Photo: Courtesy of JR East.In a case of life accidentally imitating art, Japan is building its very own Snowpiercer-style train.
Um, what.
Director Bong Joon-ho's film adaptation of Jacques Lob's graphic novel centers on a futuristic luxury train that serves as the site for some next-level class warfare. The haves are in the front with all mod cons, while the have-nots (including star Chris Evans) stew in squalor in the rear. And, of course, that makes them a little testy.
Outside the world of cinema, Japan's JR East Railway is turning that into something of a reality with its Cruise Train, a stately conveyance that'll seat a mere 34 people and cost about $50 million to develop. The train consists of 10 carriages broken down into five suites, one deluxe suite, two glass-walled observation cars, a dining car, and a lounge. Sadly, it won't have a perpetual motion engine like the train in Snowpiercer. Passengers like Chris Evans, however, are a strong possibility.
If you want to get into your very own post-apocalyptic battle aboard a moving rail transport, you'll have to wait until at least 2017. In the meantime, you can check out the renderings from JR East and figure out how to improvise weapons out of pillows and swizzle sticks. You'll need 'em. (Slashfilm)