The movie “Bullet Train” is an action-thriller film directed by David Leitch. It stars Brad Pitt, Joey King, and Zazie Beetz among others. The plot revolves around a group of assassins on board a high-speed bullet train in Japan.
In this movie, the image of Japan as seen by foreign people is strongly depicted. But as a Japanese person, I don’t find realistic Japan in most of part. The director himself has also said that he deliberately exaggerates the stereotype to create an extraordinary world view. I was able to enjoy it as a story about a Japan-like country.
Here, I will introduce what was portrayed realistically and what was not in this movie.
Point1 Interior of the bullet train in the movie The first class of the bullet train appeared and the interior was depicted as similar to that of an airplane. However, in reality, there is no first class on the bullet train, but there is a corresponding Green Class. Nevertheless, the interior is significantly different from that of an airplane, and I felt that the movie was exaggerated.
(c)2022 Sony Pictures Digital Productions Inc. All rights reserved.
Point2 Mt. Fuji In the movie, you can see the magnificent Mt. Fuji several times from the window of the train, but in reality, it doesn’t look as big as it does in the movie. Nevertheless, I still think it’s impressive.
(c)2022 Sony Pictures Digital Productions Inc. All rights reserved.
Other points – Yakuza using swords – Smoking on the station platform – Capsule toys in the Shinkansen train car I cannot list all up…
What is depicted realistically about Japan
Point1 Travel timeand the time of the movie The story of the movie takes place between Tokyo and Kyoto and the time is 2 hours and 6 minutes. The actual travel time between Tokyo and Kyoto on the bullet train is also 2 hours and 8 minutes, so it is likely that the movie’s time is synchronized with the actual travel experience.
Point2 The appearance of the bullet train The appearance of the bullet train compared to the real thing, it was reproduced quite accurately.
(c)2022 Sony Pictures Digital Productions Inc. All rights reserved.
