The Atomic Cafe

Starring:Joseph McCarthy (II), Lyndon Johnson, Brian McMahon (II), Frank Gallop, George A. Smathers, Mario Salvadori, Albert Einstein, Julius Rosenberg, James E. Van Zandt, Lloyd Bentsen, W.H.P. Blandy, Ronald Reagan, George Putnam, George Molan, Douglas MacArthur, George Portell, Owen Brewster, Val Peterson, Hugh Beaumont, Dwight D. Eisenhower
Director: Kevin Rafferty (II), Pierce Rafferty, Jayne Loader
Studio: New Video Group
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
The atomic bomb changed the world forever, and this wonderful film shows how Americans expressed wonder over atomic weapons and then suffered from the pervasive fear that America would be on the receiving end of a Soviet nuclear attack. Atomic Cafe is a brilliant compilation of archival film clips beginning with the first atomic bomb detonation in the New Mexico desert. The footage, much of it produced as government propaganda, follows the story of the bomb through the two atomic attacks on Japan that ended World War II to the bomb's central role in the cold war. Shown along with the famous "duck and cover" Civil Defense films are lesser-known clips, many of which possess a bizarre black humor when seen today, and it's easy to see why this film, which was produced in the early 1980s, became a cult classic sometimes referred to as the "nuclear Reefer Madness." Bellicose congressmen are shown advocating a freewheeling policy of nuclear strikes against China during the Korean War, suburban families are shown enjoying the comforts of their bomb shelters, and footage of a boy trying to bicycle to a bomb shelter in a "bomb survival suit" his father designed is priceless. Atomic Cafe is at once clever and poignant, a canny and offbeat look at a significant period in American history. --Robert J. McNamara
Description
On its 20-year anniversary, and not a moment too soon, THE ATOMIC CAFE is back to provide us with a much-needed release of comic energy. A dark comedy in the truest sense, this timeless classic took the nation by storm when it first debuted in 1982. The

Average customer rating:

Atomic Cafe

Not funny

Frightenly funny

A blast from the Good Old Days!

Excellent View into '50s nuclear madness

The Atomic Cafe
Starring: Val Peterson , Nikita Khrushchev , Hugh Beaumont , Joseph McCarthy (II) , and Dwight D. Eisenhower
Director: Kevin Rafferty (II) , Pierce Rafferty , and Jayne Loader
Manufacturer: New Video Group
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video
General | Military & War | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video
Docurama | Series & Studios | Documentary | Genres | DVD | Video
Beaumont, Hugh | ( B ) | Actors & Actresses | Stores | DVD | Video
Used DVDs | Stores | DVD | Video | Action & Adventure | African American Cinema | Animation | Anime & Manga | Art House & International | Classics | Comedy | Cult Movies | Documentary | Drama | Educational | Fitness & Yoga | Gay & Lesbian | Horror | Kids & Family | Military & War | Music Video & Concerts | Musicals & Performing Arts | Mystery & Suspense | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Special Interests | Sports | Television | Westerns
( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

The Day After Trinity

Trinity & Beyond - The Atomic Bomb Movie

America's Atomic Bomb Tests - The Collection

Dear America - Letters Home from Vietnam

The Atomic Bomb Collection

ASIN: B000060MW1
Release Date: 2002-03-26

Amazon.com

The atomic bomb changed the world forever, and this wonderful film shows how Americans expressed wonder over atomic weapons and then suffered from the pervasive fear that America would be on the receiving end of a Soviet nuclear attack. Atomic Cafe is a brilliant compilation of archival film clips beginning with the first atomic bomb detonation in the New Mexico desert. The footage, much of it produced as government propaganda, follows the story of the bomb through the two atomic attacks on Japan that ended World War II to the bomb's central role in the cold war. Shown along with the famous "duck and cover" Civil Defense films are lesser-known clips, many of which possess a bizarre black humor when seen today, and it's easy to see why this film, which was produced in the early 1980s, became a cult classic sometimes referred to as the "nuclear Reefer Madness." Bellicose congressmen are shown advocating a freewheeling policy of nuclear strikes against China during the Korean War, suburban families are shown enjoying the comforts of their bomb shelters, and footage of a boy trying to bicycle to a bomb shelter in a "bomb survival suit" his father designed is priceless. Atomic Cafe is at once clever and poignant, a canny and offbeat look at a significant period in American history. --Robert J. McNamara

Description

On its 20-year anniversary, and not a moment too soon, THE ATOMIC CAFE is back to provide us with a much-needed release of comic energy. A dark comedy in the truest sense, this timeless classic took the nation by storm when it first debuted in 1982. The

Customer Reviews:

Atomic Cafe.......2007-02-25

A great documentary (with a dark, ironic, humorous side) of American culture as shaped by the Cold War (paricularly 1950s and 1960s). I use parts of this in a class I teach, and the students love it. How can you go wrong with the Duck and Cover turtle song and the kid riding his bike in an oven mitt to protect against an unexpected blast?!

