Class of 1984
by Mark L. Lester
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Merrie Lynn Ross, Perry King, Roddy McDowall, Stefan Arngrim, Timothy Van PattenDirector: Mark L. Lester
Brand: STARZ HOME ENTERTAINMENT
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.77:1
Running Time: 98 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2006-02-21
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
Movie Reviews of Class of 1984
Movie Review: This ain't no after-school special, that's for sure
Summary: 5 Stars
Class of 1984 is an amazing film with the power to shock audiences even a quarter of a century after its release. I mean, this film is fearless, brutally honest, and disturbing on several levels. It's easily the most intense high school film I've ever seen. Its depiction of violence and crime in the schools has been called prophetic - and for good reason: teachers powerless to control their students, administrators unwilling to take charge, cops hamstrung by witnesses too intimidated to talk and "slap on the wrist" laws for even the most dangerous of juveniles, security guards patrolling the corridors, metal detectors at the doors, and so much more. Class of 1984 was a wake-up call that has yet to be answered all these years later.
One can only hope and pray that no public high school today is remotely like Lincoln High. When tough guy Peter Stegman (Timothy Van Patten) boasts that he runs the school, he means it. When he's not thumbing his nose at authorities or having fellow classmates assaulted, Stegman runs a bona fide criminal network, pushing drugs, pimping prostitutes, you name it. He and his gang of fellow hoodlums (including one sadistic girl) answer to no one inside or outside the graffiti-marred walls of the high school. The only person with the guts to stand up to them is, of all things, the new music teacher. Andrew Norris (Perry King) makes himself Stegman's Enemy Number One the very first day - and that initial skirmish soon, and inevitably, turns into all-out war. If there was ever an army of one, it is Andrew Norris. The principal gave up long ago, choosing to keep looking the other way as his school comes crashing down around him. The only other faculty member we get to know is biology teacher Terry Corrigan (Roddy McDowall), a broken man who relies on alcohol to get him through each miserable day. And the cops are impotent to act time and again because no witnesses are brave enough to talk. Even a young Michael Fox (sans the J. in this early role) is afraid to speak up, even after one of his friends comes to a bad end, courtesy of Stegman's illegal drug emporium.
Norris is no saint, mind you. When he's falsely accused of physically attacking Stegman, he goes a little bit off the deep end, giving the punk a strong dose of his own medicine. That's when things turn dangerous. A good thrashing is soon the least of Norris' worries, as his friend Corrigan cracks up completely, one of the few good students in the school is stabbed in the middle of the cafeteria, and no one in a position of authority is prepared to do anything at all to restore order. All the while, Norris is increasingly baited and taunted by Stegman's gang. The stage is now set for the film's rather shocking last 15-20 minutes, which begins with a surprisingly disturbing attack and just gets more and more intense from that point on. If you thought all high school orchestra performances were mind numbingly boring, you haven't seen Class of 1984; no one remains seated when this show ends.
I wasn't expecting the kind of violence this film unleashes toward the end. Although it registers much lower on the shock meter now than it did back in 1982 (one of the screenwriters, Barry Schneider, was so offended by it he had his name removed from the credits), the level of violence may turn a few people off - although I can't see how anyone can consider it unjustified.
What I found truly surprising, though, was the quality of the acting. Timothy Van Patten as a ruthless gang leader? I was expecting to devote at least a full paragraph to some good old-fashioned mockery. And Roddy McDowell? He's never been a favorite of mine, but he was incredible in this movie. Even Perry King delivered in a big way. Every which way you look at it, Class of 1984 is just a great movie.
Summary of Class of 1984
Drug Dealing. Gang Beatings. Prostitution. Animal Slaughter. They're all part of a typical day for the students of Lincoln High. Into this academic abyss arrives Andy Norris (Slaughterhouse Five's Perry King) an idealistic and na=EFve music teacher who has moved into the community with his pregnant wife Diane. Appalled by the crime-infested school Norris soon crosses sabers with its teenage kingpin the shrewd and sadistic Peter Stegman (The White Shadow's Timothy Van Patten). With Norris setting his sights on reforming Stegman and the young miscreant declaring war on his teacher the duo sets a fateful showdown into motion on the night of an important school orchestra performance. Directed and co-written by Mark L. Lester (Commando Firestarter) CLASS OF 1984 is one of the seminal cult movies of the early 1980s. While its vision of a decaying violence-plagued inner city school seemed over-the-top in 1982 it sadly prophesized the future of American education. Lester's film-which caused a stir at Cannes and reputedly offended one of its own screenwriters-is also notable for its cast which includes Van Patten Roddy McDowall and a very young Michael J Fox. Alice Cooper performs the theme song "I Am The Future". No longer are the students of Lincoln High the future for the future has arrived!System Requirements:Run Time: 98 minFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre:?ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating:?R UPC:?013131306897 Manufacturer No:?DV13068Action & Adventure DVD Video
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