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Netflix continues to deliver the action thrills, with the streamer’s latest disaster movie rebooting the action thriller that went on to inspire the beloved ‘90s Keanu Reeves outing, Speed. Boasting the perfect no-nonsense title, Bullet Train Explosion is exactly what it sounds like, and drops audiences onto a train that cannot slow down...or it’ll explode.

This adrenaline-fueled tale hails from Shin Godzilla director, Shinji Higuchi, and is a reboot of the 1975 movie The Bullet Train. Bullet Train Explosion stars Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Kanata Hosoda, Non, Jun Kaname, Machiko Ono, Hana Toyoshima, Daisuke Kuroda, Satoru Matsuo, Suzuka Ohgo, Matsuya Onoe, Naomasa Musaka, Pierre Taki, Yajuro Bando, Takumi Saitoh. The action outing has now landed a solid score of 72% on Rotten Tomatoes, with many critics heaping praise on the balance of action and drama, as well as the movie’s ‘70s throwback sensibilities.

Bullet Train Explosion landed with a bang...

Even at their most fantastical, high-concept blockbusters can prompt audiences to contemplate what might happen if their circumstances took place in real life. Frequently, the question is as simple as what would “actually” happen or how an individual would react if presented with a larger-than-life situation. But after watching local, national or even worldwide forces respond to an emergency or incident, it becomes easy — even natural — to compare that effort to what the characters in a movie do when they leap into action.

In that regard, “Bullet Train Explosion” meets a believability threshold that feels virtually unparalleled. Like his previous film “Shin Godzilla,” director Shinji Higuchi’s follow-up to the 1975 Japanese film “The Bullet Train” explores with meticulous and realistic detail what a bureaucratic response might be to, well, a scenario that’s likely only to happen in the movies. Even without a movie star fighting his way up and...

Bullet Train Explosion (新幹線大爆破 in Japanese) is a gripping Japanese action thriller directed by Shinji Higuchi, the visionary filmmaker behind the acclaimed Shin Godzilla. This film offers a modern reimagining of the 1975 Japanese classic The Bullet Train (Shinkansen Daibakuha). That original film served as inspiration for the 1994 Hollywood hit Speed. Bullet Train Explosion plunges audiences into a terrifying scenario: a state-of-the-art Shinkansen hurtling towards Tokyo with a bomb aboard, programmed to detonate if the train dares to slow down.

Bullet Train Explosion is a remake that refuses to be just a mere remake, delving into social conflicts and modernizing the 1975 classic.

However, politicians don’t fare well in this film.

Non-Stop to Danger: The High-Stakes Plot

Tension ignites with a chilling phone call to the Shinkansen General Operation Control Center. An anonymous caller, their voice masked by a modulator, reveals a deadly secret: a bomb has been planted aboard the Hayabusa No.

Directed by veteran filmmaker Shinji Higuchi and starring singer-actor Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, Bullet Train Explosion is the latest lively, highly-charged tentpole title on Netflix’s Japanese slate. Higuchi has made some of Japan’s biggest blockbusters, including Shin Godzilla, Shin Ultraman and Attack on Titan.

Bullet Train Explosion follows a ‘shinkansen’ (bullet train) bound for Tokyo, which soon comes under a bomb threat. The bombs on the train will explode if the train slows below 100 kph, leaving the passengers and crew in peril. The film is a reboot of the original 1975 movie The Bullet Train, which inspired the Hollywood blockbuster Speed — with the latter starring Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, and Sandra Bullock.

Amid the high-octane, action-filled sequences, Higuchi’s film also offers up several moral questions about life’s dignity and worth.

“When we make a film, we can do many things,” Higuchi tells Deadline. “We’re like God — we can...

Pop quiz, hot shot: There’s a bomb on a bullet train. If the Shinkansen drops below 100 kilometers per hour, it blows up. What do you do? What do you do!?

