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DVD The Atomic Cafe
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
This movie is a mind-blower. Not being a child of the Atomic Age (I was born in the '70s), I wasn't exposed to any of this stuff when I was a kid. But I guess it was always there, in a way. You know - "Don't worry! The government can handle anything." There are moments when you laugh, and quite a few that tug at your heart. The juxtaposition of sound and image is simultaniously spooky and funny. The song "Let the H-Bomb Fall" fades out, and we see the nightime shot of the demon-orange glow of the Castle-Bravo test explosion. Even the plain white text that the dates and explosion names are put in gives me chills. And say what you want, but the Bikini Atoll explosion is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Amazing. Particularly good is the end, where the filmmakers use all this footage to create the end of the world.
It might be said a lot, but if you love Dr. Strangelove, you HAVE to get this movie.
Too close to home 4 me.
Being born in 1950 I have the (mis)fortune to have experienced a few paradigm shifts in the U.S. political mindset. Atomic Cafe brought back too many reminders of my living in a world gone nuts. From the age of about 13 till my late 20's I have had excruciating nightmares of bombers flying overhead and Los Angeles being captured in the photographic flash of annihilation. As an older adult I have re-experienced the nightmare through this film. Perhaps its impact is diminished to audiences born later than I. But I pray that the message will nonetheless pluck a string of mortal fear at our government's casual stockpiling of weapons in response to an illusory and paranoid perception that some country some where may have more nukes than we do.
Unique Documentary on How People Worried About Nuclear Age
You will see the bewildered soliders slowing walking TOWARD a big mushroom cloud in the nuclear test field. You see small kids hiding behind the curtain while hearing the song 'Duck and Cover.' And a kind animated turtle will teach you how to survive if an H-Bomb drops in your neighborhood.
Those are just part of what you see in 'The Atomic Cafe' (1982) which is a unique documentary without using any narrations. Now the point is too clear. The film consists of various archival footages such as newsreels and educational (or propaganda) films about A bombs and H bombs, all tactfully edited and joined to show us how the American people saw the world, vaguely scared of something terrible, during the nuclear age. It's the time of a Rosenberg case. You can see then vice-president Richard Nixon.
The most startling thing about the film is, like Michael Moore (when he does not forget humor), that the contents are unwittingly chilling and hilarious at times. During the military briefing, an officer is seen lecturing before the soldiers what an A bomb is like. According to him, we should remember only three things -- Blast, Heat, and Radiation, and the last one is least dangerous. Hence, their marching to the cloud, exposure to the (probably) lethal doze of radioactive fallings. I'm not blaming anybody. But the total effects of this scene alone are horrifying enough.
I said something about Michael Moore. Actually Moore is indirectly related to the film, for he visited this film's co-director Kevin Rafferty after seeing this film, to learn how to make a documentary film. And it seems Kevin Rafferty was kind enough to teach a few things about filmmaking to the future director of 'Roger and Me' (1989). In fact, Kevin Rafferty is the cinematographer of Michael Moore's debut film.
More interesting trivia. Among the three people credited as directors -- Jayne Loader, Kevin Rafferty, Pierce Rafferty -- the last two happen to be the cousins of George W. Bush, President of the United States. I'm not kidding. Though the fact has nothing to do with the contents of the film, it is kind of bizarre to find Moore and Bush associated with this film, even though indirectly.
The film's argument may sound sometimes a bit too provocative with graphic images (including burnt skins which is painful to see), and the editing is sometimes too slack, but 'The Atomic Cafe' is a fascinating look on the way how people acted and reacted during the most politically unstable era after the WWII.
Jon Else's Oscar-nominated documentary is a gem. He tells the story of the creation of the first atomic bomb, through the story of the amazing man who was picked to head up the project. J. Robert Oppenheimer would be a renaissance man in any time, but his presence during WWII and the Cold War afterwards, and his own doomed role in these world history events, makes him a tragic hero. Intelligent beyond comprehension, literate, poetic, charming, and dedicated (both to science and humanity), the experience of WWII's horror diverted his life on a collision course with history. Else's film is poignant, touching, restrained, and ultimately moving. Made in 1979, he was fortunate to be able to interview many of "Oppie's" colleagues, friends, and his brother Frank (who started another,... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Jon Else DVD Release Date: Released the 14 May 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Trinity and Beyond In the salad days of nuclear-weapons testing, the United States detonated 331 atomic, hydrogen, and thermonuclear bombs. Many of those explosions appear in Trinity and Beyond, which utilizes a lot of declassified footage, most of it in color. Standouts include the United States' South Pacific detonation of an atom bomb 90 feet below the water to study the effects on a fleet of ships. Surprise, surprise, they sink! If that wasn't enough, the navy also loaded the decks with sheep to study the effects of the blast on life forms. Surprise, surprise, they die! Glowing leg of lamb anyone? This film will alternately amuse and horrify you at the rampant irresponsibility of the Soviets and Americans in their quest for nuclear domination. The... More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 09 October 2000 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Director Stone vividly recounts a tragic chapter in our history too often overlooked, mingling color footage of the Bikini project with newsreel interviews. The result is as unsettling as any nuclear doomsday movie, where the United States is like a little boy playing with live ammunition. Scary but true. More Info about this DVD Director(s): Robert Stone (IV) DVD Release Date: Released the 30 December 2003 This item is currently not available.
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In the salad days of nuclear-weapons testing, the United States detonated 331 atomic, hydrogen, and thermonuclear bombs. Many of those explosions appear in Trinity and Beyond, which utilizes a lot of declassified footage, most of it in color. Standouts include the United States' South Pacific detonation of an atom bomb 90 feet below the water to study the effects on a fleet of ships. Surprise, surprise, they sink! If that wasn't enough, the navy also loaded the decks with sheep to study the effects of the blast on life forms. Surprise, surprise, they die! Glowing leg of lamb anyone? This film will alternately amuse and horrify you at the rampant irresponsibility of the Soviets and Americans in their quest for nuclear domination. The Russians have the honor of having... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Peter Kuran DVD Release Date: Released the 15 April 1999 Usually ships in 7 to 12 days
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The Fog of War, the movie that finally won Errol Morris the best documentary Oscar, is a spellbinder. Morris interviews Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, and finds a uniquely unsettling viewpoint on much of 20th-century American history. Employing a ton of archival material, including LBJ's fascinating taped conversations from the Oval Office, Morris probes the reasons behind the U.S. commitment to the Vietnam War--and finds a depressingly inconsistent policy. McNamara himself emerges as--well, not exactly apologetic, but clearly haunted by the what-ifs of Vietnam. He also mulls the bombing of Japan in World War II and the Cuban Missile Crisis, raising more questions than he answers. The Fog of War has the usual inexorable... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): John F. Kennedy - Robert McNamara - Richard Nixon DVD Release Date: Released the 11 May 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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