Class of (1999) Movie Review

Actually set in 1997, this loose follow up to Mark L. Lester's non-sf Class of 1984 shows teen gangs terrorizing the entire country. A desperate high school principal (Malcolm McDowell) reluctantly installs manlike robot instructors not phased by homeroom punks. But the machines are actually surplus military ‘droids (with rocket launchers in their arms), who go into full-combat mode at the flick of a spitball. Result is a violent, frankly amoral spectacle that makes vicious young thugs into heroes by default as they fight for their lives against their Terminator teachers. Undeniably exciting on a crude level. Class dismissed. Available in both R-rated and unrated versions.

1990 (R) 98m/C Bradley Gregg, Traci Lind, Malcolm McDowell, Stacy Keach, Patrick Kilpatrick, Pam Grier, John P. Ryan, Darren E. Burrows, Joshua Miller; D: Mark L. Lester; W: C. Courtney Joyner. VHS, Beta VES, LIV