Well, one thing you don’t do is confuse “The Bullet Train Explosion” for a “Speed” remake set in a country with a functional public transportation system. For one thing, this sleek Netflix spectacle is actually a remake of the 1975 Ken Takakura/Sonny Chiba vehicle that inspired “Speed,” even though “The Bullet Train” was itself a response to American disaster films like “Earthquake” and “The Towering Inferno” (pour one out for free trade).

For another thing, Shinji Higuchi’s glossy new version — as fawning toward the East Japan Railway Company as the “Shin Godzilla” director’s kaiju movies have been skeptical of the Japanese government — isn’t fueled by unleaded suspense so much as it is by the sheer...

"I won't stop the train, even if it kills me." It's Speed on a bullet train! Netflix has launched the full official trailer for the action thriller movie Bullet Train Explosion from Japan, ready to watch later this month streaming worldwide. This is a surprise remake / reboot of the 1975 Japanese action classic Bullet Train, which many action filmmakers have been influenced by (Speed was much later). It's the brand new modern Japanese update like Shin Godzilla, and yep, it's even directed by the same guy who co-directed Shin Godzilla, and made the most recent Shin Ultraman. When panic erupts on a Tokyo-bound bullet train (known as Shinkansen) planted with a bomb that will explode if it slows below 100 km/h, the authorities race against time to save everyone. Starring Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, with Kanata Hosoda, Non, Jun Kaname, Machiko Ono, Hana Toyoshima, and Daisuke Kuroda. Thanks to support from the East Japan Railway Company,...

Pop quiz, hotshot: What happens if you take the co-director of Shin Godzilla, give him the premise of Speed and the bones of the classic 70s Japanese action thriller that inspired it, and stump up some serious Netflix moolah to let him fully off the leash? Answer: Bullet Train Explosion. Yes, having gotten his kaiju on with big lad twofer Shin Godzilla and Shin Ultraman over the last near-decade, filmmaker Shinji Higuchi's latest is an incredibly does-what-it-says-on-the-tin titled Netflix remake of Jun'ya Satô's 1975 joint Bullet Train. The set-up is simple — there's a bomb hooked up to a Shinkansen train that'll detonate if its speed drops below 100km/h, and there's a ransom being demanded by the nutter who rigged it — and the trailer's a doozy. Check it out below;

Sweeping drone shots, fraught passengers and even more fraught crew, and, sure enough, some big ol' bullet train explosions...

From Shin Godzilla co-director Shinji Higuchi, Bullet Train Explosion crashes onto Netflix on April 23.

Go off the rails with the explosive teaser trailer below.

The film is a modern remake of the 1975 Japanese action thriller The Bullet Train, which inspired the ’90s hit Speed.

A tense phone call comes into the Shinkansen General Operation Control Center. The caller claims that a bomb has been planted on the Hayabusa No. 60 bound for Tokyo, and it will explode as soon as the speed of the Shinkansen train drops below 100 km/h.

The caller demands 100 billion yen to disarm the bomb. A battle unfolds as the crew, passengers, and railroad workers race against time to avert disaster.

Tsuyoshi Kusanagi leads an ensemble that includes Kanata Hosoda, Non, Jun Kaname, Machiko Ono, Hana Toyoshima, Daisuke Kuroda, Satoshi Matsuo, Suzuka Ohgo, Matsuya Onoe, Naomasa Musaka, Pierre Taki, Bando Yajuro, and Takumi Saitoh.

Shin Godzilla assistant...

Netflixhas unleashed the first trailer for what’s sure to be their next explosive action movie delight. Continuing to deliver the action thrills and spills, the movie has already carved out something of a genre legacy, with the streamer rebooting the action thriller that went on to inspire the beloved ‘90s Keanu Reeves outing, Speed. Boasting the perfect no-nonsense title, Bullet Train Explosion is exactly what it sounds like, and drops audiences onto a train that must maintain its high speed...or it’ll explode.

This adrenaline-fueled tale of the train that couldn’t slow down hails from Shin Godzilla director, who has already proven his affinity for merging spectacular visuals with human drama in the acclaimed 2016 kaiju outing. A reboot of the the 1975 movie The Bullet Train, Bullet Train Explosion stars Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, who reunites with director Higuchi after Doomsday: The Sinking of Japan. The rest of the cast includes Kanata Hosoda,...

