I'm not rating the videos within the film with a ten out of ten; they are disturbing, inaccurate propaganda used to keep US citizens unaware of the horrifying effects of nuclear fallout and "the bomb". During the Cold War many countries lived in fear of the bomb, and with the internet today, online communication and truths being exposed, we know enough not to be fooled by propaganda... right? Well, I'll tell you one thing, all that "go green" environmental anti-pollution stuff all over movies, TV and the news right now is all propaganda.
What Atomic Cafe does with these old videos of nuclear testing, mushroom clouds and the portrayal of Japan and Russia as evil monster countries is gather them into a shocking and powerful collection of real propaganda that was seriously aired on the radio and on TV during the 40's and 50's.
One of the more disturbing ones is where a cheerful man casually dresses his little boy in a safe-suit and tells him to "hurry and not be late getting to the air raid shelter!", waving goodbye with extreme nonchalance as his kid rides off on a bike. Atomic Cafe shows the corrupt politicians and soldiers in power, some seriously messed up cartoons done for children on the bomb, the racists who discuss the natives of Bikini Island as if they're sub-human and too dumb to understand the destruction of their once-beautiful island, and then there's the disturbing song and full-color cartoon about radioactivity "blowing commies into the ground". A woman claims communism is better in a hypothetical situation and is then degraded by three men (feminism wasn't even a movement back then).
To understand just how sadistic, disturbing and frightening these video clips are, you'll have to watch this movie yourself. Just remember that this was all from an era where science was the new solution to all issues, and that things today are very different... and be very, very grateful you live in an era of technology but also very wary of what other propaganda is right in front of your eyes in the modern society.
What Atomic Cafe does with these old videos of nuclear testing, mushroom clouds and the portrayal of Japan and Russia as evil monster countries is gather them into a shocking and powerful collection of real propaganda that was seriously aired on the radio and on TV during the 40's and 50's.
One of the more disturbing ones is where a cheerful man casually dresses his little boy in a safe-suit and tells him to "hurry and not be late getting to the air raid shelter!", waving goodbye with extreme nonchalance as his kid rides off on a bike. Atomic Cafe shows the corrupt politicians and soldiers in power, some seriously messed up cartoons done for children on the bomb, the racists who discuss the natives of Bikini Island as if they're sub-human and too dumb to understand the destruction of their once-beautiful island, and then there's the disturbing song and full-color cartoon about radioactivity "blowing commies into the ground". A woman claims communism is better in a hypothetical situation and is then degraded by three men (feminism wasn't even a movement back then).
To understand just how sadistic, disturbing and frightening these video clips are, you'll have to watch this movie yourself. Just remember that this was all from an era where science was the new solution to all issues, and that things today are very different... and be very, very grateful you live in an era of technology but also very wary of what other propaganda is right in front of your eyes in the modern society.