As tensions between world leaders rise and talk of World War III intensifies, a video has been created to demonstrate just how disastrous nuclear war could be.

YouTuber Zack D. Films has created a shocking simulation that details exactly what would happen if the biggest nuclear bomb ever created was dropped on New York City.

The world’s largest nuclear explosion ever took place in 1961, that of course was the Russian hydrogen bomb called the ”Tsar Bomba’, or as the western world knows it – the ‘Tsar Bomb’.

All-Russia Exhibition Centre in Moscow displaying the Tsar Bomba (TATYANA MAKEYEVA / AFP) (Photo by TATYANA MAKEYEVA/AFP via Getty Images)

But it wasn’t until almost 60 years later that footage was released of the huge blast.

Dubbed the ‘King of Bombs’, the Tsar Bomb was developed between 1956 and 1961, while the Soviet Union was in the middle of an nuclear arms race with the US.

It was said to be 3,300 times as destructive as the bomb that devastated Hiroshima, made up of a hydrogen bomb with 50 megatons – or 50 million tons – of explosives.

When it was tested in October 1961, the Tsar Bomb released a mushroom cloud that was 60km high.

Now, the popular content creator Zack and his team put together a short video to explain how it would look if the Russians wanted to drop the bomb on the US’ most populous city. Take a look:

“If the world’s biggest nuclear bomb landed in New York City, the 50 megaton explosion would instantly vaporize everything within a two mile radius,” the video says.

“The blast wave would flatten buildings up to 20 miles away, turning skyscrapers into rubble, and a fireball over five miles wide would ignite everything in its path.

“The shock wave would shatter windows as far as New Jersey and the mushroom cloud would rise 40 miles into the air.

“Radiation would contaminate the area for decades, leaving no survivors in.”

Let’s hope Putin and Trump agree to never press the big red button! (Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)

Let’s hope Vladimir Putin and President Donald Trump don’t get into a war that leads to one of the two pressing the big red button…

But to know what New York would be up against, let’s detail a little more on the Tsar Bomb.

During the test in 1961, the Soviet Union stationed cameras on the ground and on board two Russian aircrafts which caught the moment the bomb caused a huge fireball in the sky.

“The testing of an exceptionally powerful hydrogen load … confirmed that the Soviet Union is in possession of a thermo-nuclear weapon with power of 50 megatons, 100 megatons and more,” said a narrator over footage of the test which was released in 2021.

On Sunday (March 3), the 2025 Oscars are set to take place with heated debate already taking place online as to which movies released in the year have seemingly been snubbed.

But what about some of the most controversial Academy Award wins in history? Well, this week’s UNILAD RANKED presents five wins which faced the most backlash – in order of oldest to most recent.

1973 – Marlon Brando declines Best Actor for The Godfather

Brando won the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 45th Academy Awards in 1973 for his portrayal of Vito Corleone in The Godfather however, he didn’t attend the ceremony, instead sending a woman named Sacheen Littlefeather in his place to accept – or rather, decline – the award.

Littlefeather – a member of the Indigenous American group the Apache and president of the National Native American Affirmative Image Committee – explained Brando was ‘regretfully’ turning down the award in protest of ‘the treatment of American Indians today by the film industry and on television in movie reruns and also with recent happenings at Wounded Knee’.

The Wounded Knee Massacre – also known as the Battle of of Wounded Knee – took place in 1890 and saw around three hundred Lakota – Native American – people killed by US Army soldiers.

Littlefeather’s speech concluded: “I beg at this time that I have not intruded upon this evening and that we will in the future our hearts and our understandings will meet with love and generosity. Thank you on behalf of Marlon Brando.”

1995 – Pulp Fiction losing Best Picture to Forrest Gump

Four Weddings and as Funeral, The Shawshank Redemption, Quiz Show, Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction were nominated for Best Picture at the 67th Academy Awards, but the award was ultimately taken home by Forrest Gump – directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring none other than Tom Hanks.

The win was divisive as many considered Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction bolder and more modern, the film receiving the Palme d’Or and critical acclaim.

On the other hand, despite being considered more mainstream, Forrest Gump was a bigger hit in the box office.

One Twitter user wrote: “I am always amazed when anybody takes the Oscars seriously, for any reason. Forrest Gump beat Pulp Fiction. That’s all you need to know.”

“It’s not hard to see why Forrest Gump captivated audiences and Oscars in 1995. But “Pulp Fiction” is one of the best written and most revolutionary movies in cinematic history. Maybe Forrest Gump fit the Academy mold. But Pulp Fiction is the true classic,” another argued.

Hanks even addressed the controversy, telling The New York Times in 2022 while Pulp Fiction is ‘a masterpiece without a doubt,’ Forrest Gump’s ‘magic legs’ scene acts as ‘a moment of undeniable heartbreaking humanity’, defending the film as ‘not just running along to Duane Eddy’s ‘Rebel Rouser’.”

Pulp Fiction fans coming for Forrest Gump (Miramax Films)

2006 – Crash winning Best Picture over Brokeback Mountain

The 78th Academy Awards saw Munich, Good Night, and Good Luck, Capote, Brokeback Mountain and Crash nominated for Best Picture.

Adapted from the 1997 short story by Annie Proulx, Brokeback Mountain stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger as Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar who’re hired as sheep herders and end up falling in love.

