Die Klasse von 1999

In the 1982 cult hit CLASS OF 1984, the teachers were afraid of the pupils...or at least the punk ones. Eight years later, the tables turned with high-tech results.

In-between CLASS OF 1984, a kind of B-movie exploitation film about high school as seen in Orwellian terms, and its "follow-up" (not necessarily a sequel per se), 1990's CLASS OF 1999, the director of both, Mark L. Lester, had made forays into more mainstream film making with the better-than-average 1984 Stephen King adaptation FIRESTARTER, and the 1985 Schwarzenneger opus COMMANDO. Perhaps knowing that he was not ever going to be another Steven Spielberg (which is a fool's errand anyway), Lester decided at the tail end of the Eighties to revisit the high school theme of CLASS OF 1984. Not surprisingly, this meant reviving the same themes of extremely explicit violence, sex, and profuse profanity that characterized his '82 opus.

This time, however, he took it one step further.

The setting is Lincoln High School in the great Emerald City, Seattle. It is a place where even highly trained Seattle cops wouldn't set foot inside. But the new principal of the place, Dr. Miles Langford, portrayed by Malcolm McDowell (known for his role as Alexander DeLarge in director Stanley Kubrick's 1971 classic A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, one of those films that influenced CLASS OF 1984), has found a way to bring law and order and discipline. He has agreed to have a trinity of former military cyborgs serve as "educators". Unsurprisingly, the end result is typically over-the-top ultra-violent mayhem.

Needless to say, with CLASS OF 1999, we're not exactly talking about anything other than a cheesy bit of graphic, pre-CGI high tech violence. Still, Lester manages to get some good performances, not only by McDowell, but also by great actors of the previous two decades such as Stacy Keach, John Ryan, and Pam Grier, who might otherwise have totally embarrassed themselves. And as if that wasn't enough, CLASS OF 1999 manages to reference, among other films, THE ASPHALT JUNGLE, ROBOCOP, ROBOCOP 2, WESTWORLD, and even BLADE RUNNER. What else can it do? It's really nothing more than a higher-than-usually-budgeted violent B-grade film.

That said, as I did with CLASS OF 1984, I am giving CLASS OF 1999 a '7'-it is good for what it is.

If you've grown up with trashy no brainer films like this one and Lesters even poorer effort Commando, you'll love this. Its cheesy, over the top and light hearted enough to make for a great bored night in with illegal substances. The acting is hammy, the direction poor, but what saves this film is the exact things that make is a catastrophy. I mean, don't be expecting "Its a Wonderful Life" or "The Green Mile" when you watch this. Just expect a nice straight forward action flick about psychotic robot teachers. Everything about this film is great, its intense, dark and fun. Its not surprising to see people here have ripped it apart, but with a name like Class of 1999, what did you expect??

Summary: watch it for a giggle, its really not that bad.

It's the year 1999 and the violence in schools is virtually now unstoppable with many gangs contributing to the war zone look. To control this problem in a Settle High school, a principal gets help from the board of Government Educational defence and three disguised androids are sent there. They are no ordinary robots that are just there to teach, but they have strong disciplinary actions to keep these savage students at bay. Although soon the punishment that these androids hand out becomes brutal and they decide to terminate the main problem by playing games on the students.

Director Mark L. Lester returns here to provide us with a sequel to his cult classic "Class Of 84". This really isn't a direct sequel and it's not up to scratch with the first. The original is basically far superior in every way. Though, that's not saying it's worthless, because it's not. Trashy, incredibly dumb and over-the-top, but it surely was an entertaining B-grade Sci-fi. Even if the characters and plot seem to lose out to the violence and special effects. They are executed very well by fusing together plentiful action and chaos. Just like the first it doesn't shy away from graphic violence, but the realistic and exploitive touch of the first is lost on this occasion. While, the special effects are very well conceived in this low-budget production. The robot designs were crafted with great detail and skill. Another notable thing that makes this worth a peek is that of the cast. What a stellar line-up it does boast. You got Malcolm McDowell, Stacy Keach, Pam Grier, John P. Ryan, Patrick Kilpatrick and Joshua Millar appearing. Now the big question is how did these names get involved in the production? The characterizations are weak, but Grier, Ryan and Kilpatrick spice it up as the hell bent androids and Keach gives a deviously cheesy performance as the cynical Dr. Bob Forrest, the creator of these robots. The teenagers here are basically paper-thin and lack the menace. Bradley Gregg plays the hero, and that's a very wooden and unappealing one too.

