Now available from Arrow Video
The film starts with Detective John Spartan causing all kinds of mayhem while chasing a criminal. Due to this, he is imprisoned in a Cryo facility only to be awakened early in 2030 when criminal Simon Phoenix escapes. Soon, he finds out that the world has been sanitized, and Taco Bell has won the fast-food wars (or Pizza Hut for those not in the US).
From a story by Peter M. Lenkov and Robert Reneau with a script by Lenkov, Reneau, and Daniel Waters, and directed by Marco Brambilla, Demolition Man was one futuristic, funny, action-packed film in 1993. Now? It’s a dated film that takes place half a decade from now so the future it predicted is almost here and, well, we’re nowhere near what the film shows. Or are we? We don’t have the three seashells or cryo prisons and Taco Bell hasn’t won the fast-food wars, but the overly positive folks have made it their mission to eliminate negativity, some do want to control reproduction, some have an obsession with nostalgia of all kinds, and the powers that be are doing their thing. All this being said, Demolition Man is a fun action sci-fi film that takes Sylvester Stallone and pits him against Wesley Snipes. The film is decently written with a few cringe-inducing moments. It’s also more than decently directed to create a film that has a certain effect where some love it, some hate it, and others keep showing it to everyone they can.
The cast here is filled with name actors, you know, folks everyone knows these days, but back in 1993, some of them were not quite well-known. While this is a Stallone and Snipes vehicle and they face off rather well, the film also has interesting performances by Sandra Bullock, Benjamin Bratt, Nigel Hawthorne, Glenn Shadix, Denis Leary, Rob Schneider, and a bunch more. This film shows that star power can come from folks who were lesser known at the times just as well as those who were better known. The film offers the public some over-the-top performances that are a whole lot of fun, even when they don’t feel quite right or are a bit too much. The cast as whole plays within the universe created and makes the most if it while having a boatload of fun.
The look of the film is fantastic here, the futuristic by way the 1990s style is something else. The decor is over the top, the self-driving cars are almost right (but not quite), the costumes are so much, it’s almost too much, the whole look here works together in a cohesive mess of more-is-more and less-is-not-it. The film is also shot really well by director of photography Alex Thomson (and team) who create images that truly allow the viewer to see everything that is going on. Editor Stuart Baird brings these images together in a dynamic way and once again allows the viewer to fully see what is going, action scenes and fights included.
Demolition Man is one of those odd movies that is so much, it’s too much but also exactly right at the same time. The film has a fun story, the “futuristic” setting is no longer set in a distant time, but it’s still fun, and the San Angeles Complex almost looks right.
This new release of Demolition Man from Arrow Video is packed. Starting with new artwork by Laurie Greasley, some stickers (“Three Seashells” and “Edgar Friendly graffiti”, suckers for good stickers will love these), and a ton of extras. The best of the bunch here are the new commentary with director Marco Brambilla and writer Daniel Waters, the facts that you can pick between the “Taco Bell” version or the “Pizza Hut” version is fun, the new interviews are both entertaining and filled with information especially the ones with stunt coordinator Charles Percini, the one with special make-up effects artist Chris Briggs, and the one with body effects coordinator Jeff Farley. The new high-definition transfer from the original 35mm camera negatives is flawless and the sound transfer is great too.