Shinji Higuchi, renowned for his dynamic storytelling and spectacular visuals as seen in “Shin Godzilla,” is gearing up to release his latest thriller, “Bullet Train Explosion,” on April 23. This modern-day reboot of the classic film stars Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, marking another collaboration with Higuchi since their last project, “Doomsday: The Sinking of Japan.”

Set aboard the Tohoku Shinkansen Hayabusa No. 60 en route to Tokyo, the film thrusts viewers into a high-stakes scenario where a bomb will detonate if the train’s speed falls below 100 km/h.

The teaser trailer offers a glimpse of the action, showcasing impressive VFX where the train shudders violently, hinting at an explosive crisis. As the conductor, played by Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, announces the danger, a desperate race against time begins, involving the crew, passengers, and the Shinkansen General Operation Control Center.

The film features a diverse cast alongside Kusanagi, including Kanata Hosoda as conductor Fujii and Non as the driver Matsumoto.

"I will never stop it." Netflix has revealed a fantastic teaser trailer for an action thriller movie from Japan titled Bullet Train Explosion, arriving to watch pretty soon in April. This is a surprise remake / reboot of the 1975 Japanese action classic Bullet Train, which many action filmmakers have been influenced by. It's the brand new modern Japanese update like Shin Godzilla, and yep, it's even directed by the same guy who co-directed Shin Godzilla, and made the most recent Shin Ultraman. When panic erupts on a Tokyo-bound bullet train (known as Shinkansen) planted with a bomb that will explode if it slows below 100 km/h, the authorities race against time to save everyone. There's also an superb new poster showing Takaichi standing before the burning Hayabusa No. 60 train, capturing the extreme tension. Starring Tsuyoshi Kusanagi, with Kanata Hosoda, Non, Jun Kaname, Machiko Ono, Hana Toyoshima, and Daisuke Kuroda. This has some incredible footage,...

Netflix has revealed the complete ensemble cast and first teaser for “Bullet Train Explosion,” the upcoming thriller from “Shin Godzilla” co-director Shinji Higuchi.

While Tsuyoshi Kusanagi had previously been announced in the role of conductor Takaichi, the streaming giant has now disclosed the full roster of talent joining the project. Boarding the Tohoku Shinkansen Hayabusa No. 60 alongside Kusanagi are Kanata Hosoda as conductor Fujii, Non as driver Matsumoto, Machiko Ono as House of Representatives member Kagami, Jun Kaname as entrepreneurial YouTuber Todoroki, and Hana Toyoshima as student Yuzuki Onodera.

The supporting cast features passengers from diverse backgrounds, creating a cross-section of society trapped in the high-speed crisis. Takumi Saitoh completes the main cast as Kasagi, the general commanding officer of the Shinkansen General Operation Control Center coordinating rescue efforts.

Netflix’s newly released teaser showcases the film’s central premise: a bomb rigged to detonate instantly if the train’s speed drops below 100 km/h.

According to a new report, the popular Oshi no Ko anime series will receive both a live-action TV series and a movie adaptation.

Shuukan Josei Prime (Weekly Women's Prime) reports that Toei -- the parent company of One Piece's Toei Animation -- will produce an Oshi no Ko live-action movie, distributed on Amazon Prime Video. Toei didn't refute the report, saying, "There is nothing we can say," while images from the set appear to show 50 staff engaged in production within a city center. A source allegedly from the production goes further, confirming members of the cast: Kaito Sakurai (Aqua Hoshino), Asuka Saito (Ai Hoshino), Nagisa Saito (Ruby Hoshino), Ano (Mem-cho) and Nanoka Hara (Kana Arima), with Nobuaki Kaneko, Mizuki Kayashima, Naenano and Jun Kaname's roles yet to be determined. The Oshi no Ko anime will be adapted into both a live-action TV series and a film, with the...

