Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Pam on February 07, 2000 at 21:51:16:

In Reply to: Re: Liquid Sky. posted by AudioHead on February 07, 2000 at 11:33:08:

Atomic Cafe is made almost entirely of clips of old army training films, historical footage, propaganda and pop newsreel clips... most is B&W but some parts are color. It's put together really well and is both amusing and biting commentary on the idea of nuclear survivability. Having grown up at ground zero (well close to SAC anyway) in the 50's I found the bits with the "duck and cover" techniques followed by clips of the destruction from military test cameras in their mock cities particularly amusing (remember I thought crawling under my desk was pretty pointless even when I was in second grade). While the thing is totally different than most movies in that there are no main characters or plot, the juxtaposition of contrasting images and campy nostalgia was so well done that I'd rate it higher than any hollywood flick I've seen in the last decade, though it is a bit like comparing apples and watermelons (all of my friends loved it too). Both it and the 1984 release of Metropolis belong on any sci-fi lover's shelf. See also the reviews at Amazon.com