Latest news with #Higuchi
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Bullet Train Explosion' Director on Creating the Netflix Action Thriller, Working Officially With Japan's Shinkansen
Shinji Higuchi's action thriller Bullet Train Explosion debuted on Netflix on April 23 with something of a bang, with the movie enthusiastically embraced by viewers and climbing as high as No. 2 in the streamer's global non-English films list. The movie was another win for Netflix Japan, and notably a breakout feature for the region after it had scored international and critical successes with series such as Alice in Borderland, First Love, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean, The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House and The Boyfriend. A sequel to Junya Sato's 1975 classic The Bullet Train — a film that inspired Jan de Bont's 1994 blockbuster Speed — Bullet Train Explosion updates the action to the present day and similarly sees an unseen villain claim (and also prove) that they have placed a bomb on a Tokyo-bound Shinkansen train, that is set to explode if the train drops below 100 km/h in speed. A combination of JR East train employees, passengers, as well as control tower staff and bureaucrats then attempt to figure out a plan to rescue the hundreds of train passengers and stop the train from reaching central Tokyo before it explodes. More from The Hollywood Reporter Is Europe the Last Bastion of DEI in Film and TV? A Belgian Boxer Goes to the Mat in Directors' Fortnight Entry 'Wild Foxes' (Exclusive Trailer) Tom Cruise Shuts Down Tariffs Talk at 'Mission: Impossible' Press Event: "We'd Rather Answer Questions About the Movie" On top of its lineage to The Bullet Train, Higuchi's film will have extra special resonance for Japanese audiences, as well as anyone who has visited Japan, with the central importance the Shinkansen plays in the movie. Bullet Train Explosion is notable for the production getting official backing from Japanese railway operator East Japan Railway Company, a rarity as the organisation is loath to sanction depictions of the service that may cast aspersions or associate it with unsavory issues. At Netflix's recent Asia Pacific film content showcase in Tokyo, Higuchi, as well as some of the creative team behind Bullet Train Explosion, spoke at length about the linkup with JR East and the amount of detail the production went into recreating the high level of verisimilitude in the film. Higuchi and the producers were keen to stress that Japan's legions of train afficianados would appreciate the level of work that went into the sets that recreated the carriages, the uniforms and everything else that was unimistakably a part of the experience of travelling on the JR East. Ahead of the streaming release of Bullet Train Explosion on Netflix, The Hollywood Reporter spoke to Higuchi about the film at the Tokyo showcase. The filmmaker discussed the inspirations he took from The Bullet Train, what the Shinkansen means to the Japanese people, the making of the film and some of the dos and don'ts from JR East Railway. First, I wanted to ask you what you think the Shinkansen train means to people in Japan? Why is it so important? I don't know what the Shinkansen train means for everybody in Japan, but for me on a personal level, I was born in 1965 and the first Tōkaidō Shinkansen was introduced a year before I was born. And so as a child, the Shinkansen was something that you would see in TV programs and there would be children's songs about it. It was something that everybody dreamed of, it was aspirational for us. It was the first thing that really let you experience things out of the ordinary. As I grew into an adult, I would use the Shinkansen more for getting to and from work. And so I started using it differently than compared to when I was a child. And the Shinkansen evolved too, the speed became 1.5 times faster than it was in the beginning, and it allowed you to go to all these different places. When it started, it was just one route between Osaka and Tokyo, then it expanded, and you were able to go everywhere. When that happened, it went from something out of the ordinary, to something that was part of everyday life. Then in 1975, there was the original movie, [The Bullet Train]. The poster showed the Shinkansen blowing up, but when you actually saw the movie, though, it didn't explode! Because it would be a disaster if it actually exploded, so the characters just did everything in their power to prevent the explosion from happening. [In the film] you see the police, the railway company, people doing everything they can to stop the bullet train, that was something that was very intriguing to see. [The star of The Bullet Train], Ken Takakura, is an iconic actor in Japan, he played perpetrator. This actor, who we usually saw as a hero, was now a villain, he sets a bomb on the train, and he is shot by the police at the very end. I was in fourth grade when the film came out, and until then I had only seen movies of monsters, heroes and animation. And The Sound of Music! [laughs]. So it was the first time that I saw a movie where the criminal was shot by the police. It was very shocking because I was accustomed to seeing movies with happy endings. [The film] really talked about the injustice that exists in this world, and it taught me a lesson. It was a refreshing experience, where you were able to experience the thrill of somebody actually committing a crime, and then also this real tension of seeing this beautiful Shinkansen being in this kind of situation. So the film left an emotional scar when I saw it for the first time. Regarding the themes of your film. What did you want to communicate to Japan and also to the world with the themes of the film? What I loved about is the way that it is a great action film, but also the way it celebrates the things the world loves about Japan, like working together to solve problems, keeping the trains on time, social trust. Did you have those things in mind at all? From a critical point of view, I think the Japanese people they are on a decline, compared to 50 years ago, when the original film was made. Everything has been going down, in terms of the economy. But then, if we bring you that decline as