Closed for Storm

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The Movie G @RT51924612 Jun 19, 2024 Really interesting doc on the Six Flags that closed because of Hurricane Katrina and never reopened now it's a ghost town amusement park. See more Jeff M @jeffmarshallmovieblogger Jan 21, 2024 As soon as this uninspired, dull as dishwater documentary ended, I thought to myself that this felt like one of those cheap YouTube documentaries with stock footage and computer-generated narration. Lo and behold, I find out that director Jake Williams is listed as "YouTube creator" on Google, so my immediate reaction was spot on. I obviously feel horrible for those affected by Hurricane Katrina and the employees of the amusement park who lost their livelihoods, but sympathy doesn't necessarily equate to compelling filmmaking. There is nothing here that warrants anything more than a 20/20 or Dateline segment. The interviews are generic, much of the Hurricane Katrina coverage feels like stock footage and, with the exception of the hurricane itself, there is nothing extraordinary or dramatic about this story. The park opened, Six Flags bought it, the hurricane hit and Six Flags opted not to re-open. That's it. No scandals, no juicy behind the scenes details, nothing. There's nothing much more to say. There's not even many thrilling scenes of roller coaster rides. I love a good documentary, but this is definitely not one of them. See more Arthur L @RT07455365 Aug 11, 2023 No point and so boring See more Mar 1, 2022 Wonder surrounding the pending fate of the notoriously abandoned amusement park will find clear answers and sympathetically further devastation, including unknown consequential insight towards the community and affected land, successfully poised in gaining support for a proper revival and push for the still unspoken truth. (B+) See more the s @The_Stranger Feb 8, 2022 I love a good documentary. Unfortunately, this isn't one. The trailer made it seem interesting but the film itself is an incongruent mishmash of random pieces thrown together that doesn't really tell much of a story and doesn't know what it wants to say. It's starts off well enough, telling the history of the Ill-fated ‘Jazzland,' a New Orleans themed amusement park which was the result of over a decade of planning and work with the greatest of intentions. From there, the story moves to where the park was bought out by Six Flags and revamped to be more successful (and more appealing) from a business standpoint. See where this is going? By August of 2005, the park was successful but was (with the rest of New Orleans) in the path of Hurricane Katrina. From there we see some stock footage of the damage from the hurricane, some news clips of the storm and interviews about the aftermath. Here's where it falls apart. The film takes a very cavaliere approach to the park in contrast to the massive amount of damage and the toll of human lives. It feels weird to even be watching the story lamenting a closed park (where the employees and owners managed very well financially afterward) juxtaposed against a backdrop of a story with such a massive loss of life and health and livliehood. Nearly 2,000 people died and the story is focusing on how an amusement park shut down and lamenting the loss of rides and entertainment at a time when people literally had no place to lay their heads at night and lost all of their belongings. From there, the story dissolves into a lot of boring interviews about bureaucracy and local government and chapter 11 bankruptcy and theories about the parent company not doing the right thing for the wrong reasons. And then it feels very much like a promotional video for NEw Orleans tourism and the need for a replacement for the park. The interviews are boring and don't provide any real interest to the story, boring anecdotes from one guy who operated rides and another who worked in some unknown capacity at the park. I'm the middle there is some very You-Tubish explorer footage of someone exploring the park and showing the flood damage. Viewers would honestly do better to watch the videos on YouTube about the park and the damage afterward. Ultimately it just feels very tone dead against a background of a city that became a cemetery for the lives lost during Katrina and a handful of people lamenting the loss of an amusement park amid all of that. Very strange to me. See more Dec 23, 2021 Closed for Storm is just another example of how the bureaucracy of major corporations and government often leave citizens to pick up the pieces when hard to handle situations surface. It's hard to believe that it has been 15+ years since Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc on the New Orleans area. It's even harder to believe that there are places like the former Six Flags New Orleans (Jazzland Park) that have sat untouched for the last decade and a half. Walls caked with mold, buildings graffitied, ride vehicles stripped of anything valuable, towering rollercoasters that look like they could collapse at any moment, and a sign that has fittingly read "Closed for Storm" have remained in place for the last 15 years. These are just some of the disheartening images Closed for Storm features. In Closed for Storm, several people were interviewed about the abandoned park, each one nostalgic for what once was and what could have been. You can't help but feel the disappointment in a number of the interviewees' tones when it came time to talk about the redevelopment, or lack thereof, of the property. As mentioned, we see bureaucracy show itself near the end of the film when plans for redevelopment of the area appears to leave out the voices of the citizens of East New Orleans and ultimately leave them with no real resolve. Not only was it sad to see the archived footage of people's homes destroyed in 2005, but it was just as sad seeing this same area struggling to bounce back all these years later. The citizens of East New Orleans were promised increased property values and a Disney-like atmosphere, but instead, they were left with views of an abandoned amusement park and a never-ending cycle of unimplemented redevelopment plans. The Film: Closed for Storm is filled with aerial shots of the the former Six Flags New Orleans property, stitched together with home videos from the early 2000s. Much like Bright Sun Films' YouTube videos, we get an inside look at several of the abandoned buildings and observe the damage that Mother Nature has done. Promotional videos are the perfect touch for viewers unfamiliar with the park's significance or history to understand the importance of the former Jazzland. Like the sign that reads "Closed for Storm", the park is frozen in time with several of the office calendars still showing August 2005 as today's date. In Closing: If you have ventured to this film from Bright Sun Films' YouTube page, you're a fan of theme parks, or you familiar with New Orleans/Jazzland history, then this film is perfect for you. For those of you who may not understand the history of Six Flags New Orleans, I would still highly recommend Closed for Storm. The film pieces new footage with old footage in a way that tells a proper story of the park and its history. -The Documentary District- See more Read all reviews

Closed for Storm

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