A strong sense of nostalgia for the freedom of the ’80s permeates almost every inch of Class Action Park, a new documentary on HBO Max that chronicles the rise and fall of New Jersey’s infamous Action Park, which opened in 1978 and was one of the first modern water parks in America but is now known for being the site of multiple deaths, countless injuries, and a number of lawsuits that eventually forced it out of business in 1996.
For anyone who grew up in that time period, or even the early ’90s, the 90-minute film is a trip down memory lane. You can practically smell the chlorine and feel the sun-baked pavement burning the soles of your feet. Ghosts of adrenaline rushes that accompanied terrifying trips down water slides are everywhere as the film uses old park footage, ’80s-era advertisements, and first-person interviews with former park employees, guests, and local residents from Vernon Township to paint a vivid picture of teenage existence at the time. Nearly all of the doc’s subjects recall, with some kind of giddiness or excitement, their own adventures or near-misses at the park, as well as the lawlessness that essentially made it the Wild West of water parks.
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But because anything and everything went at Action Park and rules barely existed, if they existed at all — teens were essentially running the place, rides were wild and dangerous, and most, if not all, were designed without consulting engineers or the slightest concern for safety — the park was essentially a death trap. The knowledge that multiple people died and many more were injured and the park kept operating is threaded throughout the film and pierces through the facade of a carefree existence to remind us all that while we like to romanticize the ’80s as a perfect time to be a teen, one in which the world was safer and parents trusted their children, the truth is often far from that.
Class Action Park
Much of the story of Action Park is told the same way you might recall your own adventures in teenage dumbassery: with a kind of bravado that you and your friends did something very stupid and very dangerous and lived to tell the tale. It’s a bit like watching MTV’s Jackass – you know things are going to end badly but you can’t help but be enthralled by the madness of it all (it’s no coincidence that Jackass‘ Johnny Knoxville made a feature film inspired by Action Park, 2018’s Action Point). But the film takes a somber turn about an hour in and closes out its unbelievable story with interviews with the family of George Larsson Jr., the first person to die as a result of Action Park’s disregard for safety. There’s an obvious disdain for the park’s founder, Gene Mulvihill, a larger-than-life figure who started out a scammer on Wall Street before getting into the amusement park business where he broke countless laws in order to keep Action Park running, including creating his own insurance company out of the Cayman Islands since no one would insure him or his ridiculous creations.
But for most of its running time, Class Action Park reminisces about a time that has long since passed, and in doing so, walks a fine line between showcasing the sheer insanity that made the park legendary for local teens and reminding viewers that the excitement many had there also hides a horrifying past. I don’t know if it’s necessarily a good film — it probably glosses over more than it should given the severity of the situation — but I can tell you it is a fascinating must-watch that will likely only contribute to the park’s lasting legacy.
Class Action Park is now streaming on HBO Max.
