Latest news with #TheBulletTrain
The Irish Sun
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Watch as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's son Knox wins Muay Thai fight watched by proud Hollywood star mum
ANGELINA Jolie and Brad Pitt's son Knox celebrated his 17th birthday by winning a Muay Thai fight. The Maleficent actress, 50, proudly watched her son take part in the martial arts competition, but his estranged dad Advertisement 8 Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's son Knox celebrated his 17th birthday at a martial arts competition Credit: Instagram 8 The Hollywood actress was the proud mum as she cheered her son on from the sidelines Credit: @borntowin_csc / Instagram 8 The teenager won his Muay Thai competition over the weekend Credit: borntowin_csc / instagram 8 Brad Pitt was nowhere to be seen Credit: Getty Knox posed for a photo at the IKF Point Muay Thai Technical event over the weekend, where he triumphed. The teenager flashed a big smile as he celebrated his big win with a gold medal around his neck. Knox, who's twin sister Vivienne also turned 17 over the weekend, was in the crowd alongside her Hollywood mum to cheer her brother on. Advertisement READ MORE ON ANGELINA JOLIE The actress looked as chic as ever in a black jumper and matching trousers with dark sunglasses. In one video shared by Born To Win's social media page, Knox can be seen landing kicks on his opponent. But the Fight Club actor, 61, was nowhere to be seen, despite reports that he's desperate to reunite with his estranged kids. Angelina and Brad share six children - their three biological children are Vivienne, Knox, and Shiloh. Advertisement Most read in Celebrity The Bullet Train actor and The Eternals star also have three adopted kids; , Pax, and Zahara. In December, it was confirmed that Angelina and Brad had Angelina Jolie's rarely seen son Knox looks exactly like dad Brad Pitt as he walks the red carpet for first time in three years But the divorced couple remain locked in a legal battle over Château Miraval vineyard in France. Advertisement Both sides are reportedly willing to take the Miraval case to a The couple had been together for 10 years before deciding to get married. Jolie claimed in court filings that Pitt had a "history of physical abuse". Advertisement It was alleged that Jolie also claimed Brad tired to make her sign a $8.5million (£6.8million) NDA to cover up his Pitt has always denied the abuse claims, and was cleared by The couple were declared legally single in 2019, despite their ongoing divorce battle. Advertisement Los Angeles jewellery designer , 34, for almost two years. 8 His twin sister Vivienne was in the crowds cheering him on Credit: borntowin_csc / instagram 8 Brad and Angelina finalized their divorce in December after an eight-year legal battle Credit: Getty 8 The Meet Joe Black actor has been estranged from his son Knox and daughter Vivienne Credit: AFP or licensors Advertisement 8 Brad is reportedly desperate to reunite with his estranged kids Credit: Getty
Yomiuri Shimbun
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Netflix's ‘Bullet Train Explosion' a Thrilling Reboot of '75 Classic; ‘Shin Godzilla' Director Skilfully Revives Story
Tsuyoshi Kusanagi plays Takaichi, a conductor on the titular bullet train, in the film 'Shinkansen Daibakuha' ('Bullet Train Explosion'), available worldwide exclusively on Netflix. As a Shinkansen bullet train starts its journey, it soon becomes clear the train is rigged with at least one bomb. However, it must keep running to avoid setting off the explosives. 'Shinkansen Daibakuha' ('Bullet Train Explosion') is a Netflix reboot of the 1975 film of the same Japanese name, called 'The Bullet Train' in English releases, produced by Toei Co. But the new film is no mere rehash — rather, it's yet another masterpiece directed by Shinji Higuchi, who has breathed new life into classic tokusatu sci-fi films and made such gems as 'Shin Godzilla.' Viewers are sure to be entertained by the speed, thrills and vision of hope for society. The original film is famous for portraying the suspense of an unstoppable vehicle long before 1994 U.S. blockbuster 'Speed.' In the reboot, the bullet train is a Tokyo-bound Hayabusa No. 60 on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line, departing from Shin-Aomori Station. A phone call from an anonymous culprit says the train will explode the moment its speed falls below 100 kph. The ransom for deactivating the bomb is ¥100 billion and to be paid by the people of Japan. Still, the government sticks to its basic policy of not negotiating with terrorists. So, what should be done to save the passengers? Is it possible to avoid an explosion at the destination? The railway men and women mount a rescue operation. On the front line of the operation is conductor Takaichi (played by Tsuyoshi Kusanagi), who believes the top priority should be the passengers' safety. East Japan Railway Co. collaborated specially with production, which