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Reviews
American Experience: Radio Bikini (1988)
Remake of a much better title.
In 1982, the excellent "The Atomic Cafe" was released. That movie succeeded both as an informative documentary and as an offbeat comedy. The horrible destructiveness of the new atom bomb was balanced by the likable goofiness of the American public at the time, and the result was an entertaining and thoughtful treatment of the subject.
The makers of Radio Bikini evidently felt that Cafe needed to be re-released with all of its entertainment value stripped away and replaced with lots of graphic footage of ugly details and government mistakes. It starts with footage of Americans celebrating the surrender of the Japanese and the end of WWII, but for some reason this sequence is set to a funeral dirge. This dreary, overlong sequence sets the tone for the rest of the film. Pompous political speeches, graphic footage of animals being locked down for blast tests, an interview with a dying man... the only thing that keeps it from being preachy is the muddled presentation of the material.
This movie is a pointless, tedious remake of a much better film. Do yourself a favor and rent "The Atomic Cafe". Don't waste your time on this one.
The Time Travelers (1964)
Work! Work! Only 59 days left!
There are a zillion B&W sci-fi cheapies out there, and every one is somebody's favorite. This is one of mine.
Scientists working on a time-camera experiment discover that it's actually a portal. They step through it into the far future, where remnants of a high-tech civilization battle troglodytes for survival. The cave-dwelling good guys and their androgynous androids are engaged in a desperate race against time to build a rocket to take them away from the ruined Earth. Our time travelers fall in with them, fall afoul of them, fall in love with them... well, you know.
This movie is one of those irresistible gems where the real battle is between energetic actors, imaginative directors, and talented technical people who toil fearlessly against a low budget and cheap sets. But if you're a fan of the genre, give this a watch. You'll thank me.