Closed for Storm is a documentary about Six Flag’s handling of their New Orleans park in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The film premiered in 2021. Released by the popular Youtube channel Bright Sun Films and was directed by Jake Williams. With Stunning visuals and Sound, we think as long as you are in the target audience, you will love Closed for Storm.
Closed for Storm: The Basics
The film opens by telling the story of how Jazzland came to open. Then mostly tells the chronological experience of how it happened. Getting eventually to the many, and ongoing attempts to revive this Abondanded Time Capsule.
Closed for Storm is for two kind of viewers.
I believe Closed for Storm is looking to entertain two types of viewers. Firstly, the most obvious one is those that watch their Youtube channel already. Those that love watching abandoned places get explored. As of this writing, their YouTube Channel has 1.1 million Subscribers. They know their fans will be on board for this. Secondly, The other category would be more in my taste, which is people obsessed with Theme Parks. If you like either of those two types of material then more than likely you are going to enjoy Closed for Storm.
What we liked!
The visuals really pop! Bright Sun Films is known for its haunting beauty of abandoned places. So that being amazing in this doc isn’t surprising. However, what did shock me was how great the music was!
Matthew Jordan Leeds is responsible for the great soundtrack. His melodies help underscore the tragedy of this. On a technical aspect, this film is just so impressive. In everything visual and audio this doc shines through.
Some of the best material is all the early footage of Jazzland. So not only is their own footage great but the footage pulled from other sources really enhances the story.
Any issues?
It is just criminally too short. I find it hard to qualify any movie under 90 minutes as a feature-length film. Closed for Storm clocks in only at 77 minutes. Also, there is quite a bit of what I would consider being filler to pad its running time. Mostly this is around the devastation around Hurricane Katrina.
If the film wasn’t talking about the Theme Park I would get a little bored. Since that is what I purchased to watch. There was particularly one long stretch where they are trying to set the scene of what New Orleans was like in the aftermath of Katrina. Getting back to Six Flags instead would have been more compelling.
Final Verdict
Closed For Storm was a very good documentary. The biggest complaint being it wasn’t long enough. I could have really gone for more footage of them walking around the current state of Six Flags New Orleans. But if your biggest complaint is you wanted it longer then that is a good indication of the quality of the film. I highly recommend it to Theme Park enthusiast and to those that love looking at abandoned places. Because of these reasons, on a scale of one to ten Closed for Storm get an eight.
Thanks for reading!
You can purchase or rent Closed for Storm wherever Videos are streaming on demand. Have you watched Closed for Storm? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. Also if you have any questions about the film post that as well. Lastly, you can follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/themeparkcoastercrazy/
Roller Coaster Credit: Coaster Slang