Damn, that looked like the Mega Drop ride I rode at the fair a couple years ago, only with no brakes. Those poor people!

If nobody's been on one, what it does is takes you up the pole, to the top, which seems like about 15 stories up. You sit there in suspense, then the platform is released and you drop like a rock to almost bottom, where the brakes are applied, making it a soft landing. BTW, that looks like anything but a soft landing. :Q