Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes (1990 TV Movie) User Reviews

Good but somewhat lopsided view of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

[rspress · 7/10 · 19 April 2005]

This film pretty accurately depicts Hiroshima after the Enloa Gay drop the Atomic Bomb. If you have read the Richard Rhodes book "The Making Of The Atomic Bomb" the stories the eyewitness accounts at the end of the book will seem all to real in this movie.

The scenes of the people searching out the river and then after drinking dropping dead into the river are right out of the book, much as most of the scenes of burns, the blast effects and much more. Some scenes of course did not happen, like those of the American POW's.

In all this film does depict some of the tensions that are still felt about the bombings today. Japan still protests the bombings today and America has not apologized for dropping them. I think where this film fails is that a little one sided about the bombing. The events leading up to the bomb and the atrocities committed by Japan. The rape of Nan King, the Bataan death march, the killing of Chinese, Philippine and American civilians. Japan had launched balloon at the US to destroy or forest but only killed a group of kids. The chemical warfare in china and at nearly the same time we dropped the bomb on Hiroshima Japan already had plans to drop biological weapons on Los Angeles and San Diego, arguments between Japanese military factions over the need for submarines and planes are what stopped the biological attacks.

Instead of a what have we brought upon ourselves tone the movie has a what has America done to us tone. This may be more accurate because Japanese citizens were lied to about most of the war, which is shown in the film as an announcement after both bombings that Japan has bombed New York.

If you consider everything about the war and what Japan did to wind up in this position the film is very good. However if all you know about Japan and WWII is what you see in this film you will be given the wrong message and as it has been said before "Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it".

Surprisingly mature

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 25 June 2018]

HIROSHIMA: OUT OF THE ASHES is one of the better '90s-era TV movies in that it doesn't feel like a television movie at all, but something more mature and reflective. It explores the infamous atomic bombing in 1945 from various perspectives of folk caught up in it, from a German priest to Japanese townsfolk and even some American soldiers situated in the vicinity. The nuclear blast itself is surprisingly well realised on what must have been a low budget, but what's most impressive is the scope of the story, exploring the moral and physical consequences of the holocaust. Strong actors like Max Von Sydow, Mako and Pat Morita are all present to do the story justice.

Not so good

[dukeb0y · 3/10 · 11 July 2022]

Very unrealistic. But first the good. For its limited budget, it was filmed quite nicely. The Japanese uniforms look pretty good on the soldiers. Now for the bad, as soon as the American soldiers got out and started helping I thought to myself this is really stupid writing and it never happened. Three stars is it. If they based it on a true story it would have been much better.

Interweaving of stories works. . .war is ugly despite the "good news" gloss

[teejayniles2345 · 10/10 · 28 July 2003]

This film is commendable for those who are barely literate about some of the Japanese-American tensions and attractions that make the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombing such a controversial matter more than 60 years later with no end in sight. For such young people the "English-friendly" aspects of this production will be appealing; the special effects and "gross-out" scenes are far enough from original documentary footage and the eyewitness narratives that most sensitive viewers should not have to turn away when victims and injured citizens are in view. The use of "name" actors helps to make some of the August 6 events seem accessible while avoiding the history-by-leaders/ Presidents/ aggressive warriors "trap." A U.S. serviceman's death (character played by Judd Nelson) is somewhat melodramatic but again illustrates some worthy points (the two cultures involved in a "struggle to the death" war while still sharing common values on high technology and fascination with "wins/losses"). I haven't heard if a project like this is slated for the 60th anniversary (2005) of the War-ending bombing but it wouldn't surprise me. My rating 10 *'s for those older than 12 who can sit and discuss this with adults (grandparents who lived at or around that era); and positive value for young and middle-aged adults.

Terrible Mess of a Film

[hillfox20 · 3/10 · 31 August 2020]

An absolutely boring, badly acted and filmed mess of a movie. Max Von Sydow gives what must be the worst performance of his entire career. Totally without any redeeming features I found this film to be unwatchable. Apart from Von Sydow the remaining cast are a mixture of second rate American and Asian actors who seem to me competing to give the worst possible performance in this piece of rubbish. Avoid at all costs!.

A movie to make you think

[josepaulo · 8/10 · 17 February 2002]

This film gives a very good description of what it might have been to be in a city a see it being completely destroyed. It shows the anguish of searching for your loved ones and the despair of finding them dead. It's a good movie to show what war should not be like, that is, attacking innocent people instead of having an army versus army battle.