allowed a bullet train of the same type as Hayabusa No. 60 to make seven round-trip journeys for filming. Such real objects are skillfully implemented, along with special effects and top quality hand-made props, like one-sixth-scale miniatures. Together they all created dynamic, heart-racing visuals, along with multiple moments where it appears as if the running train is doing fabulous stunt work. The film's dramatic storyline is good, too. In the 1975 film, the group of perpetrators included a former owner of a bankrupt factory and a former member of an anti-government group. Societal injustice led them to become the criminals who risk their lives in the bombing scheme, eventually meeting their fates. Their downfall added a bitter yet impactful complexity to the story. Without giving away too much, the new film is not just rebooting the story of the original, but functions as a secret stand-alone sequel. This time, the perpetrator wishes to destroy 'the false normality,' wanting to remove the superficiality that masks daily life and reveal humankind's true nature. Protagonist Takaichi is forced to make a choice that ultimately challenges his beliefs as a railroad worker. While the original film ends after shedding light on societal divisions, the new film depicts what is necessary to heal these divisions. And it does so without making it feel like a fantasy. The sincere feeling is firmly supported by the actors' fine performances and realistic portrayals of railway workers at work. The story moves at a rapid pace, making some parts of the rescue mission difficult to follow. However, the benefit of streaming is that the film can be rewatched over and over. Having said that, I can't help wanting to watch this dynamic film on the big screen.
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
India Today
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- India Today
Bullet Train Explosion review: Spiritual sequel that combines heart and heat
Strangers board a train—different faces, different backgrounds, different priorities. For a brief moment in time, they are united by a shared goal: to reach their destination. But what happens when that journey is hijacked—literally—and every second becomes a fight for survival? Who rises? Who leads? Who becomes a hero?At first glance, this might sound like the premise of a typical hostage thriller. You may even recall 1975's The Bullet Train, the Japanese classic that inspired India's The Burning Train featuring Dharmendra, Jitendra and Vinod Khanna among others. But Bullet Train Explosion, now streaming on Netflix, is no mere remake. Directed by Shinji Higuchi (Shin Godzilla), this is a spiritual successor that reimagines the genre with restraint, humanity, and tension as sharp as a the trailer of Bullet Train Explosion here: Rather than focusing solely on the perpetrator's motive—as the original did, steeped in socio-economic despair—this iteration shifts the lens to those on board. It's a powerful, pulse-pounding tribute to Japan's everyday heroes: the railway technicians, engineers, and staff who bear the enormous responsibility of passenger safety without ever seeking the premise remains simple yet suffocating: the Hayabusa No. 60 Shinkansen has been rigged with a bomb that will detonate if its speed drops below 100 km/h. There are no martial arts showdowns la Kill, and very little action in the conventional sense. Yet the film grips you tightly, driven by the claustrophobic intensity inside the train and the relentless ticking of camera mimics the rhythm of the train itself—restless, urgent, and always moving. Long takes within tight carriages and sweeping shots of serene countryside create a haunting juxtaposition: the chaos within versus the calmness production design, executed in collaboration with the East Japan Railway Company, deserves special mention. It grounds the film in reality without ever veering into documentary territory, achieving that elusive blend of authenticity and cinematic the film's emotional core is Tsuyoshi Kusanagi as Kazuya Takaichi, a veteran Shinkansen official whose quiet dedication anchors the entire narrative. There's no bravado in his portrayal—just steadfast professionalism, silent resolve, and a deeply felt sense of duty. When disaster looms, he doesn't panic. He calculates. He leads. He cares. Kusanagi's performance is wonderfully restrained and profoundly human—every glance and exhale calibrated to communicate urgency without Toyoshima stands out as the troubled teenager Yuzuki Onodera, whose character serves as a thematic bridge to the original Bullet Train. Her arc adds emotional depth without derailing the narrative's screenplay, while occasionally meandering, quickly regains its rhythm and never loses the sense of impending doom. There's no need for bombastic monologues or overdone sentimentality—the film's emotional power comes from its subtlety. The stakes are crystal clear, and the audience feels them what creates the bumps in the smooth ride is the VFX, that needed to be better for a seamless look. It looks like animation on budget, and to be fair, it looked Train Explosion isn't just a high-speed thriller—it's a film about integrity, duty, and the resilience of ordinary people under extraordinary pressure. The tension is meticulous, the emotions are genuine, and the story honours the unsung guardians of public this one not just for the thrill, but for the quiet courage it celebrates.3.5 out of 5 stars.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Bullet Train Explosion' Sticks It to Amtrak
