Bullet Train Explosion

Bullet Train Explosion
Film poster
Directed by	Shinji Higuchi
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.

Plot

Hayabusa 60 (5060B) is an E5 Series Shinkansen bound from Shin-Aomori to Tokyo, under the supervision of first-line manager Kazuya Takaichi. Shortly after the train's departure, an anonymous caller contacts the JR East headquarters in Tokyo, saying they have planted a bomb on the train that will explode if it slows down below 100 km/h. After the bomber proves their claim with the destruction of freight train 2074 at Aomori-Higashi, JR East orders all trains on the Tōhoku line stopped to clear a path for Hayabusa 60, whose driver Chika Matsumoto is ordered to pass through Hachinohe, disable ATC and stay above 120 km/h, all while keeping the bomb a secret to the passengers.

Back in Tokyo, the bomber calls again and demands a ransom of ¥100 billion from all citizens to Japan in exchange for the lives of those aboard Hayabusa 60. Under orders from the government and JR East, Takaichi announces the bomb emergency, causing several passengers to question the staff's inspection procedures while female politician Yuko Kagami uses the situation as leverage to restore her tainted reputation. As chief cabinet secretary Suwa discloses the bomb situation to the public and says the safety of the passengers is the government's priority, the bomber hacks through all networks and streams a ransom video of the bomb being planted under one of Hayabusa 60's rear cars, causing panic aboard the train as it reaches Iwate Prefecture. A problem arises when another 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 switch tracks while just hitting the rear car of a northbound train. Later, millionaire influencer Mitsuru Todoroki streams himself and announces an online platform to raise the ransom money, prompting the passengers to share the link and make their donations before Kagami confronts him on his plan.

Tokyo Police investigator Kawagoe and his team identify the crisis as a copycat of the Hikari 109 incident from 1975. Back aboard the train, two livestreamers approach Masayoshi Goto, the former owner of Goto Tours, and demand he apologize for one of his helicopters crashing at an elementary school, triggering a fight between them before Goto is knocked unconscious. Kasagi informs Takaichi that a rescue plan is underway. After receiving equipment from supply train 9012B and evacuating the passengers to the front cars, the Hayabusa 60 crew coordinates with the Shinkansen Rolling Stock Maintenance Center in Rifu in uncoupling the two rear cars so that a rescue train can catch up with Hayabusa 60 and evacuate the passengers via a temporary bridge. They successfully disconnect the cars, which explode; however, they suspect more bombs aboard the train. Rescue train 9014B arrives and the crew carefully evacuate the passengers to it, but a student named Yuzuki Onodera has gone missing and Goto goes on a suicidal rampage. Just as Kagami calms down Goto, the emergency brake on 9014B suddenly activates, destroying the bridge. Matsumoto slams the brakes just above 100 km/h, causing 9014B to collide and separate with the train and assistant manager Fujii to be impaled by a metal shard. A total of 340 people are rescued aboard 9014B while nine people - including Takaichi, Fujii, Matsumoto, Kagami, Todoroki, Goto, and Onodera - remain aboard Hayabusa 60 with no chance of rescue. Sasaki, senior advisor to the Prime Minister, wants to make sure the train does not reach Tokyo.

Takaichi calls JR East and tells them to connect Hayabusa 60's route with the Tokaido Shinkansen line at Tokyo to buy them more time. Onodera calls her father Tsutomu in Hadano and reveals herself as the bomber. After killing her father with a similar bomb, she calls JR East and tells them that in order to defuse the bombs, they must kill her, as a heart monitor in her body is linked to the bombs. While investigating Onodera, Kawagoe learns that Tsutomu was one of the police officers sent to arrest Masaru Koga, one of the Hikari 109 terrorists, but while Koga detonated a suicide bomb, the police branded Tsutomu as a hero, claiming he shot Koga in self-defense and saved the Shinkansen industry. With the help of Koga's son Masatoshi, Onodera plotted the bomb threat to destroy the lies surrounding her abusive father, including the legacy of the Shinkansen.

When Fujii's condition reaches critical from massive blood loss and JR East is ordered by the government to stop the rail extension, Takaichi resists the urge to strangle Onodera. The police learn from Masatoshi that the remaining bombs are on 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 her post and joins the remaining passengers and crew in car 8, where they strap themselves in and use luggage as makeshift padding. Hayabusa 60 reaches the uncoupling point and cars 7 and 8 are successfully uncoupled while the front six cars slow down and explode, but car 7 derails before car 8 is stopped by a water-filled barrier. Rescue workers rush into car 8 and recover the passengers and crew. Kawagoe apprehends Onodera and reveals that Todoroki's fundraiser reached its ¥100 billion goal. The other passengers bow to Takaichi before JR 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 onboard Hayabusa 60
• Jun Kaname as Mitsuru Todoroki, a Youtuber and millionaire influencer onboard Hayabusa 60
• Hana Toyoshima as Yuzuki Onodera, a high school student onboard Hayabusa 60
• Daisuke Kuroda as Kodai Hayashi, Kagami's secretary onboard Hayabusa 60
• Satoru Matsuo as Masayoshi Goto, former president of a travel company onboard Hayabusa 60
• Suzuka Ohgo as Sakura Ichikawa, the homeroom teacher of Onodera's class onboard Hayabusa 60
• Naomasa Musaka as Keizo Shinohara, a electrician onboard 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 adovisor to the Prime Minister
• Pierre Taki
• Yajūrō Bandō as Shigeru Suwa, chief cabinet secretary
• Takumi Saitoh as Yuichi Kasagi, train dispatch general manager for JR East

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.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 74% of 23 critics' reviews are positive. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 62 out of 100, based on four critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

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."

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."

External links

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