The Bullet Train

A Shinkansen express bound for Hakata leaves Tokyo with around fifteen hundred passengers aboard, and shortly after departure the railway authorities receive a telephone warning: a bomb has been placed on the train and will detonate if its speed drops below a set limit, unless a ransom is paid. The extortionists demonstrate their seriousness by destroying a freight train with a similar device, and the demand includes payment for the information needed to disarm the bomb. Police launch a hunt for those responsible while the crew on board must keep the train moving long enough for a way to be found.

Junya Satō directed and co-wrote the film with Ryūnosuke Ono, and Kanji Amao and Sunao Sakagami produced it for Toei Company. It was Satō's third feature, following The Private Police and Yakuza Skirmishes in the 1970s. The large credited cast of eighty-nine includes Ken Takakura as Tetsuo Okita, Sonny Chiba as Aoki, Kei Yamamoto as Masaru Koga, Eiji Gō as Shinji Fujio, Akira Oda as Hiroshi Ôshiro and Raita Ryu as Kikuchi. Running 152 minutes, the film mixes action and thriller mechanics with crime and drama.

Its ratings sit close together: on IMDb it holds 6.8/10 from around 2,200 votes, and on TMDB 6.9/10 from 72 votes. The modest vote counts point to a film whose reputation rests on its premise and the tension of its central situation rather than on a broad modern audience.