Truly Dreadful Film

It is a performances centric movie

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Shrewd criminal mastermind Tetsuo Okita (superbly played by Ken Takakura) plants a bomb on a high-speed Japanese Shinkansen bullet train that's wired to explode if the train goes under 80 kilometers per hour. Stalwart Captain Aoki (the always cool Sonny Chiba) has to keep the express hurtling along at a breakneck velocity and prevent the 1,500 passengers from succumbing to panic while the authorities led by no-nonsense Transit Chief Kuromochi (an excellent performance by Ken Utsui ) try to find and apprehend the wily and evasive Okita before he gets away. Director/co-screenwriter Junya Sato wrings plenty of nerve-jangling suspense from the riveting and inspired premise, maintains a constant snappy pace throughout, stages the action scenes with substantial rip-snorting brio, and elicits sound acting from a sturdy cast. Masahiko Iimura's crisp, gliding, glossy widescreen photography and Hachiro Aoyama's stirring, funky-groovin' score further enhance the overall sterling quality of this bang-up gripping and rousing picture. Similar to "Speed," it's a far superior film: tough, gritty and serious, with no silly humor or icky-cute sentiment to diminish the unsparing severity of the gut-wrenching tension. Only the poor dubbing detracts a tad from this otherwise on the money tense, potent and absorbing pip.

I was doing some sale shopping searching randomly through an online webs-tore, when i came across Bullet Train. I noticed that it starred Sonny Chiba, an actor who Quentin Tarantino has honoured with a great deal of praise. So I bought it. Thankfully, it was the full 152min R2 version from Optimum (I understand the previous edit was fairly poor, judging by other comments I have read). The picture and sound quality were superb. The the original dialogue sounded crisp throughout, and with the full 2:35 anamorphic widescreen print available, the DVD was a very enjoyable watch. Although Sonny Chiba gets top billing here, he has a glorified cameo appearance throughout, only once venturing away from his chair at about the 2hr 10min mark. This film belongs, and rightfully so to Ken Takakura. He plays the bomber Okita, a role which he plays with such precision and empathy that you want him to get away at the end of the movie. This being an action/thriller movie, we all know he won't. In an ending similar to Bullitt, the final chase takes place on/near an airport runway. The final shot of which is, albeit of a violent act, is beautiful in its execution. Some of the model work is a bit on the dodgy side, but it was made in 1975. As all of the characters are well rounded, we get a rare insight into the bombers gang, which I have never seen in the type of film. We find out how Okita first met he assailants in flashbacks when things start to go pear shaped. Better than Speed (which is still an excellent popcorn movie) but for different reasons. Well worth the time and effort to watch. Just make sure your get the original 152min Japanese language version. It makes all the difference.

This movie was special in having an extremely interesting plot and fast paced action. The cast is excellent with then major Japanese star Sony Chiba playing a minor role. The mastermind, played by Ken Takakura, is cool, calculating, and very human as opposed to the plain evil vilains typical in those days. The action is excellent and credible in a time when special effects were not computer-generated. I'm convinced that the plot for the movie "Speed" was lifted from this movie. It's worth seeing. I'm currently looking for a copy on VHS or DVD but to no avail. "Help!"

I had seen this movie way long back in India when I was a Kid and enjoyed it. Now, I live and work in the USA. I would like to purchase this movie either in dvd, vcd or vhs format, but to my luck I am not able to find it's availability. If any one can help me on this I would really appreciate your efforts.Suresh