The recent release of the dystopian film V for Vendetta from the Wachowski Brothers and Joel Silver was a hit with audiences since it spoke very well with the current state fo the world. For producer Joel Silver, dystopia wasn't a sub-genre that he was new to. In 1993, he made an action film that was satirical about the future while bringing some humor and witty dialogue to the film called Demolition Man. While the film wasn't a big monster hit that year despite the fact it starred Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes. The years since its release, the film manages to hold up thanks to its frenetic action style, its take on the future, and its witty dialogue on social commentary.

Written by Daniel Waters, Robert Scott Reneau, and Peter M. Lenkov with additional treatment from Steven E. De Souza and directed by Marco Brambilla. Demolition Man takes place in the future 2036 in the former Los Angeles that's been renamed as San Angeles. In a world where everything is clean, no smoking, no red meat, no sex, no disease, no touching skin, no toilet paper, and no violence. Everything seems great until a frozen prisoner from the 20th Century breaks out where the San Angeles police department decided to unfreeze a disgraced cop from the 20th Century. Also starring Sandra Bullock, Benjamin Bratt, Bob Gunton, Denis Leary, Bill Cobbs, Glenn Shadix, Rob Schneider, and Nigel Hawthorne. Demolition Man is a witty, fun action film that balances a lot of intelligence with no-holds-barred violence.

It's 1996 as Los Angeles is in chaos where a powerhouse criminal named Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes) is holding some people hostage. The only man for the job to save the hostages is the known-demolition man named John Spartan (Sylvester Stallone). After killing Phoenix's cronies and battling Phoenix, the whole attempt to capture him was a failure. Despite Phoenix being arrested, the hostages were found dead after the building blew up as John Spartan has become disgraced. In a new freezing experiment to freeze criminals, John Spartan becomes frozen inside an ice cube as he is forced to be stuck in the cold without knowing what’s going on.

It's now 2036 in San Angeles after a series of gigantic earthquakes and chaos, the former Los Angeles and its subsidiaries has become a big city of peace. For one of its police officers in Lenina Huxley (Sandra Bullock), she is bored with no sense of chaos as she talks to the warden of the infamous Cryoprison in William Smithers (Andre Gregory). Still, San Angeles has brief moments of resistance in the underground where a revolutionary named Edgar Friendly (Denis Leary) is hoping to score some food for the people under the city. After monitoring her conversation with Smithers, Huxley's superior Chief George Earle (Bob Gunton) is shocked that her love for the 20th Century has given her ideas of subversion. While her fellow officers including Alfredo Garcia (Benjamin Bratt) and a senior officer in Zachary Lamb (Bill Cobbs) seem to be fulfilled by the safeness of San Angeles, only Lamb understands her boredom.

Then during an interrogation for Simon Phoenix in the Cryoprison, Phoenix says a password and breaks himself out as he kills three prison guards and William Smithers. The instant that Smithers and guards are killed, the police have a situation they are't faced before as an attempt to capture Phoenix fails as he beats up cops and destroys everything in his path. During this attempted capture, Phoenix learns he is out because he has been hired to take out Edgar Friendly for San Angeles' leader in Dr. Raymond Cocteau (Nigel Hawthorne). Faced with a problem about Phoenix, Huxley suggests that since Phoenix isn't coded and isn't from the 21st Century, they need someone who can match him in John Spartan. Deciding to reinstate him temporarily, Spartan learns that he's in the 21st Century where his wife had already died and daughter has become an adult. He also learns about all the things the future restricts. There's no smoking, no red meat, no caffeine, no foul language, no sex, no touching of skin, and no alcohol.

Contending with Spartan's brutal take on the law, Earle realizes he has no choice as Spartan finds himself troubled with the future as a chip has been implanted in his hand so he is coded. Joining Huxley and Garcia to find Phoenix where Spartan knows that he wants a gun, they go to the museum. Phoenix grabs all the guns including the futuristic phaser guns. Phoenix's attempt to break out of the museum is briefly thwarted when he learns Spartan's been thawed out too as they battle while Phoenix gets to try out the phaser gun. Phoenix escapes where he runs into Dr. Cocteau and his associate Bob (Glenn Shadix). Phoenix tries to shoot Cocteau but couldn't as Cocteau tells him to go after Friendly. Spartan finds Cocteau as Phoenix escapes as he invited Spartan to have dinner with him at Taco Bell.

Joining Huxley for the dinner, Spartan is still feeling awkward about the future while revealing the flaws of the Cryoprison where he was filled with guilt over what happened with the hostages and how angry his wife was for being frozen. Still, he saw trouble when Friendly and his men attempted to steal food from Taco Bell where he realized that something is definitely wrong. Coming home with Huxley, she asks him if they would like to have sex but it turns out that it's a virtual reality thing as casual sex plus all things related to sex and kissing has been banned due to diseases. Taking a disc that Huxley had given him, Spartan learns that Dr. Cocteau isn't the man of peace everyone claims that he is as he decides to confront him. Learning of Cocteau's plans of a perfect society and why he hired Phoenix, he warns Cocteau that his inability to understand criminals is costly. Cocteau instead decided that Spartan has to go back to the Cryoprison to be re-frozen

Instead with the help of Huxley and Garcia, Spartan decides to go underground where all of the things he loves like beer and burgers are there as is Edgar Friendly. Learning of Friendly's resistance, he also learns that Phoenix with Cocteau's permission has unfrozen some men for his army. After some thinking, Huxley realizes that Spartan’s ideas seem more correct in the world of chaos as it was the two battled it out with Phoenix's men as it was time for the Demolition Man to battle Simon Phoenix.