The predictable premise is more concern about keeping the eyes entertained with explosions, gunfire and dazzling effects amongst an apocalyptic background. The satirical comments are there, but it just lacks the venom in the context and it doesn't have the hard ass poetry of the original. It takes a look into the future to see how the higher officials would cope with this problem and it shows the hypocritical reaction that now aggression is the best way to defeat this problem. Like others have mentioned it adds a pinch of "The Terminator", "Westworld" and "The Warriors" to the story's set-up and viola - you got "Class of 1999". The hammy dialog is bad and seems to be on pun overload; with something being mentioned every couple lines. Stacy Keach is the one that drums out the campy dialog beautifully, though. The humour too is terribly off the rocker. The soundtrack sticks with the punk scene and rock grunge, but it isn't so enforcing and catchy. Because of the budget it does have very grimy look that works in well with the flick. Director Lester constructed adequate suspense and paces the film rather smoothly, with enough neat flashes of gore in the mix. Overall, I was expecting something very weak, but hell this was one bone-rattling ride.

Maybe it's not as memorable, interactive and shocking as its great predecessor, but this kitsch sequel, which could possibly stand-alone. Hooks you right in because of the profound visuals and strong cast.

You don't get any more hammy than this. Amongst all the trash of straight to video releases, you ocassionaly find a concept like this. A guy walks out of prison, and heads back to school to find that cyborg teachers are taking the code of the classroom a little to far. Schools in many American districts are regarded as "Free-fire zones" and the police won't even intervene in the deadly gang warfare that ensues whenever school is not on. No one ever asks "Why do these kids even bother going to school", but at this point, who cares? This is a gritty view of the future, with the kind of ironic humour that has made Verhoeven millions, if he had directed this it would have been the next Robocop. The cast shine with the likes of Malcolm MacDowell, Pam Grier and Stacey Keach and in the leading role is charasmatic Corey Feldman-clone, Bradley Gregg. Everyone is having fun with this movie and it is this attitude that makes it so watchable. A pumping rock soundtrack including Nine Inch Nails debut single pads this out even further. Great lines ooze from the script; I'll leave you with one of my favourites: "I'm going to go waste some teachers. Who's with me!"

Recent teenage parolee Cody Culp returns to his anarchistic futuristic hood to find himself disgusted with his home life, alienated from his former gang(probably to his relief), and threatened by the school's newest bullies: three robotic teachers, implemented by the government to restore discipline, only consolation being his budding romance with the principal's daughter--perpetually gorgeous Tracy Lin. As always, whenever players take the material as seriously as these actors do, the potentially mediocre is propelled to a new level. The performance by vastly unappreciated and underused Bradley Gregg rivals that of the more experienced Ryan, Grier, and Kilpatrick(with McDowell typically good, but all too often idle).

I've always held that the reason there was and remains so much dissatisfaction with this movie is that too many people watched it with the wrong expectations. Preparing for some silliness and expecting some substandard effects is the starting point with one like this. Reason being: to get past the frequent implausibility is to put yourself in a position to recognize the uniqueness and innovation. Taking the deliberate cheese with a grain of salt, one can appreciate opportunities when it is earnest.

If anything truly hurts this movie, it's the boring pseudo-military battle scenes. They would have been wise to leave this stuff to the only films suited to do them properly--war films, but instead have introduced out-of-place time wasters in which neither side has evoked any sympathy anyway. That said, Class Of 1999 is still a shoulda-been camp classic not to be missed. Then again, should any movie featuring knockout Tracy Lin be missed?