The Atomic Cafe
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Movie Reviews of The Atomic Cafe
Movie Review: Fabulous summary of the nuclear illusion
Summary: 5 Stars
It seems like just yesterday. The fire alarm went off, and we were supposed to climb beneath the desk and cover our heads to prevent our being vaporized. One of our educators was a turtle who told us to "duck and cover." During the same period, we were lambasted with anti-Commie propaganda, and troops were in the field as subjects of further nuclear experimentation.
And we were told nuclear energy would be "too cheap to meter."
Those were the days, huh?
Then I remember in the 1970s a great poster, a copy of the one they used to use to warn us of nuclear attack, the last rule of which was "and kiss your *** good bye." That, of course, was the only effective thing to do if the blinding light were to show us that the "enemy" had decided to blow us away.
The people who put this classic together put together all the elements of that era to expose what the real nuclear illusion is/was. Those weapons go off and we're...gone. Duck and cover ain't gonna do you no good.
In retrospect, I think the appeal of the films put together to make this masterpiece was based on our technophilia: we just felt that we had better things than "they" did, we had more modern things. Sputnik may have stymied that for a while, but we just thought that anything "new," more technical was superior.
By the way, be prepared to see some familiar faces in here: Hugh Beaumont before he became Ward Cleaver, James Gregory before he became a regular on Barney Miller.
Oh, and incidentally, there were countless casualties among the subects of the nuclear weapons experiments. You might want to look up the book "American Ground Zero: The Secret Nuclear War" to see what happened to some of them.
In the meantime, enjoy this classic, and laugh at what we believed to be true so few years ago.
(To their credit, I've talked to 21st century middle school kids who have asked what good "duck and cover" would have done. They see through what many of us who're older didn't!
Movie Review: This movie is DA BOMB!! Look for the Beaver and his dad.
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is great but I want to discuss one part of it I have not seen mentioned in any reviews. This movie has Jerry Mathers and Hugh (Beaver and his dad of Leave It To Beaver). I was bowled over when I saw them. They are in separate scenes and Beaver has a haircut I never saw him wear on Leave It To Beaver. Hugh Beaumont(Ward Cleaver) is in some kind of military educational or propoganda film.
Anyway, I am a child of the the time and remember being scared silly during the 60's by all the talk of nuclear war. We had all the sirens going off all the time and even the duck and cover drills at school. In the early 60's jets were always flying over and I worried when one would be the enemy with an atomic bomb about to drop it on my house. My father even built a bomb shelter in the back yard during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
This movie reaaly has some funny scenes. One is where Richard Nixon is trying to be JOVIAL with Nikita Krushev(sp ??). Nixon says something like "Well you may be ahead of us in the space program but we are ahead in color televisions". What an idiot ole Tricky Dickey was. Another shows a man coming out of an under house shelter. A reporter asks him about what he will do after an atomic attack. He says "Well, if they drop the bomb it will kill about 90 percent of the US population and that will just mean more food and water for the rest of us". PRICELESS!!! But the funniest scene is when a reporter is asking questions of the military troops who have just witnessed an atomic test explosion up close and personal in the desert. He asks one soldier what that device is he is wearing around his neck. The soldier very calmly says, "It will tell me if I have been exposed to a LETHAL dose of radiation or not". MEGA PRICELESS!!!!
This movie is a must see and I'm so glad I've added it to my collection and I suggest you do the same.
Movie Review: Duck, Cover, And Blow Away...
Summary: 5 Stars
Yep, get those fallout shelters dug and those lead suits pressed! It's time for THE ATOMIC CAFE! Culled from archival footage and spliced together to make the best presentation of the nuclear nightmare I've ever seen. Watch as politicians talk about the benefits and wonders of the hydrogen bomb! See ordinary folks being lulled to sleep by official propoganda! Listen to the military brass tell their troops about the minor threat of the live nuke test they are about to experience up close! Hear the pure balogna told to the poor natives of the Bikini atoll, just before the test blast that would bring tons of radiation raining down on their smiling heads! This is more than a movie, it's a damning slice of history. Nothing gets across the vastness of our own insanity like our own words and actions! The atomic age becomes the atomic culture as we live in fear of the russians and the bomb. Most of the statements by politicians and military types are so ridiculous, it's as though they were scripted by Mel Brooks! The true horror of this movie lies in it's presentation of real people saying and doing irrational, stupid things. Watch it and tremble...Movie Review: Not just an excellent historical documentary
Summary: 5 Stars
Yes, I agree that this movie is a scary (and laugh-in-horror funny) trip back in time for understanding a period and a mindset. But it also stands out as a significant documentary for a couple of other things... 1) it gets its message and tale across wiithout resorting to some omnipresent narrator - it amazingly lets all that wonderful old footage they've pieced together do all the talking, and at the same time even manage to build to a climax. This is no mean feat. Think of other excellent documentaries you have seen, whether it be MARCH OF THE PENGUINS or BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE or whatever - they rely on some guiding voice to orient you throughout. And 2) it is an impressive record of propaganda. Study propaganda so that you can recognize it. I was part of that same generation that ate this stuff up and believed it, learning to duck and cover very well. On top of all these profound issues, it is also very entertaining/involving - one of those films that you start watching and cannot tear yourself away, because you JUST GOTTA HEAR/SEE the next outrageous clip. Enjoy.Movie Review: One of the best documentary films of the cold war
Summary: 5 Stars
Anyone over the age of 45 will laugh nervously through this film at the "devil may care" attitude of "Early Cold War America." Between the blissfully ignorant man-on-the-street interviews of everyday citizens to the brutally honest footage of the military test film footage, the viewer gets a clear picture of what was happening to our nuclear arms buildup as opposed to how much the public really understood. Classic clips from interviews, training films, educational television programs and civil defense propoganda is stitched together to create a clear timeline of nuclear anxiety and naiveté without a word of narrated voice-over. This film also includes quite possibly the worlds worst actor: an army chaplain who is trying to ease the anxieties of his fellow soldiers with dialogue that took probably ten seconds to write, but what I'm sure took this poor guy days to rehearse and memorize. Worth the price alone (but you'll enjoy the rest, too.)