The idea of dystopia is to convey a future that is bleak. With the case of Demolition Man, it takes all the ideas of Orwell and Huxley and turn it upside down as if everything is fine, on the surface. While the film is predictable and caters to a very mainstream audience, credit to the writers and director Marco Brambilla for actually creating an entertaining film that is both smart and downright funny. Brambilla deserves credit for making a film that has enough action, gunplay, along with chase and fight scenes while presenting elements of comedy and political satire. The film's writers also should get credit for not presenting the dystopian feel of the film but bringing the ideas of what makes like enjoyable. Particularly since their idea of a bleak future includes a world with no red meat, no smoking, no foul language, no sex, no kissing, no touching of skin, no toilet paper, no alcohol, the only music is played is jingles, and the only restaurant in the world to have win the Franchise War is Taco Bell.

It's the script that's pure gold in where the idea that Arnold Schwarzenegger had become president of the U.S. prior while the film is filled with hilarious one-liners. Most of them from Stallone, Snipes, Bullock, Leary, and Rob Schneider. In many ways, it provides enough of a formula to churn out an entertaining movie while featuring pop culture references. Even parody is displayed on film as Sylvester Stallone gets to poke fun of himself where he takes a stab at his macho image when he learns he knows how to knit and sew. Even Wesley Snipes' villainous character is more complex in a scene where he learns of Dr. Cocteau's plan for a perfect society where he tells him, "Hey, you can't take away people's right to be *ssholes, it's un-American". The film even has references to classic dystopian novels like the name Lenina Huxley is a reference to a character of Brave New World by Aldous Huxley while the name Alfredo Garcia is a reference to the Sam Peckinpah film Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia.

The film looks wonderful thanks to the cinematography of Alex Thomson whose use of lighting brings a sleek, polished look to the film while in the film's interiors, they range from dark colors to convey the look of the underground. Production designer David Snyder with art director Walter Paul Martishius does great work on the film’s futuristic look including the cars where everything looks clean and futuristic. Costume designer Bob Ringwood also does great work on the film's clothes which are filled with silk-like clothing for the futuristic world on the city while creating a great, ruby-gem dress for Sandra Bullock. Editor Stuart Baird does great work in bringing some frenetic editing and pacing styles to the film while allowing the audience time to savor a moment or scene. The film's special effects are wonderfully handled as they also meant to look cheesy to convey the film's humor. Elliot Goldenthal's orchestral score plays well to the film's intensity and dystopian feel while Sting does a remake of his old Police song Demolition Man that's good for the film’s feel but doesn't live up to the original.

Now comes the film’s cast which includes some wonderful cameos from future Minnesota governor and former pro wrestler Jesse "The Body" Ventura, then-MTV Sports MC Dan Cortese, and comedian Rob Schneider as a police receptionist who steals a few scenes with a few lines and laughing at Stallone for not knowing how to use the three sea shells. Bill Cobbs is excellent as Spartan's old friend Zachary Lamb while Andre Gregory is also good as the old William Smithers. Character actor Glenn Shadix is wonderfully funny as the suck-up associate Bob who manages to steal a few moments while Benjamin Bratt is also good as the naive cop Alfredo Garcia. Denis Leary pulls out a few laughs as the revolutionary leader Edgar Friendly with his fast-talking one-liners about Cocteau's plans for the future and his desires for what he really wanted. Bob Gunton is excellent as the uptight, non-violent police chief who brings a lot of great tension in his scenes with Stallone as Gunton remains a favorite supporting actor.

The late Nigel Hawthorne is also great as the benevolent dictator Dr. Cocteau whose peaceful vision of the future might look good on paper but his actions and ideas are definitely bleak. Hawthorne's performance is really the dramatic crutch as his inability to understand criminals would eventually cost him his life as he has some great scenes with Stallone and Snipes. Sandra Bullock is excellent in her supporting role as the bored, 20th Century-obsessed cop who is forced to learn that sometimes, violence is needed when necessary. In a film just before she would do her breakthrough in Speed, Bullock manages to find all the humor and naivete of her role as she would often misquote certain phrases while she serves a wonderful companion to Stallone's character.

Wesley Snipes is great in his role as the villainous Simon Phoenix who brings enough humor and evilness that he's one of the more fun villains ever brought to the screen. Snipes gives Phoenix a cheesy makeover of blond hair and different eye colors while presenting himself as a humorous, psychotic bad guy who likes to have fun. It's a great role for Snipes who brings in all kinds of fun to the character. While Sylvester Stallone may never be a great actor and he can't really recite any dialogue. It's one of the more entertaining performances from the action superstar. Stallone knew when to make fun of himself while playing the action guy as he even has some great one-liners and the cheesy screams he does whenever he's running. Whenever he does drama, he's not bad but he's not the best actor. Still, it's an essential performance from Sylvester Stallone.

While Demolition Man isn't a perfect movie, since its 1993 release it has become a cult hit of sorts. Thanks to the film's cast led by Stallone and Snipes, the film manages to hold itself thanks to its clever one-liners, frenetic action, social satire, and its ability to be cheesy without looking completely idiotic. It's a movie that's not meant to be taken seriously although it does provide some nice commentary about the future. In the end, Demolition Man is the kind of film you want to watch and have a good time with.



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older