Class of 1984

Class of 1984 is a Canadian crime drama set in an inner-city high school where metal detectors guard the entrance and a gang of students, led by Peter Stegman, controls much of what happens inside. Andrew Norris arrives as a new music teacher and refuses to accept the way the school runs, putting him on a collision course with Stegman and his followers. Their conflict escalates as the gang defends its territory and its drug trade, and Norris finds himself increasingly isolated from an administration that has largely given up.

Mark L. Lester directed the film, his sixth feature after Steel Arena, Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw, Stunts and Roller Boogie, and it sits between those earlier films and later ones such as Firestarter and Commando. Tom Holland, Lester and John C.W. Saxton wrote the screenplay, Arthur Kent produced it, and Perry King and Tim Van Patten lead a cast of 29 credited performers that also includes Roddy McDowall and Michael J. Fox. Made for about 4 million US dollars, it has drawn modest audience ratings, sitting at 6.5 out of 10 on IMDb from roughly 15,000 votes and 6.4 out of 10 on TMDB from a much smaller sample. A critics' rating of 6 out of 10 from 19 reviews places it broadly alongside those audience scores.