--- description: How Netflix's Bullet Train Explosion is connected to action thrillers like The Runaway Train and Speed title: The Story Behind Bullet Train Explosion image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13e24c4982131e54/6998c5f7e1ba00bb5198d7c6/DSC0694-ARW-20240417-DxO_DeepPRIME-XD2_3.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Story Behind Japanese Action Thriller _Bullet Train Explosion_ by [Kayti Burt](/author/kayti-burt/) ## Kayti Burt Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Burt is a contributor for TIME. Apr 23, 2025 4:08 PM CUT  A still from Bullet Train Explosion A still from Bullet Train ExplosionCourtesy of Netflix by [Kayti Burt](/author/kayti-burt/) ## Kayti Burt Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Burt is a contributor for TIME. Apr 23, 2025 4:08 PM CUT Trains have been popular in cinema arguably since the beginning of film, when the Lumière brothers’ [“The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FAj9fJQRZA&ab%5Fchannel=AndyMyers "undefined") became one of the first movies ever made and commercially screened in 1896\. From the silent Civil War movie _The General_ to Alfred Hitchcock’s suspenseful [_Strangers on a Train_](https://time.com/collection-post/6309178/the-talented-mr-ripley/ "undefined") to the quiet romance of _Before Sunrise_, [trains propel narratives](https://time.com/6203227/bullet-train-review/ "undefined") across genre and time. For the Japanese filmmaker Shinji Higuchi, an interest in trains on screen dates back to at least 1975, when he saw _The Bullet Train_ as a fourth grader. Fifty years later, it remains one of his favorite films and he has directed its sequel: the action thriller _Bullet Train Explosion_, out April 23 on Netflix. Shinji recalls being particularly affected by _The Bullet Train_’s depiction of Japanese National Railway staff members. In the film’s press notes, he writes, “I liked watching ordinary workers, who had a strong sense of duty to do something about the unbelievable situation, give everything they had to perform their jobs.” Speaking with TIME through an interpreter, Shinji says he wanted to make sure to give the original story its due when making the sequel. “I really had to grapple with how I wanted to approach the themes that would be depicted in this film,” Shinji says. “It was quite an arduous task for me, and I had to put my all in it.” Let’s break down the deep cinematic roots of _Bullet Train Explosion_, and how Shinji brought one of film’s first subjects into the modern action movie world.  Bullet Train Explosion Courtesy of Netflix ## **_Bullet Train Explosion_** **’s direct inspiration** Netflix’s _Bullet Train Explosion_ is a sequel to 1975’s [_The Bullet Train_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ygBhZDeKnuQ&ab%5Fchannel=Eurekaentertainment "undefined"), which was directed by Junya Sato and stars Ken Takakura, Sonny Chiba, and Ken Utsui. The original film tells the story of a perilous trip undertaken by Hikari 109, a high-speed, first-generation bullet train traveling from Tokyo to Hakata. Shortly after Hikari 109’s departure, the railway security head is informed that a bomb has been planted. If the train slows below 80 kilometers per hour (roughly 50mph), it will explode. Railway staff and the police work to keep the 1,500 passengers safe, while a $5 million ransom is demanded. In _Bullet Train Explosion_, Shinji keeps the same general premise as _The Bullet Train_, but ups the ante and expands the focus. In the 2025 sequel, the train’s speed can’t dip below 100 kilometers per hour or roughly 62 mph (the train [can reach a top speed](https://www.jrailpass.com/shinkansen-bullet-trains "undefined") of 320 kilometers per hour, or roughly 199 mph), and the ransom is a whopping 100 billion yen (roughly $710,360,000). The mysterious ransomer asks the sum to be raised by the general public, depicting a social media culture that moves faster than the fastest of trains. Unlike the 1975 film, we spend more time with those passengers, which include a scandal-embroiled politician (Machiko Ono), a YouTube celebrity (Jun Kaname), and a gaggle of teenage schoolchildren. On the staff side, train conductor Kazuya Takaichi (Tsuyoshi Kusanagi) is as close to a hero-protagonist as we get in a story about the efficiency of working together. Shinji’s adoration of both the original film and its depiction of Japanese railway culture shines through in _Bullet Train Explosion_, which eschews the classic arc of a Hollywood action movie for a Japanese tale of collective problem-solving and the benefits of being good at one’s job. It’s what _Spider-Man 2_ might have looked like if, instead of Peter Parker stopping a careening “L” train with [only his sticky webs and superhuman strength](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRhRZB-nqOU&ab%5Fchannel=Movieclips "undefined"), he was aided by an idealistic train conductor, a sleepy mechanic, and a dedicated team back at the Chicago Transit Authority—and if that was the whole movie. With _Bullet Train Explosion_, Shinji also makes an effort to deepen the mechanical realism of the franchise, saying in the film’s press notes that the original movie was criticized for the way it portrayed trains. “As someone who likes both movies and railroads, I was really upset by this response,” he writes. “So when we started this project, I wanted to make something that wouldn’t face this same criticism. I talked to experts knowledgeable about bullet train designs and researched the actual mechanisms.” Unlike the original film, the Netflix production included support from a major Japanese railway company, the East Japan Railway Company. “The \[JR East\] staff knew about the original film and wanted to show real bullet trains to people around the world,” Shinji explains in the press notes. “This feeling matched well with our intent to show real bullet trains on the screen.” When filming on a real-size bullet train carriage was not possible for a scene, Shinji used miniature models. “As much as the budgeting allowed, we would make models that were as big as possible, model trains that would probably fit on maybe two tables,” he tells TIME. “And then we would wreck those models.”  