Class of 1999 (1990) Lightning Pictures/Sci-Fi-Action RT: 99 minutes Rated R (language, strong graphic violence, attempted rape, drug content) Director: Mark L. Lester Screenplay: C. Courtney Joyner Music: Michael Hoenig Cinematography: Mark Irwin Release date: May 11, 1990 (US) Starring: Bradley Gregg, Traci Lin, Malcolm McDowell, Stacy Keach, Pam Grier, John P. Ryan, Patrick Kilpatrick, Darren E. Burrows, Joshua Miller. Box Office: $2.4M (US)
Rating: ***
I have to give the makers of Class of 1999 credit for doing something unexpected with this “sequel” to the 1982 cult flick Class of 1984. I use the word sequel in quotes because there’s no actual connection between the two movies other than the fact they’re both set in super-violent inner city high schools and directed by Mark L. Lester (Commando) returning to familiar ground to tell a violent sci-fi tale that proposes an extreme solution to the rising level of violence in schools.
In Class of 1999, the new principal of Kennedy High brings in cyborg teachers as a means of controlling the students, most of them involved with gangs. It sounds simple enough; they can teach the students AND enforce the rules of the school by any means necessary. Unfortunately, just like with any kind of machine, there’s always the possibility of some kind of malfunction. It goes without saying the so-called “super teachers” go haywire in a major way. It makes for a wonderfully entertaining B-movie that I saw with a couple of friends at a local theater on a dull Sunday evening (May 13, 1990). For a night out with the guys, how can you beat a movie with such an intriguingly junky premise? How can you not love a cast like this? There was no way that I was about to let this one get by, especially considering that it would likely be a “one-week wonder” just like most B-movies. It was.
Kennedy High School (“No automatic weapons allowed!”) is located right in the middle of a “Free-Fire Zone” which indicates an area the police will not enter. In the future depicted in Class of 1999, gangs have taken over areas around high schools in several major cities. In response, the Department of Educational Defense was created. They plan to re-open the closed high schools and control the gang problem with “tactical education units” (aka super-teachers) provided by Dr. Robert Forrest (Keach, Up in Smoke), the head of Mega-Tech (automation and robotics specialists). His engineers will control and monitor the actions of three cyborg educators: biology teacher Miss Connors (Grier, Jackie Brown), history teacher Mr. Hardin (Ryan, Death Wish 4: The Crackdown) and phys ed teacher Mr. Bryles (Kilpatrick, Under Siege 2).
As the movie opens, gang member Cody Culp (Gregg, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3) has just been released from prison on parole. He is required to attend school every day and avoid all gang activity which means he has to quit the Blackhearts. Kennedy has just been re-opened under the leadership of new principal Dr. Miles Langford (McDowell, A Clockwork Orange). He’s the one who commissions the cyborgs to deal with the gang problem. Cody just wants to keep a low profile, but quickly realizes something isn’t quite right with the new teachers. Bryles takes a real disliking to him after he saves the principal’s daughter Christie (Lin, Fright Night Part 2) from being gang raped by members of the Razorheads.
As expected, the robotic teachers do malfunction and start killing kids. Bryles breaks a boy’s neck and Hardin forces a drug called “Edge” down a young addict’s throat.
The intelligent cyborgs then come up with a plan to cause a war between the two rival gangs as a way of eliminating the worst students. It turns out they were originally built as weapons of war (super soldiers). Dr. Forrest simply made a few adjustments and sold them as super-teachers. Cody decides to fight back and tries to recruit members of both gangs to aid him in his efforts.
Class of 1999 is pure junk, but it’s the kind of junk you don’t mind watching. As silly as it is, there’s still a measure of intelligence to the story. It’s dumb, but it’s NOT dumbed down. The movie has priceless dialogue, an essential part of any respectable B-movie. My favorite line is when Cody says to Christie, “You really are the principal’s daughter, aren’t you? If you just opened up those suburban eyes, you’d see what’s going on!” Later on, Cody announces to his troops, “I’m going in there to waste some teachers – are you with me?” A member of the Razorheads says to Cody, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste – don’t make me waste yours.” How can you take something like this seriously?
Don’t even ask me about the performances. The actors knew what they were getting into when they read the script. There are plenty of cool action scenes as well as a generous amount of graphic violence. You can’t really analyze a movie like Class of 1999 too deeply. It’s the type of goofy exploitation movie where the term “it is what it is” is 100% accurate. It has a wicked sense of humor though. One of the characters dresses like Alex, the main character in A Clockwork Orange, a role played by McDowell.
Class of 1999 has a trashy appeal to it; I can’t fault any movie that wears its exploitation movie distinction like a badge of honor. It’s trash and proud of it.