Oshi No Ko is reportedly getting a live-action film and drama adaptation by Toei and Amazon Prime. While details are yet to be disclosed, insiders suggest that the movie will center around Ai, while the drama will focus on Aqua.

Both the Oshi No Ko live-action film and drama are slated to release in 2025.

This news came to light after actor Sakurai Kaito was seen shooting his scene in a café in the mid of December 2023, with nearly 50 staff members present. Sakurai was seen sporting a blond hair and a cardigan draped over his shoulders. Actor Jun Kaname was also spotted in the shooting location on that day.

According to an insider, Sakurai is playing the role of the protagonist Aqua from the series, with Kaname taking the role of a video producer.

Other cast members revealed include:

Asuka Saito as Ai Hoshino Nagisa Saito as Ruby Ano-chan as Mem-Cho...

Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan is readying “Kingdom!,” an epic period drama based on Yasuhisa Hara’s best-selling manga of the same name.

Set in China during the Warring States Period, the film tells the story of an orphaned peasant boy who encounters another boy destined to become the Qin emperor. Serving as the key general, the peasant fights on behalf of the king to unite China.

The director is Shinsuke Sato, whose credits include the effects-heavy actioners “Gantz” (2011), “I Am a Hero” (2016) and “Inuyashiki” (2018).

Kento Yamazaki is starring at Shin and Ryo Yoshizawa as Ei Sei. Co-stars include Masami Nagasawa, Kanna Hashimoto, Kanata Hongo, Shinnosuke Mitsushima, Masahiro Takashima, Jun Kaname and Takao Osawa.

Production on the film began in April, with shoots in both China and Japan. The Japan release is set for April 19, 2019, with Toho distributing.

Sanford Panitch, president of Sony Columbia Pictures, who in charge of Sony’s international local production strategy,...

Japanese director Sion Sono is one of the most prolific filmmakers working today, having released five films last year, including “Shinjuku Swan,” a live action adaptation of the popular manga series by the same name. The film followed Tatsuhiko (Gou Ayano), an adult entertainment talent scout working in the red light district of Tokyo. It has yet to receive a release in the United States, but Sono has already followed it up with a sequel, which follows Tatsuhiko as he clashes CEO Masaki Taki (Tadanobu Asano). The sequel stars Alice Hirose, Kippei Shiina, Yusuke Iseya, Motoki Fukami, Nobuaki Kaneko, Yu Yamada, Yusuke Kamiji, Maryjun Takahashi, Jun kaname, Hideo Nakano and Takashi Sasano. Watch a trailer for the film below. (Note: There are no English subtitles.)

Read More: Fantasia Review: Sion Sono’s ‘Shinjuku Swan’

Sono garnered recent acclaim for directing “Why Don’t You Play In Hell?”, about a renegade...

If there’s one thing that can unite us as a country and bring some potential healing, it’s the gleeful insanity of Sion Sono. After the results of last night, it may feel like we are living in the world of one of his films, but sadly, this is reality. However, the prolific director does have a new feature coming out the weekend of the inauguration (at least in Japan) and the first trailer has arrived.

To get a sense of just how fast the helmer works, his next film is a sequel to 2015’s Shinjuku Swan — a film which has yet to get a U.S. release — based on Wakui Ken‘s manga. Shinjuku Swan II follows Tatsuhiko Shiratori (Gou Ayano) who works as a scout, recruiting girls to work in the adult entertainment business, but conflict arises when he clashes with CEO Masaki Taki (Tadanobu Asano). Unfortunately,...

On Monday it was announced that Sho Sakurai and Keiko Kitagawa will be starring in a movie version of Fuji TV’s Nazotoki wa Dinner no Ato de, a 10-episode TV drama which aired from October-December last year.

Based on a best-selling novel by Tokuya Higashigawa, the drama starred Kitagawa as an ultra rich heiress named Reiko Hosho who hid her status to work as a rookie police officer by day. Sakurai played her perfectionist butler Kageyama who offered helpful advice delivered with his own unique brand of brutal honesty.

The movie version will be largely the same, just on a larger scale. Shooting will take place mostly aboard the “SuperStar Virgo”, the largest luxury liner in Asia.

