Class 89

People complain about the lack of politeness and respect of today's youth, but then what to say about those darned 80's kids? If you believe those early 80's exploitation movies, all American high schools were breeding grounds for bloody gang wars, drug-dealing, senseless violence, sleaze and mindless vandalism. Of course, they made cheap and grisly exploitation movies about pretty much everything during the early 80's, so I'm not quite sure if they qualify as socially relevant and accurate. These films are, however, guaranteed adrenalin-rushing entertainment! There are the modest cult classics like "Class of 1984" and "Savage Streets", but there definitely also are a couple of well-hidden gems like for example "The New Kids", "Massacre at Central High" and this "3:15". These movies can all be described as much cooler and darker variations on dull stuff like "Stand and Deliver" or "Dangerous Minds". So what if these kids have great intellectual potential? They're scum and only good to destroy each other, yeah!

"3:15" – that title alone I find tremendous – has a pretty solid plot and a downright fantastic opening half hour. The police (led by the marvelously skeptical Lt. Moran) and Principal Horner of the Lincoln High School team up for a large-scaled anti-drug operation, with as a main intention to arrest the members of the feared Cobra gang. The success of the bust is minimal, but the aggressive Cobra leader Cinco wants revenge nevertheless and picks out Jeff Hannah as a scapegoat. Jeff is a former Cobra member who turned his back on drugs and violence, but now Cinco spreads the word throughout the entire school that he turned into a police informant and that he has to pay for that. The ultimate confrontation between Jeff and the Cobras will take place at – you guessed it – 3:15.

The film can rely on good casting choices and an effectively sinister ambiance. The Cobra gang members are convincingly menacing and creepy. They're scum who harass everybody in school and beat up the weaklings. The school surrounding itself is a nicely grim and uncanny location as well. The walls are full of graffiti (a LOT of graffiti), the teachers are corrupt and there are rotten apples left, right and center. The set- up is truly atmospheric and plausible, but "3:15" inevitably also suffers from quite a bit of shortcomings. There are a couple of typically 80's and clichéd redundant interludes, like the romance elaboration and the song with the deeper meaning lyrics illustrating the tension between 3pm and 3:15pm. Some things in the screenplay also don't make 100% sense. For example, you would think that Jeff receives a little help from all his friends and school admirers, like the Afro- American guys in their GI Joe outfits, the Oriental dudes with their martial arts tricks, but in the end nobody moves a muscle. So, yes, admittedly the finale is a bit disappointing in case you are expecting a gigantic high school massacre as well. In spite of not really being known, "3:15" has quite a bit of good and familiar faces in the cast. Adam Baldwin is quite impressive in the lead role, but especially the smaller supportive roles are worth mentioning here in this case. Ed Lauter is terrific as the cynical police captain and Rene Auberjonois is even better as the sleazy school principal. Cult fanatics with a sharp eye will definitely recognize the ravishing Gina Gershon in one of her very first roles (as one of the docile Cobra members' girlfriends) and maybe even notice the small cameo appearance of Wings Hauser as the father of Jeff's goody-two-shoes girlfriend Sherry.

This title was banned in Queensland, so it must be good! 3:15 (rated R in Australia) is a tense little pot-boiler set at a typical American high-school. The characters and acting help to pull the cliched story line together, which is also true of its cinematic cousin SAVAGE STREETS (cut heavily in this country). There are also some unintentionally funny 1980s dialogue, fashions and attitudes as well. The violence is not as brutal as I expected, but it fits with the tone of the piece. Try to spot Dean Devlin and Gina Gershon. Definitely worth a rental. I wish there was a DVD release.

Sick of fighting the most feared member of The Cobras, Jeff Hannah, leaves the gang for good. However, a year later the leader of The Cobras is due to be released from prison and threatens to kill Hanna and those around him for his disloyalty.

Opening with a fight on the street it begins as a gang film in the vein Savage Streets, The Warriors and Band of the Hand, however, it quickly becomes a typical 80's trend high school gang film reminiscent of Class of 1984, but without much teacher involvement.

Larry Gross' offering oozes 80s grime, with its real locations and Gary Chang's music and score; but Sam Bernard and Michael Jacobs' basic High Noon story is quite plodding to a well deserved climatic showdown. Also while it has a gritty inner-city look, in contrast it sometimes has a visual suburban John Hughes feel. Casting director Valorie Massalas deserves a nod, with the leads played by 20 somethings in truth 80s fashion, something I genuinely love about these films made at the time.

Adam Baldwin's performance stops it falling into forgettable obscurity as he tries to forget his gang past but learns he has to confront it put it behind him. Baldwin is a solid lead in what is a heavy handed violent teen film from Gross with rape, fights, knife slashing and a shooting as strict Rene Auberjonois and nonchalant Ed Lauter as Moran talk Baldwin's Jeff Hannah into cleaning up the school. The cast is chockfull of familiar faces including, Danny De La Paz whose Cinco character pushes the Highnoon-like narrative, Dean Devlin, Deborah Foreman, stunning Wendy Barry, Lori Eastside, Deborah Foreman, Mario Van Peebles and also Gina Gershon pops up.

Overall, it's interesting 80s nostalgia and at times hard hitting, but only held together by Baldwin.

Adam Baldwin of "My Bodyguard" fame is front and centre as Jeff Hanna, a former teen gang member who goes straight, taking his studies more seriously and having some success as a player on the school basketball team. But his old associate Cinco (Danny De La Paz, "Miracle Mile") continues bearing a lethal grudge against him. When the scheming principal (an effectively weaselly Rene Auberjonois, 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine') and a sardonic, cynical cop (an amusing Ed Lauter of "Death Wish 3") orchestrate a massive drug bust, Cinco decides to lay all the blame at Jeffs' feet, and he and all of Jeffs' former buddies are determined to punish him. They intend to have a big fight at the title time of day.

"3:15 the Moment of Truth" has its moments, but in truth it might have had more with a better script and better direction. As it is, it's watchable enough, but mostly what it does is under-utilize a solid cast that's been seen to greater advantage in other things. There's violence aplenty without much gore, and overall this offers some fun for devotees of gang films and stories of crime & violence in schools. At least the pacing is sufficient enough to have this move along without any meandering; the film wraps up in a tidy 86 minutes. The characters don't have a lot of depth, but they're set up adequately; for one thing, you do dislike the antagonists enough that you wait for the inevitable moment of their comeuppance.

Baldwin does a decent job in the lead, while the luminous Deborah Foreman ("April Fool's Day") is once again irresistible as his concerned girlfriend. De La Paz is not a particularly menacing presence physically, but he gives a good performance nonetheless. A steady parade of familiar faces turn up in roles big and small: Scott McGinnis ("Joysticks"), Bradford Bancroft ("Bachelor Party"), Wayne Crawford (who'd co-written the popular 80s romance "Valley Girl" that co-starred Foreman), Lori Eastside ("Get Crazy"), Panchito Gomez ("Borderline"), Mario Van Peebles ("Exterminator 2"), future big time screenwriter / producer Dean Devlin ("Independence Day"), John Doe ("Road House"), Gina Gershon ("Bound"), and future director Rusty Cundieff ("Fear of a Black Hat").

Worth it for a decent finale where Jeff employs a "divide and conquer" strategy to defeat Cinco and pals, and for the very enjoyable soundtrack.

Six out of 10.

I put this one right next to other take place in crime ridden LA 80's Grindhouse flicks such as Tuff Turf, The Principal, Savage Streets, Angel, Hollywood Vice Squad, Avenging Angel, Vice Squad, etc