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Punishment Park

Punishment Park (1971)

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 1
Fresh: 1 | Rotten: 0

audience

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Average Rating: 4.1/5
User Ratings: 2,826

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Movie Info

While Peter Watkins' films of the 1960s reflected the political turmoil and tumult of that decade, 1971's Punishment Park offered a disturbing look at the backlash against leftist activism which emerged in the wake of such events as the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago and the shootings at Kent State University. Set at some unspecified point in the near future, Punishment Park was inspired by a provision of the 1950 McCarran Internal Security Act, which gives the President of the United

R,

Documentary, Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Classics

Nov 22, 2005

Chartwell Films

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All Critics (15) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (9) | Rotten (0) | DVD (13)

Shot during the post-Kent State "law and order" election of 1970, Punishment Park can seem so outrageous as to verge on camp, but few other movies capture so painfully the rhetoric and desperation of the times.

May 11, 2010 Full Review Source: Village Voice
Village Voice
Top Critic IconTop Critic

an extraordinary film - provocative, incendiary and deeply depressing. Go out of your way to see it and spread the word, while you still can without being arrested.

August 3, 2007 Full Review Source: Eye for Film
Eye for Film

A wooly curio.

December 30, 2005 Full Review Source: Film Threat
Film Threat

a troubling document from a time when the country seemed about to tip into chaos

November 22, 2005 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com
Filmcritic.com

Punishment Park is told in the pseudo-documentary style that defines most of the obscure body of work by British filmmaker Peter Watkins.

November 14, 2005 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine

The film is as widely applicable to our own factious state of the union as it was to that of America in the 1970s.

June 21, 2005 Full Review Source: Not Coming to a Theater Near You
Not Coming to a Theater Near You

Watkins' convincing cinema-verite style contradicts what we know is an historical untruth

April 22, 2003 Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews
rec.arts.movies.reviews

It is a polemic exercise between the Left and the Right, with no room for the middle point of view.

April 22, 2003 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Audience Reviews for Punishment Park

one of the best political films from the turbulent period of leftist activism of the late 60s and still just as relevant today, what with guantanamo bay still open
December 27, 2007
rubystevens
Stella Dallas

Super Reviewer

Peter Watkins is a director who's intentions are clearly good and he has thing or two to say about human rights, but Punishment Park is so aggressive with it's delivery that it is nearly unbearable to watch. Watkins feeds his political opinions about 70's America with huge spoon and that is kinda insulting towards viewer. You could also say that this is the worst kind of communist-propaganda. Every right-winged character in this film is portrayed as a monster, and while Watkins do have some good points, he still is not in a position to judge people this harshly. There should always remain a open dialogue about all these issues, but this is completely wrong kind of approach to talk about those things. This is just pure childish rage from Watkins.
June 17, 2009
emilkakko

Super Reviewer

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Foreign Titles

  • Punishment Park (1971) (DE)
  • Punishment Park (1971) (CA)
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