Bullet Train Explosion

is a 2025 Japanese action thriller film directed by Shinji Higuchi and starring Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Kanata Hosoda, Non, Takumi Saitoh, Machiko Ono, Jun Kaname and Hana Toyoshima. A sequel to the 1975 film ''The Bullet Train'', the film premiered on Netflix on 23 April 2025.

Plot

''Hayabusa'' 60 (5060B) is an E5 Series Shinkansen bound from Shin-Aomori to Tokyo, under the supervision of first-line manager Kazuya Takaichi. Shortly after the train's departure, an anonymous caller contacts the JR East headquarters in Tokyo, saying they have planted a bomb on the train that will explode if it slows down below 100 km/h. After the bomber destroys a nearby freight train, JR East orders all trains on the Tōhoku Shinkansen stopped to clear a path for ''Hayabusa'' 60, whose driver Chika Matsumoto is ordered to pass through all stations and stay above 120 km/h, while keeping the bomb a secret to the passengers.

Back in Tokyo, the bomber calls again and demands a ransom of 100 billion from all citizens of Japan in exchange for the lives of those aboard ''Hayabusa'' 60. Under orders from the government and JR East, Takaichi announces the bomb emergency, causing several passengers to question the staff's inspection procedures while female politician Yuko Kagami uses the situation to restore her tainted reputation. As chief cabinet secretary Suwa discloses the bomb situation to the public and says the safety of the passengers is the government's priority, the bomber hacks through all networks and streams a ransom video of the bomb being planted, causing panic aboard the train. A problem arises when a southbound train stalls at Morioka due to a bird strike, prompting JR East to switch ''Hayabusa'' 60's route to the northbound track. With dispatcher Yuichi Kasagi's calculations, ''Hayabusa'' 60 manages to switch tracks but hits the rear car of a northbound train. Onboard, millionaire influencer Mitsuru Todoroki announces an online platform to raise the ransom money, prompting the passengers to share the link and make donations before Kagami confronts him.

TMPD inspector Kawagoe and his team identify the crisis as a copycat of the ''Hikari'' 109 incident from 1975. On the train, two livestreamers approach Masayoshi Goto, the former owner of Goto Tours, and demand he apologize for one of his helicopters crashing at an elementary school, triggering a fight between them before Goto is knocked unconscious. Kasagi informs Takaichi that a rescue plan is underway. After receiving equipment from supply train 9012B and evacuating the passengers to the front cars, the ''Hayabusa'' 60 crew coordinates with the Shinkansen Rolling Stock Maintenance Center in Rifu in uncoupling the two rear cars so that a rescue train can catch up with ''Hayabusa'' 60 and evacuate the passengers via a temporary bridge. They successfully disconnect the cars, which explode; however, they suspect more bombs aboard the train. Rescue train 9014B arrives and the crew evacuate the passengers to it, but a student named Yuzuki Onodera has gone missing and Goto goes on a suicidal rampage. Just as Kagami calms down Goto, the emergency brake on 9014B suddenly activates, destroying the bridge. Matsumoto slams the brakes just above 100 km/h, causing 9014B to collide and separate with the train and assistant manager Fujii to be impaled by a metal shard. A total of 340 people are rescued aboard 9014B while nine people - including Takaichi, Fujii, Matsumoto, Kagami, Todoroki, Goto, and Onodera - remain aboard ''Hayabusa'' 60. Sasaki, senior advisor to the Prime Minister, wants to make sure the train does not reach Tokyo.

Takaichi calls JR East and tells them to connect the Tōhoku and Tokaido Shinkansen lines at Tokyo to buy them more time. Onodera calls her father Tsutomu in Hadano and reveals herself as the bomber. After killing her father with a similar bomb, she calls JR East and tells them in order to defuse the bombs, they must kill her, as a heart monitor in her body is linked to the bombs. While investigating Onodera, Kawagoe learns that Tsutomu was one of the police officers sent to arrest Masaru Koga, one of the ''Hikari'' 109 terrorists, but while Koga detonated a suicide bomb, the police branded Tsutomu a hero, claiming he shot Koga in self-defense and saved the Shinkansen industry. With the help of Koga's son Masatoshi, Onodera plotted the bomb threat to destroy the lies surrounding her abusive father, including the legacy of the Shinkansen.

