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Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786302703788
Format: Black & White, Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
ISBN: 6302703786
Label: First Run Features
Manufacturer: First Run Features
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: First Run Features
Release Date: October 16, 2001
Running Time: 86 minutes
Sales Rank: 1017
Studio: First Run Features
Theatrical Release Date: 1982
Related Items:
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
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Superb Look at the Dark Side of the Fabulous 50's
If you're of a certain age, you'll recall duck-and-cover drills when your teachers told you to slide under your desk, face away from the windows, and cover your head. These exercises were practice, just in case the Soviet Union decided to drop an atomic bomb or two while you were learning your times tables. This was the 1950's, a time of nationwide paranoia about the Bomb.
"The Atomic Cafe" is a wonderfully nostalgic, often hilarious documentary about those days when the government produced ... Read More
Rating:  - cold war paranoia
I am a little too young to have experienced the "duck and cover drills", and it was interesting and sad to see what Americans put themselves through because of their fears back in the 1950s. I only gave the film 3 stars because of a terrible animal abuse scene (pigs) and because of that I won't watch it again.
Rating: - No narration necessary
The filmmakers were wise not to do a voiceover here, as none was needed. The images and clips speak for themselves. Sometimes you will laugh, but the laughter will stick in your throat. If you think the fearmongering, propaganda, and outright fabrications sound familiar, they should. The Cold War has simply been updated for our times.
Rating: - Fabulous summary of the nuclear illusion
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 ... Read More
Rating: - One of the best documentary films of the cold war
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 ... Read More
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Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786302703788
Format: Black & White, Color, Original recording reissued, NTSC
ISBN: 6302703786
Label: First Run Features
Manufacturer: First Run Features
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: First Run Features
Release Date: October 16, 2001
Running Time: 86 minutes
Sales Rank: 1017
Studio: First Run Features
Theatrical Release Date: 1982