Class Action Park

"Class Action Park is a true Crime Story" give or take a direct quote from the trailer for this documentary. Now I don't know how I was supposed to be left feeling after viewing this. Some will be filled with anger towards the park and park director and what follows. But I also think this glorified the park and most will be filled with nostalgia and a eagerness to go to Action Park even if that is impossible in this age. The latter is how I felt. I felt that the negatives were even somewhat talked about in a positive way. 80% of the time everyone was smiling and happy even in the sad parts. Might have just been me though but sign me up for a season pass. If you want to learn about Action Park watch this but you aren't missing anything.

Let's get the obvious out of the way - do NOT watch this before going on vacation. As a documentary, it's just OK, but the events discussed here are absolutely mind-boggling. It's practically impossible to comprehend what was allowed to happen at Action Park, and it's equally unfathomable to understand why anyone would frequent this place considering its reputation and the fact that PEOPLE HAVE DIED HERE. You know, life is too precious to risk life and limb by testing a shoddy water slide for a hundred bucks. As angry as I was at the people responsible for Action Park, I found myself just as angry at the people who stood in line and made it popular. The film itself is very one-sided, which is the kiss of death for a documentary. There's a lot of placing blame and not a lot of accepting responsibility. It all gets to be a little monotonous after a while, and, with the exception of a couple scenes, I felt like it takes the subject a bit too lightly. It's definitely worth a look - there were times my jaw was practically on the floor. But, again, don't watch it before vacation.

Back in 1990, I was taking a bunch of summer camp kids on a day trip to Action Park. Being from the UK, I'd never heard of the place or even the concept of a waterpark. It didn't take me long to discover that Action Park was possibly the greatest amusement park on the planet. I was so in love with it that at the end of summer camp, I drove back down there and landed a job as a lifeguard, which by all accounts wasn't a difficult feat.

So, yes, this documentary was an immense nostalgia trip for me and when I heard rumors and later saw early previews, I became incredibly excited for the release. My only fear was that it would disappoint and fall flat, as these things so often do after you've built them up in your mind and romanticized the memories.

Fortunately, my fears were completely unfounded. This documentary absolutely nails it, from the content to the commentary, from the crazy risk of the rides to the ultimate reward of immeasureable fun. Chris Gethard provides a fun, familiar and accurate historical narrative blended with contemporary perspective, which asks in hindsight, how this was allowed to go on for so long!? Other talking heads with first hand experience enrich the story with extraordinary tales of their own. And there's plenty of archive video footage to send you right back to the 80s and 90s.

If you weren't "lucky" enough to be embedded in this wacky world, you'd be forgiven for thinking a pinch of salt is required when listening to some of the anecdotes but from my own time working at the resort over the course of several seasons, I can testify to the complete credibility of the Action Park story as presented here. Working on the Tarzan swing, I'd need to rescue ten or more kids a day who despite the warnings, "the water is ice cold... if you're not an excellent swimmer, do not attempt this ride", would happily risk death and launch themselves into the abyss. Then there were the others who were too scared to let go and would swing back into the platform.

My favorite quote that sums up the entire film is "this was the last decade of unsupervised fun for kids". There is inevitable tragedy in this account of a legendary waterpark that simply couldn't exist in given today's standards for safety. For a "survivor" like myself, it raises the philosophical question, "Sure, we live in a safer world but at what cost"?

I liked this documentary but the commentary from Chris Gethard was utterly obnoxious and distracting with his over the top storytelling and constant use of f bombs, it was driving me up a wall. I do agree with others that it is kind of an unusual way in which they have portrayed the park. It seems like a total nostalgic throwback about how cool the park was and how crazy it was that a bunch of kids ran it and how things were out of control but less about the actual tragic incidences at the park. One mother spoke about losing her son and how Gene is an awful person but that was really the extent of that. The documentary otherwise was about the staff experience. Still enjoyed it but not necessarily what I expected.

The underlying tone of this documentary is summed up in "it's funny, but like not". The first hand stories told are so wild they almost seen unbelievable. A really captivating documentary that's well put together in both footage and interviews.