Bullet Train Explosion Courtesy of Netflix ## **How is** **_Bullet Train Explosion_** **connected to** **_Speed_** **?** If the shared premise of _Bullet Train_ and _Bullet Train Explosion_ sounds familiar, then you’ve probably seen _Speed_, the 1994 Hollywood action movie classic starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. In it, an LA bus is held hostage by a bomber threatening to blow up the vehicle if it drops below 50 mph (80 kilometers per hour), or if a ransom of $3.7 million isn’t paid. The 20th Century Fox film was the fifth highest-grossing film of 1994, and had a 1997 sequel. It seems hard to believe, but there is no direct connection between 1975’s _The Bullet Train_ and 1994’s _Speed_. _Speed_ screenwriter Graham Yost has [gone on record](https://www.allarts.org/programs/on-story/a-conversation-with-graham-yost-vu4ukc/ "undefined") saying the idea for _Speed_ came from a 1985 American film called [_The Runaway Train_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOgYzEV-XFQ&ab%5Fchannel=HDRetroTrailers "undefined"). The film was recommended to Yost by his father, Elwy Yost, a Canadian TV personality who hosted [TVOntario's _Saturday Night at the Movies_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBcsyELgLsM&ab%5Fchannel=Retrontario "undefined") from 1974 to 1999\. _The Runaway Train_ was directed by Andrei Konchalovsky and stars Jon Voight and Eric Roberts as two incarcerated men who escape prison only to end up on a train without brakes, careening across the frozen Alaskan wilderness. The plot thickens because _Runaway Train_ was based on an original screenplay from Japanese film legend Akira Kurosawa, known for medium-defining works such as _Rashomon_ and _Seven Samurai_. In the 1960s, Kurosawa wrote a script, alongside frequent collaborators Hideo Oguni and Ryūzō Kikushima, about a runaway train. Kurosawa was set to direct the international co-production in New York in late 1966, but shooting was canceled at the last minute due to difficulties with American financial backers. The script would be used for _Runaway Train_ two decades later. Shinji notes that a 1966 American TV movie called _The Doomsday Flight_ was an inspiration for 1975’s _The Bullet Train_. Written by _Twilight Zone_ creator Rod Serling, the film follows an airliner threatened by a bomb that will detonate if the plane drops below 4,000 feet. _The Doomsday Flight_ was very popular. When it aired on NBC in December 1966, it became the most-watched TV film ever, up to that point. ## **A Japanese movie for global audiences** “I love bullet train carriages, so I regard the bullet train as a star in my film,” says Shinji. “How to aesthetically approach shooting the bullet train was very important to me.” From the perspective of someone living in the U.S.—where [we’re still waiting](https://interestingengineering.com/photo-story/upgraded-acela-trains-reaches-160-mph "undefined") for the launch of our next generation of high-speed trains, [initially planned for 2021](https://time.com/6340931/america-high-speed-rail-history/ "undefined")—the trains and train culture depicted in _Bullet Train Explosion_ can feel like a science fiction film. Shinji notes that the celebration of efficiency and teamwork is something that exists in the 1975 film. “It is \[a theme\] that we also aspire after \[in _Bullet Train Explosion_\]: people who are diligent, people who follow the rules, and people in uniform,” says Shinji. “Maybe it's a very Japanese thing. Maybe the youngsters now are a bit different, but for boys of our generation, there was something wonderful about looking towards the same goal and growing up.” While Shinji recognizes that, in some ways, _Bullet Train Explosion_ is a Japanese story, he is not worried about its relatability for global audiences. “Of course, it is a domestic story, but I didn't want to make something that would only resonate with the Japanese audience,” he says. “I wanted a universal touchstone in the emotions.” Compared to some of the previous films Shinji has worked on, such as the live-action _Attack on Titan_ or _Shin Godzilla_, it was easier to ground the story in a reality diverse audiences could recognize. “\[With previous films\], it was all about, how do I connect that gap between reality and something that's far out there,” he says. “But this is something that could happen in reality. There are perhaps some eccentric characters in this film, but these are very real people that you would see next to you.” It helps that, at its center, is a mode of transportation that is so thrilling, whether it is part of your culture or not. “It is indeed an extraordinary and exciting journey on the bullet train ride,” says Shinji. “So it's quite different from other means of transportation, and we hope that we are able to deliver that excitement to you.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7279569/bullet-train-explosion-netflix-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7279569/bullet-train-explosion-netflix-history/"},"headline":"The Story Behind Japanese Action Thriller Bullet Train Explosion","datePublished":"2025-04-23T16:08:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:51:24.751Z","description":"How Netflix's Bullet Train Explosion is connected to action thrillers like The Runaway Train and Speed","url":"https://time.com/7279569/bullet-train-explosion-netflix-history/","keywords":["movies","freelance","culturepod"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13e24c4982131e54/6998c5f7e1ba00bb5198d7c6/DSC0694-ARW-20240417-DxO_DeepPRIME-XD2_3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kayti Burt","jobTitle":"Burt is a contributor for TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/kayti-burt/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt13e24c4982131e54/6998c5f7e1ba00bb5198d7c6/DSC0694-ARW-20240417-DxO_DeepPRIME-XD2_3.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"_DSC0694-ARW-20240417-DxO_DeepPRIME XD2_3","caption":"A still from Bullet Train Explosion","creditText":"Courtesy of Netflix","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7279569/bullet-train-explosion-netflix-history/","name":"The Story Behind Japanese Action Thriller Bullet Train Explosion"}}]}] ```