Class of 1999 (1990)

"Total Terminator Teacher Terror"

If Adam Ant, Steve Strange and Howard Jones had decided to get together and envision an apocalyptic 'school of the future' movie then Mark L Lester's CLASS OF 1999 might well have been the kind of thing they came up with. It's getting a UK Blu-ray release courtesy of Lionsgate as part of their Vestron Collector's Series so anyone with a fondness for / complete obsession with New Romantic 1980s culture taken to its extreme can see if they agree.

It's 1999 (we are told) and many of America's inner city schools now exist at the centre of combat zones where the police never enter and bullets fly almost as freely as eyeliner is applied and skin tight spandex trousers are squeezed into. Rather than relocate places of education, the government hits on the idea of employing albino OMEGA MAN reject Dr Forrest (Stacy Keach) and his three battledroids (John P Ryan, Pam Grier and Patrick Kilpatrick) to keep order in the worst of the schools in question. It's in Seattle and when you see how bad the weather is throughout the film it does make you sympathetic for the kids.

'Gosh I hope nothing goes wrong with those androids' you're sure to think as our new mechatronic teachers take up their posts. Sure enough it's not long before ex-con teen Cody (Bradley Gregg from A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 3) is having to lead his gang of electro boys and girls against an onslaught of TERMINATOR-style robotic destruction. On a low budget.

Slight in plot but plentiful in explosive exploitation fun, CLASS OF 1999 is a briskly-paced nostalgic blast from the director of CLASS OF 1984, FIRESTARTER and...er...ROLLER BOOGIE. There's an interesting cast - as well as all the above we have Malcolm McDowell as the school's principal, and numerous well-handled stunts.  The robot effects are pleasingly of their time and Michael Hoenig gives us a suitably electro-pounding score.

Lionsgate's Vestron Collector's Series Blu-ray is packed with extra goodies. There's an audio commentary from the director, and interviews with screenwriter C Courtney Joyner, Lester, co-producer Eugene Mazzola, DP Mark Irwin, and special effects creators Eric Allard and Rick Stratton. You also get a trailer, stills, TV spots, and a video promo. Perfect viewing for a trashy Friday night in. 

Mark L Lester's CLASS OF 1999 is out from Lionsgate on 

Blu-ray from 25th February 2019, 20 years after the New Romantic Electro Future it predicted has yet to come true. I still think this is more likely than BLADE RUNNER, though.