監督・樋口真嗣×主演・草なぎ剛のNetflix映画に". Natalie. 29 February 2024. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
5. "草彅剛主演のNetflix映画『新幹線大爆破』追加キャストにのん、斎藤工、要潤、尾野真千子ら". Cinra. 5 March 2025. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
6. Ramachandran, Naman (4 March 2025). "Shin Godzilla Co-Director's Next Film, Bullet Train Explosion,'Reveals High-Stakes Teaser and Full Cast". Variety. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
7. "Bullet Train Explosion". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
8. "Bullet Train Explosion". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved 3 August 2025.
9. Gilchrist, Todd (23 April 2025). "Bullet Train Explosion Review: A Reality-Based Runaway Train Movie That Stays on the Rails". Variety. Retrieved 24 April 2025.
10. Abrams, Simon (April 2025). "Bullet Train Explosion". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 24 April 2025.

External links

• Official website
• Bullet Train Explosion at IMDb
• Bullet Train Explosion at Eiga.com