Bullet Train

Disaster films in the 70s were big money makers in the U.S., so it is natural that other countries would emulate that theme. Japan's version, Bullet Train, came out in 1975. The story is about a disgruntled businessman who has fallen on hard times, who concocts a scheme with some associates to plant a bomb on the new high speed train to extort money. Get this: if the train goes below a certain speed (80 kph),then the bomb will go off. Sounds familiar? Yes, the movie Speed rips this concept off amost 20 years later. However, that movie had the novel idea of having it on a bus, and the obstacles that had to be overcome were a lot more kinetic and exciting than in Bullet Train, where the controllers just have it switch tracks to avoid the other trains. Sonny Chiba gets top billing on most American releases, but he only has a minor role as the train pilot, spending a lot of screen time sweating and on the phone. The real star is Ken Takakura, an underappreciated star here in the States, known for his brooding style and described as the "Clint Eastwood of Japan." His most well known pictures (at least to the American film fans) are the Abashiri Prison series, Festival of Gion, Golgo 13, and especially Black Rain. After 40 minutes or so of focusing on the train itself, dealing with the obastacles of keeping it at a certain speed, it switches to a police procedural. It focuses on the Takakura character, and his cat and mouse playing with the police, as they desperately are trying to negotiate, then try to trap, him and his men. Unfortunately, one's interest is lost because of the focus switch in this two hour film, especially when compared to the films it later influenced. The adrenaline built up in the first 30 minutes is lost, and suspenseful moments of the detectives trying to outwit the bad guys feel contrived, especially during a key moment when the coffee shop where Takakura leaves instructions as to how to diffuse the bomb is mysteriously burned down. Takakura's decline and fall as businessman, husband and criminal is more central than the saving the passengers on the train, and I see that as a flaw in the story, even though the idea is good. But as a disaster film, it just doesn't work, and I am mystified as to a lot of positive reviews that I see on other sites.

August 31 update: Apparently, this version of Bullet Train, as part of the Sonny Chiba 3 pack that recently came out on BCI Eclipse, is a cut version of an even longer version. That will appear in 2007, and I bet will flesh out the characters and situations a lot more. But 152 minutes is a heck of an epic for this story.