‘The Bullet Train’ or — Achieving Perfect Cruising Speed?
Look, before I go any further I need to have a quiet word with you about your expectations because when I tell you that Junya Satō’s ‘The Bullet Train’ (1975) is the film that directly inspired Jan de Bont’s ‘Speed’ (1994), the overly smug Brad Pitt action flick ‘Bullet Train’ (2022) and that it stars Sonny “The Streetfighter” Chiba you’d be forgiven for immediately thinking from that accurate description that Sato’s movie is a non-stop, action-packed, tight and taut slice of crazy mayhem. The bad news is ‘The Bullet Train’ is nothing of the sort containing almost no “action”, has a running time of 152 minutes and Chiba only leaves his train driver’s seat once and doesn’t throw a single punch. The good news is that what ‘The Bullet Train’ actually is is something considerably more interesting and certainly more satisfying.
Not long after the bullet train running from Tokyo to Hakata has left the station a blackmailer contacts railway security to inform them a bomb has been placed somewhere on board and as soon as the train’s speed drops below 80km/h the device will explode killing all 1,500 passengers. The blackmailer instructs the authorities that if his financial demands are met then he will provide them with the location of the bomb along with how to safely defuse it. And so a frantic race begins to locate the saboteur(s?) before the bullet train reaches its destination and detonates like a… well, like a bullet train with a bomb on it.
So what we’re dealing with here is a disaster movie along the lines of ‘Airport’ (1970) mixed with a crazed bomber yarn similar to ‘Rollercoaster’ (1977) with the police on the trail of a blackmailer plot for good measure where it’s all about the functioning (and dysfunctioning) of systems, the tailing and trailing of suspects, tracing phone calls and the identifying of possible motives, and Satō’s solid handling of all this means that although ‘The Bullet Train’ isn’t a full blown action fest it’s never anything other than totally engaging, deliciously gripping and consistently compelling from start to finish (this film might not blast along but it cruises beautifully).
The other aspect that keeps our attention nicely fixed is Ken Takakura’s saboteur who is neither written nor played as a screaming maniac but is, instead, a typical working man ground down by social, political and financial forces. Indeed, one of the film’s chief pleasures is discovering Takakura’s backstory and his reasons for resorting to extortion. This is done through a series of flashbacks which could threaten to grind the pacing to a halt but actually bring much needed depth, clarity and sympathy to his antagonist so for a lot of the time we’re almost on his side, and even he doesn’t want to see anyone perish.
Obviously with this type of outlandish story there are a few pills of incredulity we have to swallow (such as — do the police really think THAT’S going to work?!) but they never once stick in the throat because they’re all there to keep events moving forward and everything in motion.
‘The Bullet Train’ is great. It’s in possession of a cool premise, is executed with an assured professionalism and is about as solidly entertaining as you can get. Also, if you’re a fan of 70’s Japan caught on film you’re gonna love this. Sure, it’s pretty long but Satō keeps it all moving at just the right momentum that it never once comes close to dragging or outstaying its welcome. There’s also just the right amount of commentary at play here with the modernisation of Japan and a reliance on “foolproof” systems (both mechanical and invisible) shown to be capable of backfiring under unforeseen conditions.
So yeah, it might not be as crazy as ‘Speed’ but that’s because it’s something way more intriguing.
