
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, June 9, 1990                   TAG: 9006090194
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BOB STRAUSS LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

NO SURPRISES IN `CLASS OF 1999'

There is not a moment in "Class of 1999" that has not been borrowed from "The Terminator," "RoboCop," "Westworld" or director Mark L. Lester's own, somewhat derivative, "Class of 1984."

But it's clear that Lester loves the dystopian urban action movie format, and "1999" plays more like an affectionate homage than it does an underfunded rip-off. The film is swift and savagely satisfying, and Lester knows how to ration out thrills and keep things looking radical.

Nine years from now, the public school situation has gotten just a little bit worse than it already is. Most city high schools are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Educational Defense, whose armored operatives are more concerned with confiscating student arsenals than with preventing truancy. To get to class, kids have to pass through miles of free-fire zones ruled by heavily armed youth gangs.

To give you some idea of how bad things are, Seattle's Kennedy High principal, Miles Langford, is played by "Clockwork Orange's" superdelinquent himself, Malcolm McDowell.

Anyway, gang leader Cody Culp (Bradley Gregg) has just been paroled on the conditions that he finish his education and avoid violent activity. But with both his old compatriots and longtime rival gang boss Hector (Jimmy Medina Taggert) itching for action, that's easier decreed than done.

To make matters worse, military robotics entrepreneur Bob Forrest (Stacy Keach), is trying out his new Tactical Education Units at Kennedy. Basically commando androids reprogrammed to teach chemistry, history and physical education, Ms. Connors (Pam Grier), Mr. Hardin (John P. Ryan) and Mr. Bryles (Patrick Kilpatrick) are, initially, the perfect robo-teachers.

Superstrong and indestructible, they quickly establish order in the classroom. But when they inevitably glitch out and regress to their old search-and-destroy impulses, only Cody and the principal's daughter (Traci Lin) realize that they're up against something more than human.

Lester has also invested the three robo-teachers with qualities any student, past or future, can chuckle in recognition of. Kilpatrick does a classic, punishment-prone coach, Ryan is all pompous condescension, and, even 15 years after her "Sheba Baby" glory days, Grier still looks like the kind of educator about whom Van Halen wrote "Hot for Teacher."

The last act is an expertly orchestrated crescendo of violent stunts and special effects. Little of it surprises - heck, nothing in this movie is original enough to surprise you - but it's pleasing, nonetheless. `Class of 1999' A Taurus Entertainment release playing at the Salem Valley 8 (389-0444) and Valley View Mall 6 (362-8219)

by CNB