Class of 1999 [Region 2] (16:9 Version)

Bradley Gregg ( Stand By Me ) stars as Cody Culp. After a stint in prison he comes out with a changed attitude which his gang ( The Blackhearts ) don't appreciate. His little brother Angel is finding Cody's " gone-good " behavior sickening and it causes a little riff between the two. Meanwhile the principal ( Malcolm McDowell ) has hired Stacy Keach and his menacing teachers to clean up the terrible school. How can they? Well, the three new teachers ( Pam Grier and Patrick Kilpatrick included ) are nothing more than fururistic killing robots. Soon all order is lost as they slowly go on a rampage and make Cody their number one target. Along with the principal's daugher, Cody partakes in a mission to stop the evil robots ( are you laughing yet ) you should be. Anyway, all heck breaks loose by the end of the film when The Blackhearts team up with their rival gang to stop the robots. The film goes from a wannabe " Lean on Me " to " Terminator " in less than an hour. If you get lost don't worry because the plot is to blame. If you like Sci-Fi I guess you can squeeze this into your regime. If you can't tolerate silliness at all then don't bother to watch this. But if you're an all around movie lover like me who just likes to watch films at least once...go right ahead. But don't be surprised when you feel like a train's run over your sanity by the end. Enjoy.


Class Of 1999   July 14, 2003
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

Mark L. Lester's 1989 sci-fi/action film about a futuristic high school where groups of gangs wearing some of the goofiest clothes imaginable run areas surrounding high schools. These areas known as "free fire zones" are run exclusively by the gangs. In Seattle, a principal of one of those schools hires a defense department operative to build "cyborg teachers" to maintain order in his classrooms.

One of the gangs is lead by Cody Culp (played by Bradley Gregg of "Stand By Me" fame), a freshly-paroled gangbanger hoping to go straight and stay out of trouble. The rival gang is lead by Hector (Jimmy Medina Tagert), a Hispanic thug looking to take out his agressions on Cody. This film features performances from such cult favorites as Pam Grier, Stacy Keach, Malcom McDowell, and Patrick Kilpatrick.

I first saw this movie on HBO when I was eleven-years-old and I really enjoyed it. It's really just an old-fashioned over-the-top science fiction movie. It doesn't exactly stand up to the test of time in some areas but it's still good for a few laughs and has some of the better special effects you will see from that era of movies.

A definite "guilty pleasure" by all means but still thoroughly entertaining. A film with a similar theme, THE FACULTY, was released in 1998. The movie is similar in theme though the teachers are aliens, this time, instead of cyborgs. Not half as good and way too commercial but I will admit that Josh Hartnett kicked [tail] in it (though he's no Bradley Gregg). If you've seen "Faculty", why not go and pick up this little cult film and see if you like it.