Customer Reviews

Punishment Park - Dual Format (Blu-ray+DVD) [Masters of Cinema] [1971]

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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.

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.

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.