Demolition Man *** (1993, Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock, Nigel Hawthorne, Benjamin Bratt, Denis Leary, Bob Gunton, Glenn Shadix) – Classic Movie Review 9716

Director Marco Brambilla’s 1993 sci-fi action thriller Demolition Man stars Sylvester Stallone as LA cop John Spartan, who battles ultra-crazy, ultra-violent villain Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes) in 1996.

They end up burning down a huge building and committing mass slaughter, for which they are both punished by being sent into cryogenics for a 36-year sleep and rehabilitation. Then, in the year 2032 in the peaceful 21st century, Snipes’s Simon Phoenix ‘accidentally’ comes to life as ultra-violent as before and the futureworld cops are so unused to handling violence that they have to defrost Stallone’s John Spartan to lead a violent hunt against Snipes.

Demolition Man is basically a good-humoured B-movie action thriller over-layed with a huge budget courtesy producer Joel Silver, some great technology, breathtaking explosions and a couple of engagingly exuberant (and extravagant in Snipes’s case) star performances.

Unexpectedly cast Nigel Hawthorne is embarrassing as Dr Raymond Cocteau, a camp futureworld boss who is not as benign and friendly as he appears – naturally it emerges that he actually unleashed Snipes. On the other hand, Sandra Bullock is extremely spunky as Lenina Huxley, the cop with the retro passion but an amusingly shaky hold on 20th-century slang, who assists Stallone’s John Spartan.

Because the ideas are half-baked and the intelligent sci-fi vision half-buried, it is throwaway, popcorn stuff when it could have been a whole lot more. But the special effects wizardry, the array of good jokes and stunts, the non-stop action violence, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock and Denis Leary, and above all Stallone’s relaxed star turn all help it to race to the Mindless Actioner winning post.

Also in the good cast are Benjamin Bratt, Denis Leary, Bob Gunton, Glenn Shadix, Grand L Bush, Pat Skipper, Steve Kahan, Mark Colson, Andre Gregory and John Enos III.

Demolition Man is rated R for non-stop action violence, and for strong language.

On 4 May 2020, Sylvester Stallone confirmed that a Demolition Man Sequel is in the works and said that ‘It’s looking fantastic’.

Marco Brambilla went on to make Excess Baggage (1997).

Demolition Man is directed by Marco Brambilla, runs 115 minutes, is made by Silver, is released by Warner Bros, is written by Daniel Waters (screenplay), Robert Reneau (story and screenplay) and Peter M Lenkov (story and screenplay), is shot by Alex Thompson, is produced by Joel Silver and is scored by Elliot Goldenthal.

 © Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9716

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com