Good idea lost in the noise

Excellent but underrated film

Best movie of this year hands down!

A Brilliant Conflict

The impact of Class of 1984 when it first came out in 1982 is undeniable and looking back at all the school shooting and bullying we still have to deal with today exaggeration or not Class of 1984 deserve the cult status as one of the best movie of the 80s and a must see for trash cinema fan.

Back when people were shocked at what went on in school in The Blackboard Jungle, they hardly knew what to expect next. In the Sixties it was Up The Down Staircase. But wait till you see Class Of 1984. Makes those previous films look like the little red school house.Perry King and expecting wife Merrie Lynn Ross are new to the city and the school where King has got a new job as the music teacher. The school he teaches in is terrorized by a drug gang whose head is the psychopathic Timothy Van Patten.Whatever you want to say about Van Patten plainly he's a person with no redeemable qualities not even the fact he's a piano virtuoso. I've said about many characters in the movies and in real life, some in this world are no damn good. Evil is a concept that people have trouble recognizing or grasping, but Van Patten is both terrifying and mesmerizing in what he does with the part.Michael J. Fox before he hit stardom with Family Ties plays one of the younger kids who Van Patten and his bunch terrorize. Roddy McDowell is also here as a burned out teacher who cracks up under the strain.Class Of 1984 is not for the squeamish in school.

A load of after school specials crammed into a half-assed exploitation film that somehow slipped into the mainstream. That would be 'Class of 1984' in a nutshell.There's loads of interesting aspects: the (main) bad guy at some moments displays sensitivity and genius (beside the usual nihilism and psychotic episodes), even to the point where the ending had to be changed in order to make it plausible for audiences to have him killed... Buddy teacher Terry steals the spotlight from 'main' teacher Andrew with some great scenes in which he goes violently cuckoo. The grotesque use of violence and gore were galore as advertised, but feel over the top nonetheless. Wáy over the top, but you'll have to do something if your story is too contrived and the acting, settings and outfits are more laughable than anything else.This is simply a weird one, and a wild one. But a good one? Hardly. It turns out that director Mark L. Lester was inspired by 'A Clockwork Orange' for the outfits and Stegman's character (I learned this from the somewhat hilarious 'making of' - a must see), but I only thought of that film in the scene where Andrew's wife is attacked and raped.A big 6 out of 10 for sheer entertainment and some great ideas (that didn't work out too well).

Teacher and former Lord of Flatbush Mr. Norris is a fish out of water when he enters the gritty shark tank of Delinquent High, a school that is practically a mini-Gotham City with its urban cesspool motifs and that ever present staple of 80s cinema that is the Punk Toon. A Punk Toon is what you see in Police Academy and Death Wish 3 among other films as a villainous delinquent resembling not so much an angsty teen as a primal violence fiend who would ooze animalistic essence all over the pavement were it not for the safety pins holding it together. The main villain is a kid named Peter Stegman who is a type of alpha Punk Toon if you will. He's not just another juvee goon. He demonstrates early on that he is as intellectually deep as he is comically sociopathic. Actually, sinister is more fitting a word for this type of over-the-top character. All that the guy is missing is an evil laugh. When Norris asks "What's the matter with you," Stegman offers a morsel of contemplative wit that challenges you to sit back and rethink the very nature of your pathetic existence. "What's the matter with me? What's the matter with you? What's the matter with matter?" It's pretty obvious that from this point on, limp noodle teacher will be outsmarted by this precocious, piano prodigy pimp (oh yeah! He pimps!). Stegman informs a black drug dealer that his gang are "the only *igg#rs who sell $*** at this school." The gems of dialogue just keep coming like junk food morsels from a vending machine on the fritz. My favorite: "Life is pain! Pain is everything! You will learn!" This isn't so much an exploitation film as it is existentialploitation! And Stegman is right! You can learn a lot from this movie. The 80s were a perplexing time. A time when a few white teens, a fat guy and a slutty chick in high school could beat back an all-black gang with ease and still make it to the slam dance on time. And after that, they still have enough energy to audition prostitutes. -SPOILER- Class of 1984 is entertaining but be warned that when the rape scene comes along in the third act, you'll be scratching your head wondering, "Was that indulgent, nauseating and even a little awkward?" The answer to all three of those is yes. But it is so tastefully done that you won't feel the need to watch The Accused in an attempt to reacquaint yourself with a thoughtful depiction of rape's trauma. Just sit back and let this movie smash a liqueur bottle over your head.