Movielogr
The Bullet Train (1975)
Directed by Jun'ya Satô
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Overview
A Japanese bullet train 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 so the train crew can learn how to defuse the bomb.
Rated NR | Length 152 minutes
Actors
Ken Takakura | Sonny Chiba | Kei Yamamoto | Eiji Gō | Akira Oda | Raita Ryu | Masayo Utsunomiya | Ken Utsui | Yumiko Fujita | Yumi Takigawa | Etsuko Shihomi | Fumio Watanabe | Toyoto Fukuda | Hiroko Fuji | Junko Matsudaira | Tetsurō Tamba | Takashi Shimura | Kunie Tanaka | Saburo Date | Yutaka Hayashi | Yoshifumi Tajima | Mizuho Suzuki
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07/16/2020 | TV | Broadcast | Other | 6.5 stars |
| (Average) 6.5 stars |
Viewing Notes
For DKUTV’s disaster double feature this week they screened THE LAST WAR and BULLET TRAIN. I caught TLW the last time they aired it but BULLET TRAIN I haven’t seen. I thought I had a copy of it somewhere b/c I have a bunch of Sonny Chiba sets but couldn’t locate it so I decided to just watch the broadcast via Twitch. It was a decent transfer, too.
This premise is fairly straightforward but how it’s handled in the movie is the most roundabout way. And the cops are pretty lousy at their job catching the guys responsible for setting the bomb on the train. A lot of wheel spinning and overwrought plotting leads that that 2.5 hour runtime. Yet overall this is a solid 70s disaster thriller which were so damn popular for whatever reason back then. It has all the proper story beats and characters. Perhaps the main downside is that because there are so many characters most don’t get much screentime, even Chiba. Sue Shihomi—Sister Streetfighter—might as well not have been cast. It was neat to see Kunie Tanaka in a bit part. Love that guy.
Even greats like Takashi Shumira do get much to do but I feel like his presence was more to give some weight to the scenes he’s in. It works. A little jarring to see Ken Takakura as the main bad guy but he gets the most screentime and he’s really good. This is very much like any one of those American disaster flicks from the time and even has bubbly 70s score to match.
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