Movie Review: Shinkansen daibakuha (2025)

Shinkansen daibakuha (2025) directed by Shinji Higuchi

Provocatively called "Bullet Train Explosion" in English, Shinkansen daibakuha tells the story of a bullet train in Japan that has a few bombs planted on it, with the terrorists responsible demanding 100 billion yen (about 640 million American dollars). Also, if the train goes below 100 km/h the bombs will explode. While the Japanese government and the the Japanese Railway company dither about the situation, the employees on the train, including two conductors and the engineer, try to keep themselves and everyone else calm. The task is not easy since a large school group is on the train, along with a disgraced politician (who could spin some positive buzz out of the situation if she can get past the disdain of her fellow travellers), an eccentric online celebrity (who interferes a lot, in addition to posting live feeds from the train), and a former killer (who gets a lot suspicious looks from fellow passengers). 

The movie plays out a lot of different angles. The government is shown as ineffective in deciding what to do in the situation (this is the same director as Shin Godzilla, after all). The railway company tries a bunch of different plans to get people off the runaway train, adding dramatic action moments. The people on the train try to investigate who might be part of the blackmailers--several passengers seem suspicious. All of these elements work together nicely for the first half of the film. In the second half, as more detail of the blackmailers' situation is revealed, the movie gets less plausible in a distracting way. The movie is still fun but it is not as great as other similar flicks like Speed.

Mildly recommended.

As I write (December 2025), this is only available streaming on Netflix.