My quick rating – 6.1/10. Bullet Train Explosion is exactly what it says on the poster — a high-speed, high-stakes action thriller set aboard a Tokyo-bound shinkansen rigged to explode if it drops below 100 kilometers per hour. It’s a kinetic, visually impressive ride that brings a lot of the Speed-like thrills while adding just enough cultural and thematic texture to avoid feeling like a direct copy. And let’s face it, the similarities are more in tune with The Bullet Train as opposed to Speed. No, not the one from 2022 with Brad Pitt, the 1975 Japanese one. Are you still with me LOL.
While not perfect, it’s an entertaining foreign production that’s easy to recommend to action fans — especially those who, like me, don’t often get around to international films unless they’re dubbed or subtitled for tired eyes.
Right off the bat, the movie evokes that nostalgic, old-school disaster film energy, much like a drive-in double feature. There’s tension in the control room, frantic coordination from railway authorities, and a looming sense of dread inside the train as passengers come to grips with their fate. While it’s no horror film, something I admittedly would have preferred, it delivers its suspense through tight set pieces, dramatic confrontations, and a bomb that quite literally keeps things moving.
Visually, Bullet Train Explosion is a treat. Tokyo’s sprawling landscape blurs past with some impressive CGI that’s smartly paired with practical effects and what appear to be miniatures in a few key sequences. That combination gives it a tactile feel that a lot of digital-only productions lose. It never looks cheap, which is refreshing for a streaming action flick.
The film adds a unique wrinkle to the usual bomb-on-a-vehicle plot with the bomber’s motives. They aren’t groundbreaking, but there’s a bit more to their backstory than the usual revenge or chaos-for-chaos-sake angle. Still, the movie mostly plays it safe, driving toward the exact kind of conclusion you expect from minute one. There are some light explorations of class, governmental indifference, and unity among workers, but these threads feel more like afterthoughts than true thematic anchors.
The runtime is where things suffer a bit. Exceeding two hours (137 minutes), it starts to feel padded, especially when the focus drifts from the train itself. The tension that makes the ride gripping begins to sag with every cutaway that doesn’t serve the central plot.
Since I watched the dubbed version, I won’t pass judgment on the acting, though even with occasionally clunky translation, the performances get the job done. The drama among the passengers is easily the highlight. It’s those scenes, along with the explosion countdowns, that give the movie a pulse.
Bullet Train Explosion won’t redefine the genre, but it’s a solid foreign action flick with enough spectacle, tension, and heart to be worth the ride. Just don’t expect too many surprises.
Being a Netflix film, that is the only streamer available for this one atm.