The Bullet Train
| The Bullet Train | |
|---|---|
DVD cover
|
|
| Directed by | Junya Satō |
| Produced by | Kanji Amao Sunao Sakagami |
| Written by | Ryūnosuke Ono |
| Starring |
Ken Takakura Sonny Chiba Ken Utsui |
| Distributed by | Toei Company |
|
Release date
|
5 July 1975 |
|
Running time
|
152 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
The Bullet Train (新幹線大爆破 Shinkansen Daibakuha?, lit. "Shinkansen Big Explosion") is a 1975 Japanese disaster film directed by Junya Satō and starring Sonny Chiba and Ken Takakura. A Shinkansen "bullet train" is threatened with a bomb that will explode automatically if the train slows below 80 km/h unless a ransom is paid. Police race to find the bombers and to learn how to defuse the bomb.
Tetsuo Okita is a former businessman who lost his manufacturing company to bankruptcy and separated from his wife and son a year earlier. Desperate to make ends meet and start over, he collaborates with activist Masaru Koga and his former employee Hiroshi Ōshiro in an elaborate plot to extort money from the government.
Hikari 109 is a high-speed Bullet Train carrying 1,500 passengers from Tokyo to Hakata. Shortly after Hikari 109's departure, railway security head Miyashita is notified by Okita that a bomb has been planted aboard the train, and it will explode if the train slows down below 80 km/h. As proof of the bomb's efficiency, Okita tells Miyashita that a similar bomb has been placed on freight train 5790 bound from Yūbari to Oiwake. When freight train 5790 indeed explodes, Hikari 109's conductor Aoki is informed by Shinkansen director Kuramochi (Ken Utsui) not to slow down the train below 120 km/h while the security personnel aboard the train search for the bomb - thus delaying the trip to Hakata by three hours. Police officials back in Tokyo are tasked to either find the bomber or the bomb first.
Back aboard Hikari 109, passengers start becoming weary and demand for the train to stop when security does a second search. For the duration of the journey, Kuramochi must coordinate with Aoki on timing the train's speed and position to avoid incoming traffic while keeping it safe from the speed-sensitive detonator. Okita calls the National Railway authorities again; this time, he demands US$5 million in an aluminum suitcase in exchange for the safety of Hikari 109's passengers. As the Prime Minister prepares the ransom, police find their first lead when a cigarette pack containing fingerprints of Koga are found at Yūbari station prior to freight train 5790's departure. Meanwhile, passengers aboard Hikari 109 start to panic when the train passes through Nagoya, with a pregnant passenger named Kazuko Hirao going into labor. As a means of settling down the passengers, co-engineer Kikuchi tells them of the bomb on board. National Railway officials are in further disdain when they realize that the bomb is attached to one of the train's wheels. Okita once more calls the officials and tells them to send the money northbound via helicopter and land at Yorii High School. Officer Senda, who carries the suitcase, is then instructed to cross the Arakawa River; upon reaching Iwate, the suitcase is roped and pulled up a cliff by Ōshiro. However, Ōshiro is forced to drop the case and retreat when police yell at a university judo team jogging nearby of his presence. Fleeing via motorcycle, Ōshiro finds himself tailed by several squad cars until he collides with one and is killed after hitting a light post.
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Wikipedia