I've seen this flick a few times throughout the decades and clearly remember the first time I did. It was on the boat my uncle was a captain of at the time and we were headed down the Mackenzie River in Canada's North. That was during the summer and in the year of this movie's title.
I thought it was riveting and disturbing that first time I saw it on TV in that ship's galley. They had a collection of videotape movies there and Class of 1984 was among one of them. Now that I viewed it last night on my Blu-ray player, I got refreshed on the disturbing subject matter of this old film. It still holds the disturbance today like it once did eons ago on that cruise down the river.
I also viewed everything last night from a more wiser and older perspective now which is what I'm now basing my review on. There's all the elements here of a good teacher trying to cope with the hellraising atmosphere of the new urban high school he's gotten a job at, but his sincere efforts proved to be futile. It's all due to an arrogant gang of punks who cause chaos and problems within the school system and a principal who constantly turns a blind eye to it all.
Timothy Van Patten.is absolutely menacing here as the leader of the hoodlum gang who clearly has psychotic problems, but that no one else seems able to see or prove, except for the new music teacher, Mr. Norris. The harassment, bullying and downright malicious actions of the gang is rampant in the school, but of course, the authorities can't do anything about it due to the "lack of proof".
There's overtones of "Death Wish" when the gang starts attacking Mr. Norris on a personal level, such as making attacks on his home and later, to his spouse. That gets things kicked into ultra-revenge mode and causes Mr. Norris to fly at the hoodlums in a rage.
This is indeed exploitation at it's highest where a teacher struggles to overcome the evil and manipulating ways of a blood-thirsty teen gang who constantly use, "I'm just a kid" to escape persecution from the authorities. Their tactics work, but later, as their actions get more gruesome and more heinous, the more the victims start to lash out at the trouble they are causing.
Roddy McDowall is a highlight as the science teacher, Mr. Corrigan, who always looks the other way regarding the nuisance of the gang, but when one of their attacks finally falls on him, he has major trouble dealing with that. His sanity is then brought into question afterwards when he tries to teach his students with a gun pointed at them. He had clearly reached a breaking point.
This movie is definitely not a pleasant one, most especially the frustrating and difficult situation Mr. Norris found himself in regarding the gang's evil attacks. He tries to expose their criminal deeds, but ends up getting branded as the bad guy instead due to the gang leader's downright dirty way of framing him for assault.
Things, of course, brew up into an explosive confrontation during a school concert. There's no holds barred here on revenge and it's all a -cat-and-mouse-game until the teacher finally tries to get the justice he's been wanting, but at a bloody level.
This old movie addressed the violent nature of inner-city schools way back in 1982 and the message can still be heard these four decades later. It also came out way before the Columbine tragedy and other notorious school shootings occurred. It clearly expressed a message that still hasn't been solved to this day.
The graffiti covered school featured in this film back in 1982 symbolized the problems that can be found within the educational system and it's a problem that still persists now. All in all, this is exploitation at it's most graphic, but at the same time, delivers a powerful message about how the education system really needs to finally change.
I do recommend this film, but only for those who are able to stomach the violent scenes depicted. Not for all tastes, but it's effective as far as revenge movies go. It's well acted too.
I thought it was riveting and disturbing that first time I saw it on TV in that ship's galley. They had a collection of videotape movies there and Class of 1984 was among one of them. Now that I viewed it last night on my Blu-ray player, I got refreshed on the disturbing subject matter of this old film. It still holds the disturbance today like it once did eons ago on that cruise down the river.
I also viewed everything last night from a more wiser and older perspective now which is what I'm now basing my review on. There's all the elements here of a good teacher trying to cope with the hellraising atmosphere of the new urban high school he's gotten a job at, but his sincere efforts proved to be futile. It's all due to an arrogant gang of punks who cause chaos and problems within the school system and a principal who constantly turns a blind eye to it all.
Timothy Van Patten.is absolutely menacing here as the leader of the hoodlum gang who clearly has psychotic problems, but that no one else seems able to see or prove, except for the new music teacher, Mr. Norris. The harassment, bullying and downright malicious actions of the gang is rampant in the school, but of course, the authorities can't do anything about it due to the "lack of proof".
There's overtones of "Death Wish" when the gang starts attacking Mr. Norris on a personal level, such as making attacks on his home and later, to his spouse. That gets things kicked into ultra-revenge mode and causes Mr. Norris to fly at the hoodlums in a rage.
This is indeed exploitation at it's highest where a teacher struggles to overcome the evil and manipulating ways of a blood-thirsty teen gang who constantly use, "I'm just a kid" to escape persecution from the authorities. Their tactics work, but later, as their actions get more gruesome and more heinous, the more the victims start to lash out at the trouble they are causing.
Roddy McDowall is a highlight as the science teacher, Mr. Corrigan, who always looks the other way regarding the nuisance of the gang, but when one of their attacks finally falls on him, he has major trouble dealing with that. His sanity is then brought into question afterwards when he tries to teach his students with a gun pointed at them. He had clearly reached a breaking point.
This movie is definitely not a pleasant one, most especially the frustrating and difficult situation Mr. Norris found himself in regarding the gang's evil attacks. He tries to expose their criminal deeds, but ends up getting branded as the bad guy instead due to the gang leader's downright dirty way of framing him for assault.
Things, of course, brew up into an explosive confrontation during a school concert. There's no holds barred here on revenge and it's all a -cat-and-mouse-game until the teacher finally tries to get the justice he's been wanting, but at a bloody level.
This old movie addressed the violent nature of inner-city schools way back in 1982 and the message can still be heard these four decades later. It also came out way before the Columbine tragedy and other notorious school shootings occurred. It clearly expressed a message that still hasn't been solved to this day.
The graffiti covered school featured in this film back in 1982 symbolized the problems that can be found within the educational system and it's a problem that still persists now. All in all, this is exploitation at it's most graphic, but at the same time, delivers a powerful message about how the education system really needs to finally change.
I do recommend this film, but only for those who are able to stomach the violent scenes depicted. Not for all tastes, but it's effective as far as revenge movies go. It's well acted too.