Filmmaker Mark L. Lester has sure made a name for himself in cinema world, mostly being movies from the 1980s. He gave us some of the most homoerotic action films from that time, including 'Commando' and 'Showdown in Little Tokyo' to name a few. 'Class of 1999' is no different either and is a sibling sequel to his film a few years beforehand in 'Class of 1984'. With '1984', you had a new teacher come to a violent high-school where most of the kids are in gangs and try to make a difference. Things get out of hand for sure.
When we cut to 'Class of 1999', the same kind of setup is provided, but this time the gangs of kids are forced to deal with new teachers that are actually robots hellbent on not just teaching lessons, but taking lives too. You can see the similarities between 'Robocop', 'Westworld', 'Terminator', with a little 'Fury Road' throughout the film as a recent student named Cody (Bradley Gregg from 'Stand By Me'), who has just gotten out of jail and wants to change his ways, enters the high school with the new teachers who are in fact robots that look human.
These robots, played by Patrick Kilpatrick, John P. Ryan, and Pam Grier don't mess around and are not above beating students bloody, killing them, and in some of the more homoerotic scenes - spanking them hundreds of times in front of people. Don't get me wrong, these high-schoolers need discipline, but to what ends? The students must band together and fight these robot teachers, while trying not to kill each other. The nostalgic 80's wardrobe, one-liners, practical effects, and feel all comes to light in this one movie. It's a trip down memory lane and is still quite fun to watch, even if the whole story and premise is over-the-top and ridiculous.
The film always sticks to its guns and goes all the way, never afraid to turn away to violence or even its cheesiness. This is what the early 80's thought the future was going to be like as far as education and students go, which needless to say, they had no faith in us. It also gives us a satire on how far should the government and private companies go in showing discipline at schools. 'Class of 1999' is sure as hell entertaining, even to this day, and has some fun cameos, including Stacy Keach and Malcolm McDowell. The practical effects of the robots and gory wounds all look excellent with no sign of CGI yet. I still love this film.
When we cut to 'Class of 1999', the same kind of setup is provided, but this time the gangs of kids are forced to deal with new teachers that are actually robots hellbent on not just teaching lessons, but taking lives too. You can see the similarities between 'Robocop', 'Westworld', 'Terminator', with a little 'Fury Road' throughout the film as a recent student named Cody (Bradley Gregg from 'Stand By Me'), who has just gotten out of jail and wants to change his ways, enters the high school with the new teachers who are in fact robots that look human.
These robots, played by Patrick Kilpatrick, John P. Ryan, and Pam Grier don't mess around and are not above beating students bloody, killing them, and in some of the more homoerotic scenes - spanking them hundreds of times in front of people. Don't get me wrong, these high-schoolers need discipline, but to what ends? The students must band together and fight these robot teachers, while trying not to kill each other. The nostalgic 80's wardrobe, one-liners, practical effects, and feel all comes to light in this one movie. It's a trip down memory lane and is still quite fun to watch, even if the whole story and premise is over-the-top and ridiculous.
The film always sticks to its guns and goes all the way, never afraid to turn away to violence or even its cheesiness. This is what the early 80's thought the future was going to be like as far as education and students go, which needless to say, they had no faith in us. It also gives us a satire on how far should the government and private companies go in showing discipline at schools. 'Class of 1999' is sure as hell entertaining, even to this day, and has some fun cameos, including Stacy Keach and Malcolm McDowell. The practical effects of the robots and gory wounds all look excellent with no sign of CGI yet. I still love this film.