Class of 1999

I remember watching it on SKY (satellite) at about 1.30 am, and being amazed by what i saw.A film that had good characters, a good story line and cool visual affects, a class flick! And nothing has changed, except for the fact that there have been better films made since then. Bradley Gregg playing Cody Culp was for some reason a character that i wanted to be because he was a thug and considered cool. I liked the relationship he had with his former gangmembers and his enemies the RAZOR HEADS! (classic names) Stacey Keach played the "mad proffessor" down to a T, as if it was written exclusively for him. surprisingly this is the best film i have seen Patrick Kilpatick play in, EVER! Pam Grier's role was fine but should have been played someone else.(Sharon Stone) Mr HARDY was a scream, a classic bad guy if ever i saw one. The ending could have been a bit better though. "I was there, he was so wasted he would'nt have known which end the bullets come out!" one of my favourite lines, all in all a great film which had a few surprises which were all enjoyable. 7/10

Thanks for reading.

The setup: Robot teachers have been secretly placed in the schools where the students have run riot. The teachers do a good job of controlling the unruly youngsters, until they go too far and some students get suspicious.

The verdict: It is plagued by plot holes and inane dialog. Actually, the movie itself is nothing that special, but it has some good stuff. It is a pretty unnecessary film. If you are looking for a good movie with good acting this might not be for you. While this isn't a great film by any means, it is entertaining. It is difficult to watch and has no shortage of abuse and neglect.

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.

In 1999 (I think) things have gotten so bad that as a last resort, robots have been brought in to teach students. This is all thanks to Bob Forrest (Stacy Keach) who hopes that he can sell his robots to other problem ridden schools, however when the robots (John P. Ryan, Pam Grier and Patrick Kilpatrick) starting killing students for being late and start pitting gangs against each other, it's up to Cody (Bradley Gregg) to reunite the gangs and waste the "George Jetson nightmare!" Also the robots have killed his brothers and kidnapped his girlfriend Kristi (Traci Lin) so Cody's looking for revenge in this exciting and admittedly silly actioner. There are few genres that amuse me more than deadly teachers whipping bad kids in shape. The Principal, Substitute movies and so forth are sources of guilty pleasures, Class 99 is no different, since the androids are played by cool actors such as John P. Ryan, Pam Grier and Patrick Kilpatrick. The teenagers themselves don't really convince as punks but there is lots of action and it's all directed with the most possible gore, this was after all from Mark L. Lester (Commando and Showdown In Little Tokyo) so despite the obvious fact that this movie is even more poorly made than it's own sequel (Which stars Kickboxer 2's Sasha Mitchell) the fact is that this far more entertaining and is perfect for those who hate teenagers and want to see them get disposed of in the most grisly way. I for one find that to be great entertainment.

3/5 Matt Bronson

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.