Class of 1984 (1982) Review | Reverse Angle 

Mark L. Lester, who co-wrote and directed this film, stated that the "true events" that this film was based on was after he visited the high school he graduated from, "Monroe High School", in Sepulveda, California, and he also heard about other incidents of school violence happening in other preparatory (formerly junior high and middle school) and high schools in other parts of the USA. He decided to make this particular film as a warning to the USA educational system that if the USA educational system didn't do their job to do something about the violence at that time, it would get much worse in the years ahead. This particular film served as an eerie prophecy by the filmmakers that actually came true because in the years since this movie was released, school violence did get much worse as bullying and even assaults on teachers, alongside students has risen, with the 1999 Columbine High School massacre being the worst of all the incidents of school violence before and after it, including the 1979 Grover Cleveland Elementary School massacre in San Diego when 16 year old Brenda Spencer opened fire on the school. She killed two staffers and injured eight children and one police officer when she did this. She is currently serving 25 years to life in a California state prison. That incident also inspired a song called "I Don't Like Mondays" by The Boomtown Rats as when she was questioned by authorities about her motives, she simply said "I don't like Mondays. This livens up the day." There have been many other violent incidents in the wake of Columbine, but none of them have ever topped Columbine as that still remains the worst incident of them all. That is why Lester made this film. Unfortunately, the message wasn't heeded by the USA Educational System as school violence got much worse in the years ahead. It was simply for good intentions that he did this, but again, the message wasn't heeded. I know this all too well, as I was a victim of bullying and school violence, although I did successfully overcame that. Regarding the sequel, Class of 1999, Lester stated that when he heard about other areas in the USA, specifically areas in California, Florida and in Detroit, Michigan, were overrun with rampant violence into which the local police wouldn't even venture into out of fear for their own lives. That inspired him to make the sequel as he imagined that in the future, areas around schools, or simply neighborhoods, were controlled by local violent youth gangs called "Free Fire Zones" into which the police wouldn't go into as a result of that. Fortunately, this hasn't happened, but the irony here is that 1999 was THE year that the Columbine massacre happened. Almost every year, incidents of rampant school violence happen when least expected and many lives are either lost or injured as a result of them. IMHO, if only the USA Educational System heeded the warning and message that Mark L. Lester tried to get across, there probably wouldn't have been a rise in school violence in this country alone. Just thought I'd share my thoughts. Thanks for the review.

They need to land Paul Kersey a teaching gig here.

This is one of those movies that I only discovered fairly recently and it's definitely my kind of movie. I absolutely love these type of grindhouse/exploitation movies like this one and Savage Streets Also, the piece that Timothy Van Patten's character played on the piano, he actually wrote himself

If you really want to see a hardcore movie you should check out High School High.

Great film. Fabulous cast.

1:15 Guys, that's not Michael Fox.. that's AJ Soprano.

Kinda surprised there was no robocop links, I know its not Robo2, but the principle was David Gardner, "the Old Man" in robo the series! your guys should review that amazing show!

I think the people who made this movie should sue the substitute Movie Maker pretty much the same story.

Good content