Their love affair is ultimately made torturous due to the pair being forced to keep their relationship a secret as a result of the intense homophobia present at the time and both marrying their girlfriends.

Despite Lee telling Indie Wire he was told by the stage manager to stick around in the wings – insinuating the film would win the award – Best Picture was ultimately won by Paul Haggis’ Crash.

And while Brokeback Mountain may’ve secured awards for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Score at the Academy Awards, many were outraged over it not also taking home Best Picture – Lee saying he ‘thinks’ it lost out as a result of its centring around a gay love story, as quoted by The Hollywood Reporter.

A Facebook user called Every Oscar Ever wrote: “The fact that Crash beat Brokeback Mountain for Best Picture at the 78th Academy Awards will always go down for me as one of the most inexplicable moments in The Academy’s history.”

Another commented: “WRONGED by a mile…a stolen Oscar was absolutely the truth. The movie was spellbinding, touching and so loving. It was shocking to be topped by Crash. But it did win Oscars for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score. They just didn’t have the guts to honor it as Best Picture – though it surely was!”

Many argued Brokeback Mountain should’ve won Best Picture too (Focus Features)

2013 – Life of Pi winning Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects

Life of Pi really shook up the 85th Academy Awards and in more ways than one. In a more positive sense, it won a staggering number of awards, however, not just one but two proved controversial.

VFX supervisor Bill Westenhofer’s acceptance speech for the film’s Best Visual Effects award was cut short preventing him from fully addressing the issues within the industry and precarious nature of the job – issues of which only further emphasized when the VFX studio responsible for the film’s visual effects named Rhythm & Hues filed for bankruptcy shortly after the Oscars.

The awarding of Best Cinematography to the film also led to backlash given the film was so largely constructed of digital effects, cinematographer Christopher Doyle telling Blouin News: “I’m trying to work out how to say this most politely, and no offense to – I don’t know [director Ang Lee] personally – but what a total f**king piece of s**t.”

Doyle slammed the film winning the award as ‘a f**king insult to cinematography’, arguing: “What it says to the real world is it’s all about us, we have the money, we put the money in, and we control the image. “

He resolved: “That’s not cinematography […] You’ve lost cinema. This is not cinema and it’s not cinematography.”

Heaven forbid the fallout if – or when – a film which heavily uses AI ends up winning the category…

Life of Pi was released in 2012 (20th Century Fox)

2017 – La La Land mistakenly announced as winner of Best Picture over Moonlight

The 89th Academy Awards proved controversial not necessarily because of the film which won the award, but as a result of the wrong film being announced as the winner.

Presenter Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were mistakenly given the envelope for Best Actress instead of Best Picture leading Beatty to announce La La Land as the winner when the correct recipient was actually Moonlight.

Moonlight producer Jordan Horowitz quickly hopped on stage to clear up the confusion, but it didn’t stop the incident becoming known as ‘envelopgate’.

As one Twitter user resolved: “The most exciting oscars moment that wasn’t will smith’s slap.”

Other controversial moments include Bradley Cooper losing the Best Actor Oscar to Rami Malek, Shakespeare in Love winning over Saving Private Ryan in 1999 and Chariots of Fire winning Best Picture in 1982.

What do you think is going to happen this year?

Russian tourists, Ilia Peregudin, 29, and Maksim Melekhov, 39, were part of a diving group that had travelled to the area to experience its marine life and range of corals, and swam near the sea floor to take in everything the environment had to offer.

There were four tourists in total, all from Russia, with one local dive instructor.

After observing schools of fish making their way around the reefs, all five of them were reportedly swept away by powerful undercurrents.

The bodies were eventually recovered (ViralPress)

The currents were said to bring them towards some sharks, and while two of the tourists resurfaced with the diving instructor and made their way back to the diving boat, Ilia and Maksim were not as fortunate.

They went missing, and a search was launched by coast guard members and other divers in the area, Philippine coast guard provincial commander Capt. Airland Lapitan told AP.

The Philippine coast guard arrived on the scene after the emergency call at 1pm.

Chilling underwater photos shows the scene just moments before the dievrs were attacked by sharks.

The scene moment before the attack took place (ViralPress)

Maksim would be found one hour later, floating face-down and unconscious in choppy waters, with crew calling for first aid.

He was be declared dead in Saint Patrick Hospital in Batangas, Lapitan said.

The commander then revealed: “The other Russian diver [Ilia] was found while being attacked by sharks.

“His right arm, unfortunately, had been severed and the sharks were moving around him.”

He added that ‘they somehow managed to pull him away.’

He too, would be declared dead.

Authorities have stated that an investigation into the incident, with officials set to come up with ways to stop similar tragedies from happening in the area.

The coast guard found both bodies, but it was too late (ViralPress)

Lapitan further explained what they suspect happened: “There was a strong current, and the group were separated.

“Two of them who were with the master diver were able to return to their boat, but the other two failed to resurface.”

He went on: “We had a difficult time recovering one of the divers because there were sharks circling around the body.

“We believe the individual was attacked by sharks because their right hand was missing.”

Diego Reyes is a local that dived with the tourists, calling the incident ‘overwhelming and traumatising’ and that he too felt the strong currents in the water.

“It was really challenging to get back with the group once you got separated,” he admitted.

He concluded: “I hope authorities would be able to figure out what really happened to them. Thank you Lord for keeping our group safe. Rest in peace to the Russian divers.”