A harrowing view of hell on earth, and an absolute tragedy. The film is wisely very critical of Japanese militarism with its own atrocities, fanaticism, and reaction in the aftermath of Hiroshima before a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The moments when the devastated people are walking around like zombies trying to get food and the official is shouting nationalistic garbage at them are brilliant. The film also asks the question whether this target, with so many civilians, was necessary, and whether it had something to do with race. It also has strong messages for peace, to avoid such events in the future, since the Atomic age had begun. Whatever your beliefs are for whether the bombs were necessary or not (there are some amazing summaries of both positions on Wikipedia btw),the human suffering is undeniable, and heartbreaking. Even if it makes for 105 brutally sad minutes, this film is as important today as it was in 1953.

Even to this day, the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in order to end the second world war remain a controversial topic. Nuclear weapons are (by most definitions) the most horrible and dreadful things ever invented by man, and the use of these weapons to subdue an extremely defiant japan had its critics even back then. On two separate days in august 1945, on bright, sunny mornings, thousands of people were instantly and brutally vaporized. The shockwave of the explosion blew some people's eyeballs from their heads, and many more would die from the effects of radiation sickness, which america could not predict. This movie is all about the aftermath of the atom bomb, what it did to japan, and how people would remember for the rest of their lives what they were doing, what time it was, and what the weather was like when this hell on earth was unleashed. The movie incorporates some stories of its own in addition to the history of the real world regarding the atom bomb. Depressing is probably the best word to describe this whole movie. It starts in a classroom years after the end of the war and a young girl in the class has a nosebleed, later revealing she has leukemia. This was no doubt caused by the radioactive isotopes spread over a huge area by the explosion. Later, we see what Hiroshima itself looked like before it was attacked, and all of a sudden, everything is destroyed and on fire. People are dying in the streets and inflicted with horrible burns and scarring. Despite its anti-american bias, the movie also calls into question the intelligence of japanese military officers during world war 2, because even after the first nuke was dropped, many wanted to continue fighting. A lot felt that even if 1000 nukes were dropped japan would never be fully invaded. Japan saw america in particular as a country of gangsters and entertainers with no courage for a long and bloody war. Eventually, US soldiers are shown in front of a japanese building as a symbol of how subservient to america japan had become. The country that dared attack the US pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor 4 years before was now completely militarily neutered, and even today, japan is not allowed to have a military. Although made in the 50s, this movie was not shown for many decades in the US because it seemed to make americans look like war criminals who disintegrated thousands of civilians at the push of a button. Many don't realize this, but countless others would have been killed if japan itself was invaded, which is what america was planning to do in the first place. Japan had millions of men defending the home islands, thousands of planes and suicide aircraft launched from catapults installed in caves, and were even training little kids and women to kill with sharpened bamboo staffs. The result would have been a bloodbath, and there would possibly be millions dead on both sides. The atom bomb, while still being an insanely destructive weapon with cruel aftereffects, put an end to world war 2 and the japanese were forced to endure the unendurable.

This movie is excellent from start to finish. Its played so authentic, the characters feels so alive. At only 312 reviews at the current time of writing this review its also the most underrated movie ever. There are low budget, unimaginitive and just plain lazy knockoff trash movies that are more popular than this movie and its very sad to think that trash like that gets more attention.