19 October 2015

Movies: Class of 1999 & Chopping Mall

The odyssey of Bgrades continues. Yes, I know, if I were more manly I'd have set them up for a marathon, but yknow, life.

Class of 1999
I've seen this, many years ago.
It's MadMax for school kids. In the US. Authorities have decided that due to rising violence in schools, that they will no longer defend schools - rather they're a free fire zone. Y'know, similar to Cardiff on a Fri/Sat night.
Malcolm McDowell and Pam Grier were obviously still in the wilderness. I've now found out this is a sequel to a 1984 flick, and that there's a sequel to this 1999 II. I'm not rushing to find them.
Another plan is hatched, replace the teachers with Terminators/Robots who teach. How can it fail?! Oh yeah, these are repurposed military robots. Maybe that's something of a problem with the plan?

It was. Things go bad. The two rival gangs eventually work together. Life is beautiful.
Fun movie. Worth a watch.
Oh yeah, music is by Michael Hoenig, so there's a slight Tangerine Dream link.



Chopping Mall
Ohhh it even starts off looking like a straight to video! Guy robbing store in a mall, is chased by an armed robot, which appears to have a taser. WTF? there's a bikini clad babes going for a walk through the mall? oh yeah, the 80s. huzzah the 80s.
It's coming clearer, it's produced by Julie Corman (wife of Roger).
Class: to cut between scenes, there is a lightening flash/thunder crash. Everytime.

The mall is about to close, and so the tension builds. All the overly permed kids are planning parties, which are 'bitching'. There is a significant emphasis, by everyone, on pizza. The robots appear to be gaining sentience, it's like a scene from panto "it's behind you", and so dies the first scientist. The kids are blissfully unaware, and are dancing to synth heavy bad beats, and 'necking'. There are a large number of posters from the directors previous flicks (subtle). BErnie and Alison have been set up, they're clicking. I can tell from the music, however they are also partying in the mall. The terminators/robots are unhappy about this - more pizza references!!! As the massacre begins, the surviving kids go to the sports store, which being America, is loaded with guns. Pink (?) lasers compete with shotguns, and no-one appears to hit anything, until they roll a gas canister under a robot. Hmmm it's like George Romero meets Jaws. But with *even worse* acting, except for the robots. The kids have decided crashing the computer will be the solution, at which point they loose another one - and the robots can go up escalators, which is one in the eye for segways.
Eh, it's fun. And doesn't outstay its welcome (76mins).


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