Not funny .......2007-01-09

Yeah, those folks in the 50's sure were paranoid and gullible. Ha ha. How anyone could possibly think that the subject of nuclear holocaust and the fear thereof could be milked for a few laughs is pathetic. But even if this film was entirely based on a fictional threat the vast majority of its fitful stabs at humor require a deeper state of inebriation than I would care to endure.

Frightenly funny.......2006-12-27

I saw "Atomic Cafe" when it first came out in 1982, and the film has lost none of its zip in the intervening years. The film is a montage of military and civilian footage of Americans attempting to deal with the destructive enormity of atomic power, overlain with the cheesiest A-bomb related period music. Starting with an interview with an unapologetic Paul Tibbetts (who flew the Enola Gay on its bombing run over Hiroshima) through the Nixon-Khrushchev "kitchen debates" of the 1950s, the film takes us on a wild and irreverent ride through an America terrified by the prospect of instant annihilation.

What's neat is that the movie is not narrated except by the voices of the times. President Eisenhower urges America (in its consumer greatness) not to panic. Bert the Turtle teaches a generation of children to duck and cover when they see the atomic flash. Government films urge the country into fallout shelters where they can wait a few minutes before coming up to take a look around and start the arduous job of straightening the picture frames knocked askew by the blast. Catholic clergy are filmed dispensing the government to build the bomb and permitting homeowners to stock "protective devices" in their shelters against those poor souls trying to get in.

The torrent of disinformation and misinformation is fascinating, and would be funnier if the possibility of nuclear war were not so real. Ironic too is the population's level of trust in a government clearly unwilling to level with it about the level of destruction that the bomb would perpetrate.

The film mis-stepped only once, in allowing for sympathy to the Rosenbergs. Subsequent years have shown that they most probably did give nuclear secrets to the Soviets. I can feel pity for their children and abhor their executions without excusing their wickedness.

"Atomic Cafe" does have an agenda. By juxtaposing pictures of children hiding under beds and school desks with images of the obliteration of bombed test homes, it makes clear the fact that nuclear war is not the mostly-survivable thing that might lead some to complacency about atomic attack. The film does not stint on showing the horrors of nuclear attack and fallout. As such, it has done a great service by laying out the true cost of atomic warfare as well as of blindly trusting those who control the detonation of those awful weapons.

The DVD extras are nothing special -- little more than trailers and credits.

A blast from the Good Old Days!.......2006-08-25

Wow this movie is an eye opener. After watching it I can believe in almost any conspiracy theory,because they all sound more reasonable than the truth about the Government's Atomic testing programs. Back then people were told that mny forms of radiation will bounce harmlessly off human skin! Hosts of Kid Tv shows talked about bomb shelter preparedness! No wonder everyone went nuts in the 60's. It was backlash against all the "Atomic War" talk. Children were regularily reminded in classs that an A-bomb could hit at any time.Hmm explains alot about the Boomers. You probably already know that this movie is a collection of propaganda films shown in America to calm the fears of the public over nuclear war. It's brilliantly edited. Hope the makers have a long and prolific career. Some of it is VERY funny when you look back at the attitudes of the time. There's a great part where Nixon appears on a variety show with Nikita Kruschev, and Nikita makes Dick look pretty shabby as they attempt to one up each other on Aamerican national Tv.When you lack the people skills of even a hard line Communist Premiere then you know you're in trouble. Ah Dick, you should have learned. The most important message I got from this film is that the Gov't needs to be watched very closely to ensure its honesty. There are too many agendas floating around Washington that don't have the public's best interest in mind. Don't accept anything that is spoon fed to you because it's probably a load of crap. Except irradiated food, I'm sure the Gov't wouldn't let that happen if it wasn't safe. NOT!

Excellent View into '50s nuclear madness.......2006-08-18

As an elementary school kid during the '50s, I still remember the "duck and cover" song. "The Atomic Cafe" is an excellent look into the past to see just how dangerous new technology can be when the expected benefits are exaggerated and the known hazards are considered insignificant. I remember an article about how nuclear power plants would provide us with so much energy that we would pay a monthly flat rate of about $25 for unlimited power. No one foresaw Three Mile Island or Chernobyl. The only real voice that questioned our headlong rush into the nuclear age were the producers of science-fiction movies because, in the 1950s, any politician or scientist who questioned our nuclear policy was condemned as a communist. "The Atomic Cafe" provides a wonderful look at the past that could serve as a lesson for the future.

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

The Laughing Policeman

Offenbach: Orphee aux Enfers -- Lyon National

Black Magic M-66 (REGION 1) (NTSC)

DVD: Elephant Parts

The Pelican Brief