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Nothing infuriates me more than Amtrak. Last weekend, as I was purchasing train tickets from New York City to Philadelphia to visit my parents, the National Railroad's insane price fluctuations dropped a $144 price tag for a one-way trip down to $74 just an hour later. Add on Amtrak's frequent delays and cancellations, and you're dealing with what is essentially an unruly airline industry on rails. It absolutely drives me up the wall. So, when I heard that Netflix's new film, Bullet Train Explosion, is all about Japan's love for the Shinkansen bullet train, I just had to check it out. After all, I was feeling massive train envy from Japan. Before I hit play on Bullet Train Explosion, I finished reading a story in The New York Times about how railway workers 3D-printed a new rest area at Hatsushima station and then assembled it in just six hours. (In the U.S., passengers consider themselves lucky if there are even benches to sit on while they wait.) But even though Bullet Train Explosion seemingly promised that the exact same train I was fawning over was certain to explode, I had a hunch that the train was still the hero of this story. The first thing you'll notice about Bullet Train Explosion—aside from its kick-ass title—is that it operates a lot like Speed (1994). The plot follows a terrorist who threatens to detonate a bomb on the moving vehicle for ransom, with the caveat that it will explode if the train slows below 100 km/h (roughly 62 mph). The film is a remake of 1975's The Bullet Train, which itself inspired the 1994 action blockbuster with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. The one difference is that director Shinji Higuchi (Shin Godzilla) was allowed to film parts of Bullet Train Explosion on real JR East Shinkansen trains. Much of Bullet Train Explosion's early reviews criticized the film as nothing more than a two-hour commercial for JR East. I understand where they're coming from. (Partly.) Our hero, conductor Kazuya Takaichi (Tsuyoshi Kusanagi), is head-over-heels in love with trains. In the very beginning of the film, he tells a tour group of students, 'Although each of us has our own reasons for boarding the Shinkansen, we're all heading in the same direction.' He looks up at the sky with a smile and asks, 'Isn't there something romantic about seeing all those people off?' If this was Amtrak Train Explosion, feel free to groan away. You can't charge me $144 to travel from New York City to Philadelphia and then convince me that my trip was actually kind of romantic. But this isn't Amtrak. This is the Shinkansen bullet train. It travels from Osaka to Tokyo—a little over 300 miles—in just two and a half hours at speeds reaching 200 mph. Amtrak could never! But the Shinkansen? This train fucking rules. That's why Kazuya, despite being paid a conductor's salary, would give his life to protect this train. Over the course of Bullet Train Explosion's two-hour runtime, Kazuya breaks up fights between the passengers, jumps from one uncoupled car to another, and connects a rescue car while the vehicle is still in motion like he's Dr. David Bowman in 2001: A Space Odyssey. He is a goddamn Superman for trains. The one department where Bullet Train Explosion ironically disappoints is that the film doesn't blow up any real trains. That's the Catch-22 of JR East's involvement in the film. If you're filming on real Shinkansen cars, you can't exactly send them flying in a pillar of fire and debris. So, Higuchi employs some shockingly terrible CGI for a film made in 2025. It's possible that the budget for Bullet Train Explosion was no more than the price for all these actors to ride the train. Still, I'd pay that price easily. There's a fair number of surprises throughout Bullet Train Explosion—even if it's quite insane that none of them are literal explosions. I can't say that it rivals 1975's Bullet Train, and especially not the thrill ride of Speed. But if Bullet Train Explosion is merely a two-hour commercial designed to highlight the Shinkansen and its dedicated crew, then Japan did a fantastic job. I dare the U.S. to create a bullet train as prepared to survive a terrorist attack as the Shinkansen. And if they would like to set that up before I need to travel from New York City to Philadelphia again, I'd very much appreciate it. You Might Also Like Kid Cudi Is All Right 16 Best Shoe Organizers For Storing and Displaying Your Kicks
