Class of 1984 (1982)

Also known as "Guerrilla High"
Overall Score: 7 out of 10

"We are the future!... and nothing can stop us."

Starring: Perry King, Merrie Lynn Ross, Timothy Van Patten, Roddy McDowall, Stefan Arngrim, Michael Fox, Keith Knight, Lisa Langlois, Neil Clifford, Al Waxman, Erin Flannery, David Garner, Steve Pernie, Robert Reece, Joseph Kelly, Elva Mai Hoover, Vincent Abbatino, Evan Green, Linda Sorensen

Director: Mark L. Lester

Running Time: 94 minutes

US MPAA rating: R
UK BBFC rating: 18
Action, Drama, Thriller

On DVD

On DVD

Fresh out of smalltown Nebraska, idealistic music teacher Andy Norris (Perry King) arrives for his first day at the inner city Abraham Lincoln High School, and almost immediately clashes with Peter Stegman (Timothy Van Patten) - drug dealer, racketeer, pimp, psychopath and pupil. The lawsuit-wary headmaster (David Garner) always gives the students the benefit of the doubt, the juvenile officer (Al Waxman) has his hands tied by ineffective laws, and Stegman knows exactly how to play the system to his own advantage. Yet as Norris keeps interrupting the criminal activities of Stegman's gang, and - even more gallingly - refuses to let Stegman play in the school band, the tension between them mounts, until Norris' pregnant wife Diane (Merrie Lynn Ross) is drawn into the conflict, leading Norris to decide it is time that Stegman and his delinquent friends be taught a hard, hard lesson.

From 'Goodbye, Mr Chips' (1939) to 'To Sir, With Love' (1967), from 'The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie' (1969) to 'Stand and Deliver' (1988), from 'Lean on Me' (1989) to 'Dead Poets Society' (1989), and from 'Dangerous Minds' (1995) to

DVD Extras: Restored print; scene selection; 5.1 surround sound; trailer; TV spot; full audio commentary by director/co-writer Mark L. Lester (moderated by Perry Martin from Anchor Bay), mentioning that it was filmed in a real Toronto school and was "the first picture to use punkrock costumes", that the piano piece played by Timothy Van Patten was his own composition, and that Al Waxman's dialogue was based almost verbatim on an interview with a real juvenile officer - Lester also discusses some of the cuts made to the film and the changed ending (Stegman commits suicide in the original version), and declares "this is the most perfect film I could make" (!?!). Perhaps his forthcoming 'Pterodactyl' will prove him wrong.
Version reviewed: Class of 1984 (Warner Home Video)
Extras: 7 out of 10

It's Got: A title track, 'I am the Future', composed by Lalo Schifrin and sung by Alice Cooper; a motley crew of "psychotic little misfits", including the drugged-out one, the lard-assed one, the slutty one, and the chain-wearing one; a weird blend of po-faced social commentary and reactionary vengeance-mongering; and Michael (later 'J.') Fox's breakthrough role as a weasely trumpet player in the school band.

It Needs: To be remade post-Columbine (as Mark Lester has said he would like to do) for a cinematic experience that would be even more crass and tasteless.

Alternatives: 'Blackboard Jungle', 'One Eight Seven' 'The Principal', 'The Substitute', 'Kids', 'Fudoh: the New Generation', 'Class of 1999', 'Class of 1999 II: The Substitute', 'Battle Royale', A Clockwork Orange

Summary: Whether for its eighties nostalgia, or its absurdly reactionary violence, this is one guilty pleasure that still makes the grade. Overall Score: 7 out of 10

Review Date: 12th July 2005