When Fujii's condition reaches critical from massive blood loss and JR East is ordered by the government to stop the rail extension, Takaichi resists the urge to strangle Onodera. The police learn from Masatoshi that the remaining bombs are on cars 1, 4, and 6. Kasagi devises a plan to divert the front six cars onto a branch where they can safely explode while using timed switching of tracks to uncouple the final two cars. Matsumoto leaves her post and joins the remaining passengers and crew in car 8, where they strap themselves in and use luggage as makeshift padding. ''Hayabusa'' 60 reaches the uncoupling point and cars 7 and 8 are successfully uncoupled while the front six cars slow down and explode. Car 7 derails and is destroyed by car 8, which is finally stopped by a water-filled barrier. Rescue workers rush into car 8 and recover the passengers and crew. Kawagoe apprehends Onodera and reveals that Todoroki's fundraiser reached its 100 billion goal. The other passengers bow to Takaichi before JR workers approach him and congratulate him for his efforts.

Cast

''Hayabusa'' 60

* Tsuyoshi Kusanagi as Kazuya Takaichi, the head manager of ''Hayabusa'' 60
* Kanata Hosoda as Keiji Fujii, the rookie assistant train manager of ''Hayabusa'' 60
* Non as Chika Matsumoto, the driver of ''Hayabusa'' 60
* Machiko Ono as Yuko Kagami, a female politician onboard ''Hayabusa'' 60
* Jun Kaname as Mitsuru Todoroki, a Youtuber and millionaire influencer onboard ''Hayabusa'' 60
* Hana Toyoshima as Yuzuki Onodera, a high school student onboard ''Hayabusa'' 60
* Daisuke Kuroda as Kodai Hayashi, Kagami's secretary onboard ''Hayabusa'' 60
* Satoru Matsuo as Masayoshi Goto, former president of a travel company onboard ''Hayabusa'' 60
* Suzuka Ohgo as Sakura Ichikawa, the homeroom teacher of Onodera's class onboard ''Hayabusa'' 60
* Naomasa Musaka as Keizo Shinohara, a type 1 electrician onboard ''Hayabusa'' 60

Outside people

* Matsuya Onoe II as Yuki Fukuoka, a rescue vehicle driver
* Kenji Iwaya as Yoshiharu Kawagoe, a detective
* Kentaro Tamura as Kentaro Sasaki, senior advisor to the Prime Minister
* Pierre Taki
* Bandō Yajūrō as Shigeru Suwa, chief cabinet secretary
* Takumi Saitoh as Yuichi Kasagi, general commander
* Keisuke Hoashi as Shinnosuke Yoshimura, general manager
* Edward Hong as Mukai, transport dispatcher, omiya-dai

Production

Unlike the original film, production for ''Bullet Train Explosion'' received support from the East Japan Railway Company, which provided actual Shinkansen units and railway facilities for filming.

Reception

Todd Gilchrist of ''Variety'' wrote, "For multiple generations of audiences weaned on the first film's downstream successors, Higuchi's follow-up may prove too straightforward or classy to elicit the same excitement. But ''Bullet Train Explosion'' feels like a blockbuster made for adults — or let's say, not for a lowest-common-denominator audience — where the priority is throwing challenges and complications at smart characters instead of sparking conflict with cheap narrative shortcuts and bad, even dumb choices."

Simon Abrams of ''RogerEbert.com'' gave the film three out of four stars and wrote, "With ''Bullet Train Explosion'', you get a straight-down-the-line crowdpleaser, replete with duty-bound authority figures in well-pressed uniforms, anxious and often self-absorbed passengers, Macgyver-like problem-solving, seat-of-your-pants close calls, that sort of thing. There are no real surprises here, just what you'd want from this sort of cheeseball entertainment."

References

External links

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''Bullet Train Explosion''
at Eiga.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bullet Train Explosion
2025 films
2025 action thriller films
2025 crime thriller films
2020s disaster films
2020s Japanese films
2020s Japanese-language films
Japanese action thriller films
Japanese crime thriller films
Japanese disaster films
Japanese sequel films
Films about terrorism in Asia
Films directed by Shinji Higuchi
Films set in Aomori Prefecture
Films set in Fukushima Prefecture
Films set in Ibaraki Prefecture
Films set in Iwate Prefecture
Films set in Kanagawa Prefecture
Films set in Miyagi Prefecture
Films set in Saitama Prefecture
Films set in Tokyo
Films set on trains
Films shot in Tokyo
Netflix original films
Tōhoku Shinkansen