the core of this film, that's not going to make anybody happy! This time around [for Bullet Train Explosion], the characters in this film are all people that are not such great people, including, some of the passengers, they all have their faults. [There's the scandal-plagued] politician, there's the YouTuber that only thinks about money. There are a lot of these kinds of people in Japan today. And the ultimate character is the girl who has no appreciation for life and no hope at all. Those are the characters, but we made a point of not killing any of them. Then you have the JR people, the staff on the JR, these are people that seem like they are only able to do routine work. [Tsuyoshi Kusanagi's character] would have been able to save all the passengers if he was able to kill that girl, but he's not able to do that. So, it's really a question of whom the hero is, and that's the message that I wanted to convey when we were portraying the perpetrator. I think the character that Tsuyoshi Kusanagi played is very representative of the people of Japan in today's society. Actually, when we initially came up with the idea of the conductor, his background would be that he would have a family, he had children to go back home to. He would have this everyday life, and he would be stuck in this conflict between his family and his work. When we pitched that character idea to JR in the beginning, they said the scenes where [the conductor] leaves a voicemail on his smartphone or emails his family from the Shinkansen [weren't realistic] because when the JR conductor boards a Shinkansen, they do not have smartphones with them because they put them in their lockers at the station. They shut themselves off completely from the outside world and their families. From my point of view as an American, watching the film what I loved about it is that we're living in a time when all around the world, trust in institutions and civic society is breaking down. This film really celebrates people doing humble jobs with dignity — coming together to solve a problem. There's some critique of bureaucracy, but overall, people work together to solve a problem. The trains are running on time, where it feels like social services around the world are breaking down, like even Germany's trains don't run on time anymore! Do you think the world can learn from Japan a little bit at this moment and what this film says about that? And the other thing I'm curious about is what else JR said that you could and couldn't do, and what their concerns were? I don't really have an intention of pushing Japan's message to the world! I'm actually more curious to hear what people think of the film after they see it. When I first went to the airport [in the U.S.], I saw the people who were doing the body checks, and they seemed to be living an extension of their private life and everything was just very free and so that actually was very shocking to me when I first went to the U.S. And I think it really showed what kind of country that the U.S. is. I think there isn't a need for any country to be like the other. We need to learn and take the good things from one another. And they were throwing snacks! On the flight! [laughs] It makes you feel you can join in, become one of them! That would never happen on the Shinkansen! [laughs] It's a very small thing, but that's one of the things that I really appreciated when I went to the U.S., that experience. It's great. I love it. About JR and their concerns. I think, because they have so many rules, if we had kept to each and every one of their rules, everything would have been out of the question! In that sense, they really gave us that freedom to do what we wanted. But we really did stay in tune to the mindset of the employees and really thought of how they would react in these kinds of situations. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now "A Nutless Monkey Could Do Your Job": From Abusive to Angst-Ridden, 16 Memorable Studio Exec Portrayals in Film and TV The 10 Best Baseball Movies of All Time, Ranked
Indian Express
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Bullet Train Explosion movie review: Netflix's Japanese thriller is on the right track, but Dharmendra and Vinod Khanna have been there, done that
It's a crying shame that Bullet Train Explosion — the new Japanese action movie on Netflix — doesn't end with a Simi Garewal stand-in leading a choir of children into song. It's the only minor addition that would've made an already enjoyable movie even better. Bullet Train Explosion is so closely linked to The Burning Train that if Vinod Khanna were to show up in his fireproof suit, you wouldn't bat an eyelid. But it's actually a legacy-quel to the 1975 Sonny Chiba vehicle Bullet Train, which was ripped off by not only BR Chopra, but also Jan de Bont, who directed the smash hit Keanu Reeves-starrer Speed. Glossy, fast-paced, and directed with a no-nonsense attitude that is reflected in its characters, Bullet Train Explosion pays tribute to the disaster movies of the 1970s and 1990s. The film is piloted by the experienced visual effects whiz Shinji Higuchi, whose past work includes two Attack on Titan hits and Shin Godzilla. Unlike most major Hollywood movies these days, and virtually every Hindi film that punches above its weight — we're looking at you, Sky Force — you can't really tell the difference between practical and visual effects in Bullet Train Explosion. They likely used miniatures as well, but it's all rather seamlessly done. