90's Throwback Month - Demolition Man (1993)
Hey guys, Chuck here. I can't believe that 90's Throwback Month is almost over. It seems like only yesterday that I was inspired to dedicate a huge part of February to reviewing 90's movies. So, with only four reviews left in 90's Throwback Month. let's take a look at some real 90's cheese with Demolition Man.
Released in 1993, this action cheese fest focuses on LAPD officer John Spartan (played by Sylvester Stallone) who is on an assignment in the inferno of Los Angeles, in an attempt to arrest psychotic criminal Simon Phoenix (played by Wesley Snipes). After arresting Phoenix, and being charged with negligence, as a bus full of Phoenix's hostages was found in the rubble of the destroyed building that Spartan pulled Phoenix out of, with all of the hostages dead, Spartan is put into cryonic preservation alongside Phoenix in LA's new cryo prison.
Many years in the future, the year is now 2032 (which, as of the time I'm posting this, is twelve years from now). The cities of LA, San Diego, and Santa Barbara have been combined into a new utopian metropolis called San Angeles. Police lieutenant Lena Huxley (played by Sandra Bullock), who is obsessed with things from a time long past, gets excited when the news breaks that Phoenix, during a parole hearing, kills several individuals at the cryo prison and escapes. With modern police, who haven't had to deal with Phoenix's level of violence in this new society, unable to handle Phoenix, Huxley suggests thawing out the officer that arrested him back in the 90's: Spartan. While acclimating to the future, Spartan finds society to be depressing and oppressive (with many things like swearing and physical contact being illegal, and thing that are deemed to be "bad" like drugs, intoxication, and Tobacco being banned), while many officers find him to be brutish and uncivilized. Spartan catches up with Phoenix, and scares him off from a confrontation with Dr. Raymond Cocteau (the leader of the new society), who thanks Spartan by treating him to dinner at Taco Bell (or Pizza Hut in some of the international markets where Taco Bell isn't popular). Apparently in this future, there was an incident called the "franchise wars," and Taco Bell/Pizza Hut was the only restaurant to make it out on top, so now all restaurants are Taco Bell/Pizza Hut.
During this dinner, Spartan is introduced to the only real criminal element of San Angeles, an underground band of rebels, called the Scraps, who choose not to be part of the society of San Angeles. Later that night, Spartan spend tine with Huxley, only to be thrown out of her home, and goes to the home that is set up for him. The next day, after learning that the reprogramming that Spartan was receiving made him want to knit, they also learn that Phoenix's reprogramming was altered so that he would become an unstoppable killing machine. We learn that it was, in fact, Cocteau that changed the reprogramming in order to send Phoenix into the underground to kill the rebel leader, