On C List of Movie Reviews

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Class of 1984 (1982)

Rate: 8
Viewed: 1/12, 3/23

Class84
1/12: I saw Class of 1999 first and liked it, but I didn't realize it's a remake of Class of 1984.

The original is way better. It's nice to see Perry King again after he made a fool out of himself in The Lord's of Flatbush. I thought he would be a big star, but it never happened.

The best performance of the show has to go to Roddy McDowall who plays the poor, sad biology teacher. Suffering from a nervous breakdown, he snaps one day and decides to pull a gun on his students in the hopes of trying to teach them something. Although extreme, I feel for him during that moment.

Roddy McDowall also has the best scene when he reacted to the sight of skinned rabbits which turned out to be real but were already dead. Honestly, Class of 1984 isn't far from the truth of what goes on in classrooms nowadays. As a former teacher, I've seen similar incidents.

All in all, Class of 1984 may have been extreme in 1982, but not anymore.

3/23: If I saw Class of 1984 back then, I would've thought of the film extreme, but today, it's quite accurate.

It's interesting how Mark L. Lester saw the future of education. The more urban the setting is, the closer it is to reality. You may hear the motif "We Are/I Am the Future" many times, but it's true: they're the future. Look at their behavior today, especially the adults: aggressive, stupid, and dangerous.

I've worked as a teacher, and there's always a Peter Stegman in every high school: bright and precocious but waste of time for not giving a shit about himself. Strangely, Tim Van Patten seemed to have the makings of a superstar, but the cardboardish Michael J. Fox ended up being the "it" guy, thanks to Back to the Future.

Perry King is terrific, and I know how his character feels. It's better to quit the job than fight the unbelievability; the truth is: the administration knows what's going on but don't care while being highly paid. The best acting performance has to go to Roddy McDowall. It's brilliant, especially when he's confronted with dead rabbits and reaches the breaking point by holding his classroom hostage with a gun.

All in all, Class of 1984 is one of the most accurate movies made about the reality of education in the United States.