About 5 million lives saved by the bombings

[random-70778 · 13 February 2020]

If you watch this film you would have no idea of the huge number of military casualties form the Hiroshima naval base where the bomb inflicted 44,000 military casualties (10,000 Japanese soldiers and sailors dead, 33,000 inured). As a military target, Hiroshima was a major army base that housed the headquarters of the Japanese 5th Division and the 2nd Army Headquarters. It was also an important port in southern Japan and a communications center. Hiroshima naval base was home port to a huge number of Japanese Navy vessels, and where the bombing of pearl harbor exercises and testing took place. You would also not know from this film that new peer reviewed work in Korea and China show that if the surrender had been delayed another four months, an additional five million persons would have died in Japanese army occupied China, Korea, Philippines, south Asia and Oceania. And how is it we see the "daily lives" of the Hiroshima civilians without seeing that nearly 50% were directly working in war economy production, including munitions production??

A garbled, emotionless mess!

[buiger · 3/10 · 26 May 2018]

I thought this movie was completely missconceived. First of all, the Japanaes residents of Hiroshima speaking english makes no sense... Then the American POWs running around town after the explosion... Please, give me a break! The characters in general where all very shallow, we never get to feel anything for anybody. Some characters are downright ridiculous, like the catholic priest played by Max von Sydow and his (comical) assistants. Scenes featuring the latter are almost farsical. All in all, this motion picture comes together as a garbled mess, one that is boring and emotionless (for a film on such a topic, hard to believe). And the ending.... No comment.

The Japanese military was the enemy. Their citizens were not.

[mark.waltz · 9/10 · 12 December 2021]

That's the one point that is very clear in this dramatization of what happened before and after the bombing of Hiroshima. You get the glimpses of regular people going about their regular day, avoiding picking up the pamphlets dropped from American airplanes as it against the law. One American immigrant of Japanese heritage is confronted by the government for being seen picking one up, and is threatened with the loss of her child. You see young children being trained by a Japanese officers just as Hitler's children were, and it is a very disturbing view of hatred in action.

Then there is Catholic priest Max Von Sydow, confronted while out after curfew as he goes on a mission of mercy, and his Mercy will come into great play when he is called to utilize it after the bomb is dropped. You do not see the Enola Gay. In fact, everything normal is going on when you see the results of the explosion, and a woman far away looks out to see the mushroom cloud. The real terror isn't shown when the bomb lands but the results afterwards through the fires and winds that result. People in pain climb into a cesspool to cool down, and family search for their beloved, often stopping to help others.

So this is more about your regular everyday Japanese civilian, not the enemies of our country, suffering torture because of loss of family and the realization that the bomb will have a great impact on their lives for decades. Performances by Mako, Tamlyn Tomita and Pat Morita (always a comforting presence) are super, and the ensemble in general, particularly the frightened but adorable children, really grabs the heartstrings.

This is probably the first Japanese themed war movie I've seen where they are not shown entirely as brutal, mainly because this is not a military viewpoint, rather the real people. The military is shown, but they are not the brutal monsters that I've seen in many other movies on the subject. The film also doesn't take a point of view to criticize. It just presents the facts as is, a view that war is never victimless regardless what side you are on, and decent people regardless of what country they are from will always be the ones who end up the losers even if their country wins.

Havent seen this since I was a kid.

[petera00 · 9/10 · 22 May 2019]

Obviously being years later its made an impact. Its an important lesson on what America has done during "wartime." I do feel that wartime in America is an excuse to do so many atrocities.... Much like Nazi Germany.... Only thing that separates us is we won.

Rolls Royce of Atomic Bomb Films - Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes

[arthur_tafero · 8/10 · 31 August 2023]

This film concentrates more on the character development of several key figures, rather than on the actual bombing itself. That is the strength of the movie. The moral dilemma of whether to drop a bomb on a city that would kill at least 100,000 people, or but not doing so, initiate a conventional invasion of the Japanese mainland that would have taken several MILLION lives (both American and Japanese seems to logically point to less damaging alternative. However, some naive individuals, including one reviewer, believe losing the millions of lives would not have been an atrocity. All war is an atrocity.

The film is well-directed and the players produce non-hysterical performances in a narrative that covers several key characters simultaneously. One is a doctor with thousands of victims, no hospital supplies and no other doctors around, another is a student at a boys school, one is a Japanese woman who admires American culture, and others include a priest and American POWS. Max Van Syndow gives a moving performance. This movie makes The Day After and others in the genre look like trips to Disneyland.