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW VIDEO The drama unfolds across several geographical locations, and features an ensemble so vast that your ability to keep track of who's who is challenged on a minute-by-minute basis. We have the virtuous conductor Takaichi, who leads by example aboard the Shinkansen when a mysterious bomber calls in, and reveals that they have rigged the locomotive to explode if it slows down to below 100 mph. The bomber demands 100 billion yen, crowd-funded by the people of Japan to save their own. The passengers are a mix of everyday working class, along with a mid-level politician, an influencer, and a bunch of teenage schoolkids. Higuchi cuts back and forth between the action on the train, and the tense drama unfolding in the control room, where a large group of men clash (and eventually collaborate) over how to handle the situation. There's something about race-against-time thrillers set on trains. But it's a dying breed of cinema. Last year's Kill didn't do much to move the needle; in an effort to make a violent movie, they forgot to make a good one. Barring the Korean crossover hit Train to Busan, the genre seemed to have died with the late, great Tony Scott, who went out with the back-to-back meathead masterpieces The Taking of Pelham 123 and Unstoppable. Only one of those movies had an actual villain, while in the other, Unstoppable, the train itself was the antagonist. Bullet Train Explosion is a combination of the two. There is a villain, but we don't actually meet them until the third act. Until then, the movie focuses on the rescue operation. In that regard, Bullet Train Explosion is a lot like United 93 — a movie about regular people getting the job done. Higuchi supplements the larger narrative with sequences that have their own mini-arcs. The earliest set-piece revolves around the train's automatic braking system, which is designed to turn on when the locomotive nears a station. The driver is instructed to turn the automatic braking system off, but because a manoeuvre like this has never been attempted before, nobody in the control room knows if the plan will actually work. Will the manual override fail? Will the train blow up? Of course it wont; a full two hours of run-time remains — Tokyo, the final destination, is over 600 kms away. But that doesn't stop you from leaning in along with the rest of the control room. It's an early indicator of how capably Bullet Train Explosion has been crafted. An even more thrilling set-piece around the half-way mark involves a second train being linked up with the main one, a gangway being erected between them, allowing passengers to be ferried from one to the other. By the time the villain is introduced in the flesh, you'd have likely forgotten about them amid all the derring-do being displayed by the Japanese working class. The villain's motivations might seem incredible, but they reframe what was a rather universal action movie into a singularly Japanese story. Ideas of honour and shame are brought up, as is generational trauma and loneliness. The final act turns into a morality play that might remind you of The Dark Knight — it is revealed that the villain never expected their demands to be met, such is their lack of faith in Japanese society. Wafer-thin as the character is, the villain represents the utter hopelessness that we hear has become an epidemic in Japan. All of this adds an unexpected heft to a movie that dares to switch tracks even though it didn't really need to.
CNA
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CNA
Netflix's Bullet Train Explosion puts Shinkansen at heart of high-speed Japanese thriller with a ticking bomb
The highspeed bullet train says Japan as much as Godzilla, sushi and Mount Fuji. And it takes center stage in Shinji Higuchi's new film, Bullet Train Explosion, which premiered on Netflix Wednesday (Apr 23). Higuchi, the director of the 2016 Shin Godzilla (or 'New Godzilla,") has reimagined the 1975 Japanese film The Bullet Train, which has the same premise: A bomb will go off if the train slows down below 100 kph. That original movie also inspired Hollywood's Speed, starring Keanu Reeves, which takes place mostly on a bus. Higuchi recalled being fascinated by the aerodynamically shaped bullet trains growing up as they roared by, almost like a violent animal. To him, as with many Japanese, the Shinkansen – as the trains are called in Japan – symbolise the nation's efforts to become 'top-rate,' superfast, precise, orderly and on time. 'It's so characteristically Japanese," Higuchi said in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday. 'To complete your work, even if it means sacrificing your personal life, is like a samurai spirit living within all Japanese." The film's realism was achieved by a smooth combination of computer graphics and miniature train models, built to one-sixth the size of the real thing. A huge LED wall was used on the set to project visuals of passing landscapes as seen from the train window, and those shots were juxtaposed seamlessly with footage shot on a real train. The explosions are strangely exhilarating, and beautifully depicted with scattering sparks and smoke. Higuchi stressed that the filmmakers were careful to make sure the criminal act, as depicted, is not physically possible today. He said Bullet Train Explosion marked a challenging departure from his past movies that were about heroes and monsters. 'I examined the question of evil, and how we pass judgment on a person,' he said. 'That's what my predecessors did as directors before me: Try to show what happens if you commit evil," he added. "And I tried to give my answer.' One departure from the original, which starred the late Ken Takakura as the bomber, is that Higuchi chose to focus on the train workers. Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, formerly a member of boys' band Smap who portrayed a transgender woman in Eiji Uchida's Midnight Swan, is convincing as a dedicated Shinkansen worker. 'I always have fun working with the director,' Kusanagi said of Higuchi at a Tokyo premiere earlier this week. 'I've loved him for 20 years.' Kusanagi starred in Sinking Of Japan, Higuchi's 2006 science-fiction thriller about a natural catastrophe that threatens Japan's very existence. East Japan Railway Co, formed after the national railway was privatised, which operates the bullet train featured in Higuchi's reboot, gave full support to the film. It allowed the use of real trains, railway facilities and uniforms, as well as helping train the actors to simulate its workers and their mannerisms. The bullet trains have long been a symbol of Japan's blossoming as a modern economy and peaceful culture in the decades following World War II. The first leg, connecting Tokyo with Osaka, opened with much fanfare in 1964. The system now connects much of Japan, from the northernmost main island of Hokkaido through southwestern Kyushu. The train featured in Higuchi's work connects Tokyo with northern Aomori.
