With all due respect to my fellow critics-whose insights I genuinely admire-I must gently (but firmly) tap the brakes on this recurring assertion that Bullet Train Explosion is little more than a Japanese Speed. Yes, both films hinge on the same pulse-quickening premise: a vehicle that must maintain velocity or detonate spectacularly. But before we declare Speed the originator of this trope, let's give history its proper due-and a little reverence.
Because long before Keanu Reeves fired off "Pop quiz, BLEEP," and Sandra Bullock white-knuckled her way into action-movie legend, there was The Bullet Train (Shinkansen Daibakuha, 1975). A Japanese thriller that introduced the world to a high-speed train wired to explode if it dipped below a certain speed. Sound familiar? It should. This was the first film to plant a bomb squarely under the concept of velocity. And it was brilliant.
But the lineage doesn't stop there. Even Speed's screenwriter, Graham Yost, credited his inspiration not as some divine spark, but as a cinematic handoff from Runaway Train (1985)-another nail-biter about an unstoppable locomotive hurtling toward oblivion. Here's where it gets even juicier: Runaway Train was originally the brainchild of none other than Akira Kurosawa. Yes, that Kurosawa. The auteur behind Seven Samurai and Rashomon. He wrote the screenplay in the 1960s, envisioning a deeply human, existential thriller set aboard a runaway engine. Though he never got to direct it, his vision survived and roared to life years later under Andrei Konchalovsky.
So let's be clear: Bullet Train Explosion isn't some derivative knockoff trailing behind Speed. It's part of a long, cross-cultural cinematic tradition that spans continents and decades. It stands proudly in a lineage that includes Kurosawa, Konchalovsky, and yes, Jan de Bont. To reduce it to "Speed, but Japanese" is to miss the point-and miss the artistry.
As a Gen-Xer, Speed is sacred to me. It defined a decade of action cinema. It made "mass transit terrorism" an oddly specific genre. And it will always be brilliant. But brilliance doesn't need to be first. And homage is not theft-it's a love letter. Bullet Train Explosion is exactly that: a loud, stylish, blood-soaked valentine to its forebears.
So instead of side-eyeing the similarities, let's celebrate the shared DNA. Let's honor Bullet Train Explosion as a continuation-not a copy-of a global cinematic conversation about speed, stakes, and what happens when you can't stop moving.
With admiration for my fellow Speed disciples (I am one of you), and with cinematic history riding shotgun, I rest my case.
