The Atomic Cafe

Newly re-released for a 20th anniversary edition, filmmaker Kevin Rafferty's (Blood in the Face, Feed and The Last Cigarette) 1982 documentary--co-directed with Jayne Loader and Pierce Rafferty--has admittedly lost some of its g-force over the years. At the time of its initial release, Ronald Reagan was president, Cold War tensions were simmering, and it was followed within a year by the controversial made-for-TV film The Day After, which offered a disturbing reality check about life after a nuclear bomb blast. The Atomic Cafe takes its cue from Dr. Strangelove with its darkly comic manipulative montage of those civil defense films, military training films and newsreel footage meant to help American citizens learn to stop worrying and love the bomb. From the Trinity test and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to "duck and cover" drills, the film plays like, as one critic called it, "the nuclear Reefer Madness." While the filmmakers may not always play fair (one clip featuring Hugh Beaumont of Leave It to Beaver is good for a laugh), this is war, and all is fair in love and… Recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (K. Lee Benson) [Blu-ray/DVD Review—Jan. 1, 2019—Kino Lorber, 88 min., not rated, DVD: $24.95, Blu-ray: $29.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 1982’s The Atomic Café features a great transfer with a DTS-HD 5.1 soundtrack on the Blu-ray release. Extras include a collection of government propaganda films from the Prelinger Archives (197 min.), audio excerpts from Jayne Loader’s 1995 CD-ROM project 'Public Shelter' including interviews, speeches, and a radio drama (78 min.), and a Filmwax radio interview with filmmakers Loader, Kevin Rafferty, and Pierce Rafferty (27 min.). Bottom line: an excellent edition of this seminal documentary.]