In the movie, Reiko boards her family’s luxury cruise ship, the “Princess Reiko”, along with Kageyama and embarks on a vacation to Singapore. While on-board, a murder occurs and the two...

BloodYear: 2011Director: Ten Shimoyama Stars: Aya Sugimoto, Jun Kaname, Kanji TsudaStudio: Well-Go Usampaa Rating: Not RatedRunning Time: 84 MinsVampire films are my favorite horror subgenre. One of the things that I look for in a vampire film, is this film dark and gothic enough? Even though there have been some good action vampire films that I’ve seen in the past like “Vampire Girl vs.

A look at what's new on DVD today:

"Meskada" (2010)

Directed by Josh Sternfeld

Released by Anchor Bay Entertainment

When this thriller premiered at Tribeca this past spring, Alison Willmore wrote, "the second film from writer/director Josh Sternfeld ("Winter Solstice") has ambitions reaching beyond being a straightforward police procedural," though critics, including her, were mixed about the end result. Nick Stahl and Rachel Nichols star as small-town sleuths who investigate a botched home invasion case that claims the life of a young child in an affluent community and enflames class divisions when the main suspects are from the poorer community nearby. Grace Gummer, Meryl Streep's second daughter to go into the family profession, makes her film debut.

"Anywhere USA" (2008)

Directed by Chusy Haney-Jardine

Released by Cinevolve Studios

Winner of a Spirit of Independence prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, Chusy Haney-Jardine's collection of three comic vignettes involves a...

It's a very mixed bag this week for horror title releases. We're not sure how Dread-worthy the supernatural drama Hereafter (directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Matt Damon, Bryce Dallas Howard and Jay Mohr) is but have included it because of its afterlife aspects.

On the list you'll also find a couple of schlocky monster movies, one a double-feature of classic Gamera entries and the other from the Syfy channel featuring Sharktopus (a sea creature that is both a shark and an octopus) with an over-acting Eric Roberts. In addition Syfy is releasing its mockbuster Battle of Los Angeles to take advantage of the current Aliens-Invading-Los-Angeles craze.

Hereafter

Directed by Clint Eastwood

Starring Matt Damon, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jay Mohr, Cécile de France, Frankie McLaren, George McLaren

George is a blue-collar American with a special connection to the afterlife dating from his childhood. French journalist Marie has a near-death experience that shakes her reality.

It’s Monday! That means it’s time for us to give you the new DVD & Blu-Ray releases for this week. We got some hi-def Brian Trenchard-Smith plus some kaiju, an Asylum release and Sharktopus! Read on fiends to see the full list.

All Descriptions of the following titles are provided by Amazon.com unless otherwise noted. If you plan on buying a flick from this list, please click on the links provided or click on the cover as it helps us pay the bills around here.

Also, unlike most sites, we provide the Netflix widget which we think is pretty convenient to add these films to your queue. If you don’t have Netflix, feel free to click on “Free Trial” and try it out!

The Absent

Format: DVD

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When twin brothers Oscar and Vincent discover their parents are plotting to kill them for insurance money, they beat them to the punch.

Blood-lusters everywhere rejoice, for Ten Shimoyama's Japanese vampire flick 'Blood' will be hitting North American DVD and Blu-ray shelves on 15 March 2011 thanks to the rights being acquired by Go USA. Aya Sugimoto (below) and Guts Ishimatsu star alongside Jun Kaname, Satoshi Matsuda, Hidejiro Mizumoto, Yuri Morishita, Atsushi Narasaka, Rin Sakuragi, Harumi Sone, Masahiro Sudo, Kanji Tsuda and Sayo Yamaguchi. Check out the synopsis and the bloody trailer below....

Yep, we don't need much more in a movie to get us to watch it than what is contained in the above headline, and thankfully that's exactly what we're gonna get when Blood hits home video courtesy of Well Go USA!

