The Telegraph (UK) by Sukhdev Sandhu 8th July 2005:  "It's unlikely that any film released in 2005 will rival PUNISHMENT PARK for its combination of political urgency, blazing moral ardour and formal guile. Peter Watkins is a remarkable director, whose visionary films deserve - no, need - to be far better-known: this stupendous, earth-scorching missive is one of his very finest."  Read full review

Philadelphia City Paper by Sam Adams 14th July 2005:  "The loving (DVD) treatment given this incendiary, unforgettable film is cause for outright celebration."  Read full review

Time Out London 6th July 2005:  ****  "Fascinating, gut-wrenching and thought-provoking filmmaking."  Read full review

bbc.co.uk by Matthew Leyland 1st July 2005:  ****  "Made in 1971 as a response to the social upheavals of the late 60s, the film feels just as shockingly relevant today."  Read full review

The Guardian (UK) by Peter Bradshaw 8th July 2005:  "Like Watkins's classic THE WAR GAME, this is satire of the most intimately powerful sort."  Read full review

Not Coming To A Theater Hear You by Leo Goldsmith 19th June 2005:  "The film persistently works the raw nerves of its participants and elicits from them arguments and statements that are alternately impassioned, absurd, hysterical, and even caricatured.  (It) is a direct, but wholly earnest provocation, an incitement to discourse that is incendiary only to the extent that it draws various political and social factions into a hitherto non-existent place for debate."  Read full review

DVD Savant by Glenn Erickson 2nd May 2005:  "Today, PUNISHMENT PARK still plays like an open flame in a fireworks factory."  Read full review

eye Weekly (Toronto) by Jason Anderson 12th February 2004:  ***  "Vilified for its portrayal of an America where anti-establishment longhairs are imprisoned in camps and shot for sport, 1971's PUNISHMENT PARK is one of the most incendiary documents of radicalism ever made. Watching it now, it's hard not to think of the decision to declare the captives at Guantanamo Bay 'unlawful combatants' so as to exempt them from the Geneva Convention."  Read full review

Uncut (UK) by Tom Charity:  ****  "This is a valuable opportunity to explore the work of one of the most overlooked, but important, film makers of his generation."  Read full review

The List (UK) by PaulDale 7th July 2005:  *****  "PUNISHMENT PARK is seminal political cinema of the highest order." 

Village Voice by Michael Atkinson 6th December 2005: “Shot like most of Watkins's films as a fake documentary, the movie might be the most radioactive portrait of American divisiveness and oppression ever made. The impassioned cast was largely unprofessional and, in fact, largely conformed to their radical-victim/reactionary- monocrat roles; often, it's less a narrative than a democracy-in-crisis street fight.  The DVD extras are awesome.”  Read full review

San Antonio Express-News by Michael Barrett 30th November 2005:  "A bracing paranoid fantasy, a Molotov mockumentary, a science fiction satire and a brutal thriller; this astonishing movie could only have been made in 1970, though its issues aren't dated."

Londonist by Mike Atherton 18th July 2005:  "The film provides a fascinating window into the politics of 1970's America, but also resonates with today's climate - coming out of the screening everyone seemed to be talking about Guantanamo this and Patriot Act that..."  Read full review

Toronto Star by Geoff Pevere 24th March 2005:    "While there's no escaping either PUNISHMENT PARK's polemic intent or Watkins' own radical sympathies, what's most impressive about the film is the logic with which it points to a conceivable immediate future."  Read full review

Reel,com by James Emanuel Shapiro:  "What makes Watkins a truly significant political filmmaker is not just his ability to convey a concise and creative message—that is as relevant today as it was 30 years ago—but his ability to transcend the very genre, mockumentary, he is working in and provide viewers with a remarkable cinematic experience."  Read full review

Premiere by Tim Sheridan February 2006:    ****  "This exemplary piece of agit-prop cinema was released in 1971, and it retains all of its crackling energy and ability to provoke.  The film is truly satisfying thanks to Joan Churchill's visceral handheld camera work, the frenetically unnerving editing, and the often startlingly believable and largely improvised performances."

Slant Magazine by Jeremiah Kipp:  "PUNISHMENT PARK is a tough film for tough viewers, and the rare political film that allows the audience to draw its own moral distinctions rather than rhetorically spoon-feed you.  We'll see if modern audiences can handle that kind of challenge.  Watkins inherently seems to believe they can, as long as they're willing to seek it out.  Here's a movie well worth tracking down."  Read full review

Baltimore City Paper by Brett McCabe 16th November 2005: “What makes Punishment Park so arresting is how amazingly well it has aged…  Watkins maintains this dizzying, absurdist outrage for the movie’s entire 88 minutes, and come its disturbingly logical close, it feels less like an artifact from the paranoid ’70s and more like a screaming warning for where we might be headed.”  Read full review

Blogcritics.org by Jesse Trussell 18th December 2005:  “Watkins' filmmaking is visceral and moving. I can't imagine an audience that could have no reaction to the film. His verite camera, as well as the voice of the TV crew director from off-screen, always put you close to the action, frequently too close in a way that becomes increasingly uncomfortable as you go along. His cinema is highly experiential. This film is a major find.”  Read full review

Willamette Week by David Walker 7th December 2005: “With terrifying ease, Watkins and his cast of unknown actors blur the line between what is real and what is false, creating a film of such stark realism it is easy to be fooled into thinking you're watching an actual documentary. But even more unsettling than the levels of reality the film emulates and honest emotion it conveys is how relevant it remains today. Panned by many critics for the way it portrays American politics, Punishment Park died a quick, painful death at the box office when it was briefly released in 1971. It has remained largely unseen, until now. But now, over 30 years after it first came out, Punishment Park stands as the most politically provocative release of 2005.”  Read full review

Santa Barbara Independent by Matt Kettman 19th January 2006: “Punishment Park is everything it’s advertised to be: disturbing, thought-provoking, at times irritating, and undeniably powerful.”

Rasputin Manifesto (San Francisco) by David Bassin February 2006:  "What sets PUNISHMENT PARK apart from other films of its ilk is the sense of realism that is pervasive in every frame.  Very early in, I forgot I was watching a piece of fiction and completely bought into the premise as something entirely real and plausible, especially given the circumstances surrounding the Bush administration's atrocities in Abu Grhaib during the past year.  Something else that's unique about the DVD, is the 28-minute introduction by the director, as he describes the making of the film and the movement to stifle distribution following its release.  It's both fascinating and horrifying to hear how afraid and angry people became after viewing it back in the day, but at least it's finally available to the general public.  Highly recommended."

Turner Classic Movies  by Paul Sherman  "PUNISHMENT PARK may be the boldest cinematic depiction of the polarization within American society during the Vietnam War.  In 2006, the battle between national security and civil liberties that rages in PUNISHMENT PARK does not seem dated at all.  Then again, most of Watkins' movies are eerily prescient and still totally relevant."  Read full review