We Found Where You Can Watch The Amarillo Film ‘Plutonium Circus’
Plutonium Circus is a mock documentary made "highlighting" the debate over Pantex in Amarillo. Released in 1994, and winner of an award at an Austin film festival, the film attempts to make its point using "unique" characters, and its own brand of dead-on-arrival humor.
Of course, it is available on YouTube and I watched it. I wanted to love it. I wanted to, but...
My opinion: Plutonium Circus sucks. Even as a spoof-documentary, it's hard to watch. The jokes just aren't funny. There is nothing to grab you and keep you watching. It was a first-time film-maker's first project, and it shows.
Maybe it was just a bit too ambitious. One critic related it to Dr. Strangelove, which I think is a bit lofty and is almost an insult to Kubric.
I sat through the entirety of the "documentary," waiting for a brilliant punchline or an awe inspiring moment where the greater message suddenly decided to shine through. Neither one of those things happened.
I'm not alone in this. The film has an IMDB page (which means you can now play 'Six Degrees To Kevin Bacon' using Stanley Marsh The Weirdo) where the only comment is pretty much a giant "WTF is this giant stink bag of a movie?!"
It just isn't good. The film feels more like a home movie filled with schlock than a project with a cohesive point. At times, it feels more like a commercial made for Cadillac Ranch.
Perhaps the film is more of an inside joke between friends than a piece meant for mass consumption.
If you feel like training yourself to survive CIA levels of psychological torture, feel free to sit through this travesty of a film.
Otherwise, leave it to rot in cyberspace.
I wish I could get my time back. I could have been huffing non-toxic glue and had a better time.