The Mainichi
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Mainichi
A new Netflix film features a hurtling Japanese bullet train with a ticking bomb
TOKYO (AP) -- The highspeed bullet train says Japan as much as Godzilla, sushi and Mount Fuji. And it takes center stage in Shinji Higuchi's new film, "Bullet Train Explosion," which premieres on Netflix Wednesday. Higuchi, the director of the 2016 "Shin Godzilla" (or "New Godzilla,") has reimagined the 1975 Japanese film "The Bullet Train," which has the same premise: A bomb will go off if the train slows down below 100 kph (62 mph.) That original movie also inspired Hollywood's "Speed," starring Keanu Reeves, which takes place mostly on a bus. Higuchi recalls being fascinated by the aerodynamically shaped bullet trains growing up as they roared by, almost like a violent animal. To him, as with many Japanese, the Shinkansen -- as the trains are called in Japan -- symbolize the nation's efforts to become "top-rate," superfast, precise, orderly and on time. "It's so characteristically Japanese," Higuchi said in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday. "To complete your work, even if it means sacrificing your personal life, is like a samurai spirit living within all Japanese." The film's realism was achieved by a smooth combination of computer graphics and miniature train models, built to one-sixth the size of the real thing. A huge LED wall was used on the set to project visuals of passing landscapes as seen from the train window, and those shots were juxtaposed seamlessly with footage shot on a real train. The explosions are strangely exhilarating, and beautifully depicted with scattering sparks and smoke. Higuchi stressed that the filmmakers were careful to make sure the criminal act, as depicted, is not physically possible today. He said "Bullet Train Explosion" marked a challenging departure from his past movies that were about heroes and monsters. "I examined the question of evil, and how we pass judgment on a person," he said. "That's what my predecessors did as directors before me: Try to show what happens if you commit evil," he added. "And I tried to give my answer." One departure from the original, which starred the late Ken Takakura as the bomber, is that Higuchi chose to focus on the train workers. Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, formerly a member of boys' band Smap who portrayed a transgender woman in Eiji Uchida's "Midnight Swan," is convincing as a dedicated Shinkansen worker. "I always have fun working with the director," Kusanagi said of Higuchi at a Tokyo premiere earlier this week. "I've loved him for 20 years." Kusanagi starred in "Sinking of Japan," Higuchi's 2006 science-fiction thriller about a natural catastrophe that threatens Japan's very existence. East Japan Railway Co., formed after the national railway was privatized, which operates the bullet train featured in Higuchi's reboot, gave full support to the film. It allowed the use of real trains, railway facilities and uniforms, as well as helping train the actors to simulate its workers and their mannerisms. The bullet trains have long been a symbol of Japan's blossoming as a modern economy and peaceful culture in the decades following World War II. The first leg, connecting Tokyo with Osaka, opened with much fanfare in 1964. The system now connects much of Japan, from the northernmost main island of Hokkaido through southwestern Kyushu. The train featured in Higuchi's work connects Tokyo with northern Aomori.
South China Morning Post
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Bullet Train Explosion director Shinji Higuchi on examining evil in the Netflix movie
The high-speed bullet train says Japan as much as Godzilla, sushi and Mount Fuji. And it takes centre stage in Shinji Higuchi's new film Bullet Train Explosion, which premiered on Netflix this week. Advertisement Higuchi, the director of the 2016 film Shin Godzilla , has reimagined the 1975 Japanese film The Bullet Train, which has the same premise: a bomb will go off if the train slows to below 100km/h (62mph). That movie also inspired Hollywood's Speed, starring Keanu Reeves , which takes place mostly on a bus. Higuchi recalls being fascinated by the aerodynamically shaped bullet trains growing up as they roared by, almost like a violent animal. To him, as to many Japanese, the Shinkansen – as the trains are called in Japan – symbolise the nation's efforts to become 'top-rate', superfast, precise, orderly and on time. 'It's so characteristically Japanese,' Higuchi says. 'To complete your work, even if it means sacrificing your personal life, is like a samurai spirit living within all Japanese.'
