History Film / TheBulletTrain

On an otherwise normal day, Japan National Railways recieves a threat: two bombs will explode on a pair of trains; one on a Hokkaido freight train and the other on the ''Hikari 109'' Shinkansen (or bullet train) from Tokyo to Hakata in Kyushu. When the first train mysteriously explodes, the company alerts the driver, Aoki (Creator/SonnyChiba), who's running a normal train run with 1,500 passengers on board. But to make matters worse, there's one more caveat to the bomber's threat: the train ''will'' explode if it slows down to 80 kmh.

On an otherwise normal day, Japan National Railways recieves a threat: two bombs will explode on a pair of trains; one on a Hokkaido freight train and the other on the ''Hikari 109'' bullet train (or ''shinkansen'') from Tokyo to Hakata. When the first train mysteriously explodes, the company alerts the driver, Aoki (Creator/SonnyChiba), who's running a normal train run with 1,500 passengers on board. But to make matters worse, there's one more caveat to the bomber's treat: the train ''will'' explode if it slows down to 80 kmh.

And thus begins an epic high-stakes manhunt as the Tokyo MPD try to hunt down the bomber while Okita and the train's crew try to keep a lid on the situation, which is easier said than done with 1,500 passengers wondering why they aren't stopping. Elsewhere, the bomber, ex-businessman Testuo Okita (Ken Takakura) along with his co-conspirators Masaru Koga and Hiroshi Oshiro are planning on getting a $5,000,000 ransom from their threats as they soon become wanted all over Tokyo.

[[WholePlotReference If the plot sounds familiar, it should;]] the film was indeed the inspiration for ''Film/{{Speed}}''. It was even released in France and the US the following year, albeit in [[EditedForSyndication highly truncated form.]]

* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene: A good chunk of the conspirator's screentime is spent exploring their tragic backstories, and in partuclar Okita's.

* TheCavalryArrivesLate: Justified as the police are too busy trying to catch the bombers to be of any help to the passengers. Not that anyone else can, anyhow.

On an otherwise normal day, Japan National Railways recieves a threat: two bombs will explode on a pair of trains; one on a Hokkaido freight train and the other on the ''Hikari 109'' bullet train (or ''shinkansen'') from Tokyo to Hakata. When the first train mysteriously explodes, the company alerts the driver, Aoki (Creator/SonnyChiba), who's running a normal train run with 1,500 passengers on board. But to make matters worse, there's one more caveat to the bomber's treat: the train ''will'' explode if it slows down to 80 mph.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Kuromochi resigns after learning that the police continued to broadcast their appeal to Okita despite the bomb being defused. They track Okita down to Tokyo International Airport, but just as he's about to board his flight he's spotted by his ex-wife and son. Okita attempts to escape by swimming across the river, but the police circle around and demand his surrender. With nothing left to lose, he runs and is shot to death. Roll end credits.]]

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: Kuromochi resigns after learning that the police continued to broadcast their appeal to Okita. They track Okita down to Tokyo International Airport, but just as he's about to board his flight he's spotted by his ex-wife and son. Okita attempts to escape by swimming across the river, but the police circle around and demand his surrender. With nothing left to lose, he runs and is shot to death. Roll end credits.]]

* AllmightyJanitor: Played with, while the train conductors have a hard time keeping the passengers under control, they aren't afraid to try to defuse the bomb on several occasions. [[spoiler: They succeed.]]