Class of 1999 Reviews

In 1982, Mark Lester directed a bland, punk-rock, blood-and-guts update of THE BLACKBOARD JUNGLE called CLASS OF 1984. Inexplicably, the film received a fair amount of critical praise, paving the way for this lame follow-up. Not so much a sequel as a reworking of old nonsense, CLASS OF 1999 is a thuddingly dull B movie that borrows its few thrills from other, more satisfying films. In the America of 1999, certain parts of the country are practically lawless and youth gang activity has all but closed down the nation's schools. In response, the government concocts an experimental approach to secondary education, to be tested at Kennedy High, located in a virtual war-zone of gang activity in Seattle. The school, now staffed with android teachers, is re-opened under the supervision Dr. Bob Forrest (Stacy Keach); all is well until the teachers (who were programmed by the military) begin to discipline their charges with too much vigor. One of the students is Cody Culp (Bradley Gregg), a paroled gang leader who is trying to clean up his act. He befriends Christine (Traci Lin), the daughter of the school principal (Malcolm McDowell), and eschews gang activities, thus becoming an outcast. Soon, the gangs unite in all-out war against the cyborgs, and it all climaxes in the school with a final showdown between Cody and the battle-crazed Dr. Forrest.