Premiering May 19, Six Flags is giving you a history lesson on the rise of one of the biggest theme parks in the country, Chicago’s very own Great America. Make time during your trip to your park to take a video journey from 1985-1999 with the brand new, Screams and Dreams Volume 2.
With four screenings per day, you can take an insider look on what it took to run a theme park in the '80s and '90s. This Six Flags Great America retrospective takes you through the inception of current attractions like Raging Bull and Viper, while also giving you a look back at former coasters like Rolling Thunder and Iron Wolf. Screams and Dreams Volume 2 is a continuation of our popular look-back series with Volume 1 taking guests from 1975-1984.
This film screening is completely free with your daily ticket or Season Pass and is a must-see for theme park enthusiasts. Starting on the 19, screenings will occur four times per day at 12, 1, 3, and 4 p.m. Don’t miss out on your chance to look into Six Flags Great America’s past before boarding X Flight and getting a glimpse of Six Flags Great America’s future.
Damnit, I am just missing it!! I move the 19th. Anything could change from now till then but still sad haha Im very anxious to see footage from this time span, especially on the SWT section after Rolling Thunder in 1994/1995! Maybe someone will film it again haha
I liked volume 1 but it is a bit long and some parts are rather dull. They need to add more footage or actually talk more about the park instead of some random guy and his park memories.
I liked the first one, and I don't think anyone here will say that they didn't like it because we're a special demographic when it comes to this kind of stuff. However, it could have been better if it was more like a documentary. If perhaps they organized it chronologically and played the clips in a more appropriate order with better narration, then it would have been great. However, it's mostly just clips thrown together with some narration giving only basic explanations, and some interviews with prominent park personnel. This seems more like a piece thrown together by a high school student who waited until the last minute to do the project.
Say perhaps they started out explaining it from concept, through the design, then the building, and finally the first few years of operation. Then, they can show the clips at each point in the development with narration that gives more details about whats going on or how or why certain things were developed or placed in the locations they were. This I think would have been better. I saw this with my girlfriend today who is not a coaster enthusiast by any means, and she thought it was just a collection of clips with some brief background.
You have to remember that this park has changed ownership a few times, and management even more. Many of the people who may have run the park may not still be in this area, or may not have left on the best terms, or are dead. I'm sure they were not thinking back in the 70's and 80's about making a film about the park, so the producers probably did the best with what they were able to put together. I enjoyed it as it reminded me of being a kid...I grew up in Lake Villa, 15 min away, and can remember going to the park pretty often since 1981 or so. Looking forward to part 2.
GrtAmkid wrote:You have to remember that this park has changed ownership a few times, and management even more. Many of the people who may have run the park may not still be in this area, or may not have left on the best terms, or are dead. I'm sure they were not thinking back in the 70's and 80's about making a film about the park, so the producers probably did the best with what they were able to put together. I enjoyed it as it reminded me of being a kid...I grew up in Lake Villa, 15 min away, and can remember going to the park pretty often since 1981 or so. Looking forward to part 2.
That's true. You could tell that a lot of the videos they used were very likely from Youtube, and nothing was pure HD quality (I know it's a factor of the time those videos were shot in, but that's not what I'm ragging on). But they still could have utilized the clips they were able to recover better than they did.
Last edited by Luxornv on May 5th, 2012, 9:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.
CoasterDemon wrote:^Do you know where I can see the one from last year? I didn't see it...
You can see Volume 1 in the Pictorium. I guess it will play most likely on weekends until May 19th. I seen Volume 1 again TODAY! Some people left right away probably because they thought it was Volume 2.
"I've been staring at the world, waiting. All the trouble and all the pain we're facing. Too much light to be livin' in the dark. Why waste time? We only got one life. Together we can be the CHANGE. So go and let your heart burn bright"
I thought Volume 1 was very interesting, especially all the never before seen construction footage, and I'm glad they're continuing with Volume 2. Maybe they'll release all 3 volumes on DVD at the end of next year. And yes, when I saw the Screams and Dreams volume one poster on the Pictorium sign, I was worried they'd just be playing the same show the entire year. Glad I have this info.
Right off the bat (pun slightly intended) it goes into Batman the Ride, then strays off into entertainment before coming back to rides, then Fright Fest/LAFF, and ending with the three phases of Southwest Territory. It seemed rather disorganized compared to the first installment. There's alot more entertainment talk than the first (you will like this movie if you're a fan of such), and ride details are pretty brief (only construction footage is of Raging Bull), but it's still rather good and worth a watch or two.
It's not chronological, which makes it seem more "disorganized", but documentaries don't have to be since they broke it up by topic, instead of time like the first segment of the documentary.
They are also air conditioning the auditorium, whereas last summer they definitely were not doing so...
It's an cool documentary. I wouldn't mind buying all 3 in a dvd eventually. Now that Six Flags has a production company (as witnessed by this installment being attributed to it) we should see quality pick up some in the documentary and an actual dvd sold in the park hopefully.
*Shew* I remember being so excited, waiting in a 90 minute line on a hot saturday... and then *bang slam bang bang slam* all the way through the ride. Then I rode in once at Six Flags Over Georgia. Same thing. Then one time at Magic Mountain and for some reason, had a *fluke* of a good ride on it!
*Shew* I remember being so excited, waiting in a 90 minute line on a hot saturday... and then *bang slam bang bang slam* all the way through the ride. Then I rode in once at Six Flags Over Georgia. Same thing. Then one time at Magic Mountain and for some reason, had a *fluke* of a good ride on it!
No, Z Force was on it. It had maybe 3 - 4 minutes. Always sad I never got a chance to ride that ride. I was too scared to try any roller coaster when I was 12 sadly.