From the Press Release

Well Go USA announced today that it has acquired North American DVD and Blu-ray rights to the new horror flick Blood, starring Aya Sugimoto (Flower & Snake, Flower & Snake II) and Guts Ishimatsu (Black Rain, Empire of the Sun) and directed by Ten Shimoyama, director of the international hit “Shinobi”. Blood is one of the most highly anticipated horror movies to come out of Japan this year. Shimoyama mixes “erotic” vampires with ancient Samurai warriors, making Blood the next evergreen horror classic from Japan. Blood will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 15, 2011.

“Blood is a great addition to our growing DVD and Blu-ray library...

I love this poster! Get ready for another cool foreign horror film import coming March 15th called Blood.

From the Press Release:

Well Go USA announced today that it has acquired North American DVD and Blu-ray rights to the new horror flick Blood, starring Aya Sugimoto (Flower & Snake, Flower & Snake II) and Guts Ishimatsu (Black Rain, Empire of the Sun) and directed by Ten Shimoyama, director of the international hit “Shinobi”. Blood is one of the most highly anticipated horror movies to come out of Japan this year. Shimoyama mixes “erotic” vampires with ancient Samurai warriors, making Blood the next evergreen horror classic from Japan. Blood will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 15, 2011.

“Blood is a great addition to our growing DVD and Blu-ray library and an important release for us in early 2011,” said Tony Vandeveerdonk, Executive Vice President for Well Go USA. “Ten Shimoyama’s directing expertise...

Well Go USA announced today that it has acquired North American DVD and Blu-ray rights to the new horror flick Blood , starring Aya Sugimoto ( Flower & Snake, Flower & Snake II ) and Guts Ishimatsu ( Black Rain , Empire of the Sun ) and directed by Ten Shimoyama, director of the international hit Shinobi . Not to be confused with this Blood , the film mixes .erotic. vampires with ancient Samurai warriors and will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 15, 2011. Synopsis: Police Detective Hoshino (Kanji Tsuda) investigates the murder of a maid at a mansion belonging to Miyako Rozmberk (Aya Sugimoto), a seductive vampire mistress and .cougar. all in one. Ukyo Kuronuma (Jun Kaname), an Edo-era swordsman who was turned into a vampire by Miyako, is blamed for the...

Five years ago, acclaimed Japanese fashion photographer and music video director Kazuaki Kiriyamade an explosive and groundbreaking assault on the movie world with his directorial debut feature, the visually stunning and hugely ambitious sci-fi epic, ‘Casshern’. Now, Kiriya returns in his own inimitable style with the equally spectacular period, fantasy action-adventure, Goemon.

Produced by Kiriya and legendary producer Takashige Ichise (The Ring; Dark Water; The Grudge; Shutter) and boasting a star-studded cast that includes Yosuke Eguchi (Shaolin Girl), Takao Osawa (Ichi; Sky High), Jun Kaname (Blood; K-20; Casshern), Tetsuji Tamayama (Norwegian Wood; Casshern) and Susumu Terajima (Casshern; Ichi The Killer), Goemon is based on the exploits of the film’s eponymous, ninja bandit hero – the Japanese folklore equivalent of Robin Hood.

The year is 1582 and the ruler of Japan, Oda Nobunaga, has been brutally murdered leaving the country in a state of political chaos. Meanwhile, a chivalrous thief known as Goemon,...

Not to be confused with Chris Nahon's Blood: The Last Vampire, as this writer may have done at some point [ahem], Ten Shimoyama's Blood is a different animal altogether and to celebrate its release on DVD we have 4 rather tasty clips for you below. The plot goes something like this...

"Recently demoted within the ranks of the police force for exposing several highly respected officials involved in a political scandal, Detective Hoshino (Kanji Tsuda) is reduced to investigating long-shelved, unsolved cases just before their respective statutes of limitations expire. His latest assignment leads him to the mansion of a voluptuous, reclusive heiress, Miyako Rozmberk (Aya Sugimoto), to investigate the 14-year-old murder of one of her former maids. After claiming she has already told the police everything she knows concerning the case, Miyako announces to Hoshino that she knows the identity of the man responsible for the killing, identifying him...