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Product Description
Both controversial and relentless in its depiction of suppression and brutality, Punishment Park was heavily attacked by the mainstream press and permitted only the barest of releases in 1971. However, like Haskell Wexler s Medium Cool (1969) and Robert Kramer s Ice (1969), Peter Watkins film has established itself as one of the key, yet rarely seen, radical films of the late 1960s/early 1970s. Giving voice to the disaffected youth of America that had lived through the campus riots at Berkeley, the trial of the Chicago Seven and who were witnessing the escalation of the Vietnam War, Punishment Park was named by Rolling Stone as one of their top ten films of 1971 and has earned many admirers in the four decades since its release.
Set in a detention camp in an America of the near-future, Punishment Park s pseudo-documentary style (continuing Watkins subversive innovations with Culloden and The War Game) places a British film crew amongst a group of young students and minor dissidents who have opted to spend three days in 'Bear Mountain Punishment Park'. The detainees, rather than accept lengthy jail sentences for their 'crimes', gamble their freedom on an attempt to reach an American flag on foot and without water through the searing heat of the desert. The pursuit of Group 637 a lethal, one-sided game of cat-and-mouse with a squad of heavily armed police and National Guardsmen is contrasted with the corrupt trial of Group 638 by a quasi-judicial tribunal.
Unlike Easy Rider s mythologising of American counter-culture, Punishment Park s uncompromising stance, and its uneasy parallels with Guantanamo Bay, retain a powerful and prescient message in the post-9/11 present.
Rarely seen in the UK, The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to celebrate Punishment Park's 40th anniversary with its first ever release on Blu-ray.
SPECIAL DUAL FORMAT EDITION FEATURES:
Set in a detention camp in an America of the near-future, Punishment Park s pseudo-documentary style (continuing Watkins subversive innovations with Culloden and The War Game) places a British film crew amongst a group of young students and minor dissidents who have opted to spend three days in 'Bear Mountain Punishment Park'. The detainees, rather than accept lengthy jail sentences for their 'crimes', gamble their freedom on an attempt to reach an American flag on foot and without water through the searing heat of the desert. The pursuit of Group 637 a lethal, one-sided game of cat-and-mouse with a squad of heavily armed police and National Guardsmen is contrasted with the corrupt trial of Group 638 by a quasi-judicial tribunal.
Unlike Easy Rider s mythologising of American counter-culture, Punishment Park s uncompromising stance, and its uneasy parallels with Guantanamo Bay, retain a powerful and prescient message in the post-9/11 present.
Rarely seen in the UK, The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to celebrate Punishment Park's 40th anniversary with its first ever release on Blu-ray.
SPECIAL DUAL FORMAT EDITION FEATURES:
- Newly restored high-definition transfer (shot on 16mm, Punishment Park has been remastered from a new 35mm print struck from the restored 35mm blow-up negative held in Paris)
- 30-minute video introduction by Peter Watkins
- Full-length audio commentary by Dr. Joseph A. Gomez (author of the 1979 book Peter Watkins)
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- 40-page booklet with two essays and reprints
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Peter Watkins is a legend, pure and simple - Back in the '60s when Television was purely a linear medium, Watkins was one of the first to attempt to subvert it with CULLODEN and THE WAR GAME, juxtaposing the anachronism of a modern TV crew at the eponymous battle in the former and showing the grim realities of Nuclear War with the latter. PUNISHMENT PARK was his first American feature, a "mockumentary" (perhaps the first of it's kind) that details a grim future where subversives and dissidents considered beyond rehabilitation are sent to a tract of desert to find a flag, whilst being pursued by the full brutal might of the police force. In today's society, scribbled-over with softly-softly approach censorship and oppression, Watkin's film seems like a story that has again become relevant, even though at the same time it's mired in the era of Abbie Hoffman and Vietnam.
Watching these intelligent and introspective "rebels" being hunted by Police raises your hackles and thanks to Watkin's talent for putting you right "in the thick of it" it achieves it's goals of peeling away the rancid myth of the "American Dream" and what America can truly do when the Hornet's Nest has been stirred... shades of the Occupy movement of 2011, which shows that rebellion and the means to crush it never goes out of style. Kudos to Masters of Cinema for re-releasing the film in Dual Format and HD at such a relevant time, so I'm overjoyed to trade in my old DVD only release for this new version - extras are still as excellent as ever by the MOC gang, the same goes for the booklet as well.
Name one other film that you can actually feel PROUD of owning and watching this year, and you might find yourself mistaken. Modern filmmaking often attempts to dum itself down, this film reminds you of a time when films tried to build your intelligence up.
Watching these intelligent and introspective "rebels" being hunted by Police raises your hackles and thanks to Watkin's talent for putting you right "in the thick of it" it achieves it's goals of peeling away the rancid myth of the "American Dream" and what America can truly do when the Hornet's Nest has been stirred... shades of the Occupy movement of 2011, which shows that rebellion and the means to crush it never goes out of style. Kudos to Masters of Cinema for re-releasing the film in Dual Format and HD at such a relevant time, so I'm overjoyed to trade in my old DVD only release for this new version - extras are still as excellent as ever by the MOC gang, the same goes for the booklet as well.
Name one other film that you can actually feel PROUD of owning and watching this year, and you might find yourself mistaken. Modern filmmaking often attempts to dum itself down, this film reminds you of a time when films tried to build your intelligence up.
Amazon Verified Purchase
If you are into political cinema of the late 1960's/early 1970's like Pontecervo's "Battle of Algiers", Wexler's "Medium Cool" or the films of Costa-Gavras, this film is a must have. But I'd rather comment on the BD release than on the film.
The Blu-ray offers slightly, but not that much better quality than Eureka's DVD. (Though it looks much better than the US DVD release.) As this package contains both versions, you can easily compare. The master is definitely the same, and "additional restoration" is nowhere to be seen. The Blu-ray has the same ugly spots and specks during the reel changes as before. You get a new booklet, but why there hadn't been any time invested in improving the film's look puzzles me. I owned the US DVD before, so there was a leap forward for me, but if you own the Eureka DVD already, you might end up being rather disappointed.
The Blu-ray offers slightly, but not that much better quality than Eureka's DVD. (Though it looks much better than the US DVD release.) As this package contains both versions, you can easily compare. The master is definitely the same, and "additional restoration" is nowhere to be seen. The Blu-ray has the same ugly spots and specks during the reel changes as before. You get a new booklet, but why there hadn't been any time invested in improving the film's look puzzles me. I owned the US DVD before, so there was a leap forward for me, but if you own the Eureka DVD already, you might end up being rather disappointed.
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
Bought this film as remembered seeing it back when it first came to the cinema. I remembered it as a great film that shocked me at the time........Oh how disappointed I was when watching it this time around ~ it bored me silly!! Funny how the old memory plays tricks;I should have stayed with my memories.
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