Nuclear War

Movies, Memory, and What Comes Next

Oleander was the very first flower to bloom on the scorched earth of Hiroshima the first year after the Little Boy bomb destroyed the city instantly killing some 70.000 people mostly civilians. It has become the city’s symbol of resilience and recovery. At first it was predicted that nothing would grow for 75 years, the oleander flower became a source of strength and hope for the survivors of the city as they worked hard on recovery from the catastrophic effects of the bomb. Blooming in the summertime, the oleander flowers reach their peak around the August 6 Peace Memorial Day, the day the bomb was dropped in 1945, their beautiful blossoms are a reminder that generated deep feelings in the city. About 100,000 people from both cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki are living survivors of the bombing.

In my last post, I wrote about Ghosts of Hiroshima, James Cameron’s upcoming film based on Charles Pellegrino’s survivor-centered account of the atomic bombings. It’s a rare attempt—decades after The Day The Earth Stood Still, On The Beach, Dr. Strangelove, and The Day After — to bring nuclear war back to the forefront of public attention in a big screen movie and one to be made by a director renowned for his technical brilliance. It’s likely to be unique in that it’s based on a survivor's perspective. While many survivor perspective documentary films have been made, James Cameron’s project seems excitingly different.

Before I publish the next installment on movies and documentaries about nuclear war, I’d love to know how you think about these stories—and how films about nuclear war have influenced, if at all, how we see the threat to global civilization by the existence of nuclear weapons.

If you have 2–3 minutes, I’d love for you to take this quick reader survey:

survey about nuclear war movies

Alternate link copy and paste in your browser if the above one doesn’t work for you

https://tinyurl.com/nuclearmoviesurvey

Whether it’s Threads, Terminator, The Man Who Fell to Earth, or something more recent, your answers will help shape my next piece and open the door to a broader conversation.

I also invite you to drop your thoughts in the comments—which movie or documentary left a mark? Which ones didn’t work out? Do we need a new wave of nuclear storytelling, or have we seen enough?

updated: August 11, 2025