Action Park: À vos Risques et Périls

Growing up going to Action Park, this place was definitely unsafe. This documentary nails it, and I was fortunate enough to be young enough to be too scared to do some of the crazy acrobatic stunts teenagers would be doing. All in all, I recommend this documentary to get an inside perspective of a kid/teenager growing up in NJ during the 80's and early 90's.

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.

From the late 1970s to the mid 1990s, entrepreneur Gene Mulvilhill ran his own water park in Vernon, New Jersey called "Action Park". Often known as the most dangerous water park in North America, the park was known for its casualties as it was known for its bizarrely constructed rides. It was so controversial that it led to a documentary called "Class Action Park", which details the history before the park was even opened, its runtime, and the aftermath. Described mostly from the people who either attended or worked at the park, this might be one of the more fascinating amusement park documentaries out there.

As this park was known for its recklessness, the documentary details how much the owners utilized that as a gimmick, from the insanely designed rides injuring attendees to even the employees joining in on the reckless behavior. All of this was because "uncle Gene" was fulfilling his dream of creating his own fun-filled utopia without any rules. Many of his frankly crooked schemes would include engineering rides that sometimes wouldn't even make it past the testing phase, daring kids to ride these unsafe rides with money, and not even reporting on any action no matter how deadly. And yet, all this mayhem was what drove people to the park given how much freedom they had around the parks in the first place; everyone interviewed in the documentary has a story to last a lifetime. Probably the more fascinating stories come from the former employees, who were mostly dumb juvenile teenagers with little concern for morality and would spend their time drinking and partying more than anything. If that lifestyle doesn't sum up teen life in the 80s, let alone in New Jersey, I don't know what does.

In terms of filmmaking, a good chunk of the footage is older stock material of the park itself, which helps put into context just how crazy the park really was in terms of its lack of rules or unguaranteed safety. Considering a lot of the attendees were the youth or young adults, one could almost cringe at the sight of these people going around these parks despite not caring for their overall safety. In addition, some of the more painful slapstick moments are shown in animated form, which only adds to how cartoony a lot of the antics behind this park really were. In a way, the documentary is both a recap of the general events that went on in the park's runtime, and an 80s teen movie meets a gritty horror movie. Two of the interviewees who went to the park, comedian Chris Gethard and actress Alison Becker, even pointed out how much the Jersey-bravado motivated the people wanting to get hurt for fun on the ludicrous rides. But even then, they got to enjoy the rides in hindsight, compared to people who actually died at the park, which would become the park's ultimate downfall.

So in the end, not only is Class Action Park an intriguing documentary that showcases the fascination nostalgia can bring back to an adult, but it's also a reminder of how what you once thought was fun was really more of a miracle you even survived such a wacky ordeal. It's ok if some things are just left as a memory, because there's no way you'd want to revisit near death anytime soon. If you're still on board to check this documentary out, it's on HBO Max just waiting for you. It may make you cringe, it may make you feel unsettled, but it will never stop shocking you, like the park did to people for 18 long years.

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.

This is better than I was expecting. Very funny and unbelievable in parts. Not documentary of the year by any means, but very entertaining.

The ending reveals dark consequences for all the unruly fun.