I don’t want to shock you, but we’re only 8 years away from the future of Demolition Man. Do you feel like you’ve been frozen in a hockey puck? If you saw Demotion Man at the cineplex during the Fall of 1993, it’s been a longtime since you bought that ticket for $4. My own kid came up to me a few weeks ago to ask, “What was it like to live in the ’90s?” There are teenagers who are hung up on ’90s culture like Nirvana, Beavis & Butthead and even Hootie and the Blowfish. These are people who never felt the joy of their 56K modem connecting with the AOL phone number. Am I making you feel too old now? Well you can feel a bit younger since Demolition Man is coming out on 4K UHD so it looks as nice as when you saw it projected on 35mm film…I didn’t mean to make you feel old again.
Simon Phoenix (Blade‘s Wesley Snipes) has taken numerous hostages at his lair in the middle of a burning Los Angeles in 1996. Things are looking bleak in the burning landscape until a helicopter arrives with LAPD Sergeant John Spartan (Rambo‘s Sylvester Stallone). Instead of landing, he jumps out on a bungee cord and hits the rooftop. Spartan is nicknamed The Demolition Man for his ability to destroy everything to fulfill the mission. And he destroys all of Simon’s men until he meets the criminal mastermind. Things don’t go right. Even though Spartan gets his man, he also gets busted. Instead of being sent to a normal prison, both Simon and Spartan are cryogenically frozen in blocks of ice that look like giant hockey pucks. While sealed inside, technology reprograms the brains of the prisoners to make them better people when released. In 2032, Simon gets defrosted for his court mandated parole hearing. He meets up with Warden William Smithers (My Dinner with Andre’s Andre Gregory) and promptly escapes. Turns out things have changed a lot. Los Angeles is now the megacity San Angeles. The world has become so peaceful that the cops don’t have much to do. Simon finds this world perfect for taking over. Nobody can stop a real criminal like him. He goes to the museum to load up on “antique” weapons and cause havoc. The LAPD needs a new kind of cop like the old kind of cop. John Spartan is defrosted and given a chance at “early” freedom if he can catch Simon. He’s assigned Lenina Huxley (Speed‘s Sandra Bullock) who besides being a cop, studied the ’90s in college. She acts as Spartan’s guide to the new world of tomorrow. Can the world survive Spartan and Simon’s big battle?
It struck me while rewatching the film that Demolition Man is secretly a Batman movie. Spartan is easily Batman who destroys most of Gotham City while pursing archvillains. Simon Pheonix is the Joker as he cracks one-liners while being a sociopath. Screenwriter Daniel Waters who did the last big rewrite of the script had just come off making Batman Returns. Was he stealthy bringing that vibe to a rather comic book action movie? Can you imagine Batman trying to understand the three shells?
Demolition Man has aged well after over 30 years. The cast is as good as the special effects. We also get Denis Leary as the underground rebel. I still crack up at how Taco Bell won the fast-food wars. Although the coolest thing about this 4K UHD edition is getting to see the “International Cut” where Pizza Hut is the winner. For some reason, the Pizza Hut version is six seconds shorter. Guess they served the pizza faster than burritos in the future. We’ll know the truth in 8 years. Demolition Man remains a great Stallone flick that works as both an action film and a comedy with the science fiction twist.
The Video is 2.35:1 anamorphic. The transfer is a new 4K restoration from the original camera negative. Director Marco Brambilla approved it. The 4K Ultra HD (2160p) presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible). You’ll get a great look of a frozen Sly. The Audio is DTS-HD MA 5.1 and Dolby Atmos. The sound mix is great so you’ll hear all the sounds of tomorrow. The movie has English subtitles.
Brand new audio commentary by director Marco Brambilla and screenwriter Daniel Waters has them talk about how they took a straight action movie and made it a comedy. Waters (Heathers, Hudson Hawk & Batman Returns) came onto the project after the script to give it different vibe. He only worked on the script for a month. Waters was there for the building explosion. Brambilla is visual artist who does installments. Waters admits Wesley Snipes did improv a bit. Brambilla points out that Stallone wasn’t used to a director that wanted multiple takes. Stallone noticed the script was like Woody Allen’s Sleeper. He had to be talked into the comedy infused into the action film. In the interest of full disclosure, Daniel Waters and I follow each other on Twitter – although I’ve stopped posting there. I hope Daniel Waters doesn’t think I’m ghosting him.
Brand new audio commentary by film historian Mike White of the Projection Booth podcast. He’s here to point out that the film came out at the same time as The Last Action Hero with Arnold and Jurassic Park. The original screenwriter imagined Mickey Rourke in Sly’s role. Also Sly’s wife was still alive in earlier drafts.
Archive audio commentary by Marco Brambilla and producer Joel Silver is from the DVD release. The director and producer share a bit about making a big action film. It’s a bit more technical from Marco than his chat with Waters.
Demolition Design (14:14) lets production designer David L. Snyder explain how he was in Wilmington, NC making Mario Brothers and Joel Silver visited the set since he was nearby producing the Coen Brothers’ Hudsucker Proxy. He had to have a meeting over the futuristic Los Angeles convention center. They also got to implode a building for the opening scene. We also learn how one of the “hockey pucks” caught fire.
Cryo Action (5:53) lets stunt coordinator Charles Percini break down the beatdowns. He started on TV with Starsky and Hutch. Charles met Stallone on an episode of Kojak. He explains how the opening scene with Stallone jumping out of the helicopter developed.
Biggs’ Body Shoppe (5:46) has special make-up effects artist Chris Biggs talk about working on six Joel Silver movies in a row. They originally wanted Snipes to look more punkish. They had a nose ring effect and knife wounds for him. He gets into making a human eye. He also had to make large breasts for Sandra Bullock in the fantasy scene.
Tacos and Hockey Pucks (9:55) sits down with body effects set coordinator Jeff Farley about making the frozen bodies of Stallone and others. It was a rather difficult process. They used Stallone’s body double so Sly didn’t get stuck in plaster for hours. Farley “recently” created the human-like puppets in Abruptio.
Somewhere Over the Rambo (17:01) a visual essay by film scholar Josh Nelson. He points out how in 1992, Los Angeles was on fire from the post Rodney King riots. Seeing the city burning on a cinema screen a year later seemed like a documentary. He gets into how Sly was so established as an action hero at this time. He mentions the disaster that was Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot!
Theatrical trailer (2:06) shows off the frozen Sly.
Image gallery has over 80 images of press photos, behind the scenes shots, a snapshot of Sly with Jackie Chan and the poster.
60-page perfect bound collector’s book featuring essays by Clem Bastow, William Bibbiani, Priscilla Page and Martyn Pedler
Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Laurie Greasley.
6 postcard sized artcards that are suitable for framing.
Three Seashells’ and ‘Edgar Friendly graffiti’ stickers for your refrigerator.
Arrow Video presents Demolition Man: Limited Edition. Directed by Marco Brambilla. Screenplay by Daniel Waters, Robert Reneau & Peter M. Lenkov. Starring Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock, Nigel Hawthorne, Benjamin Bratt, Denis Leary, David Patrick Kelly, Andre Gregory, Jesse Ventura, Dan Cortese and Jack Black. Running Time: 115 minutes. Rating: Rated R. Release Date: December 17, 2024.
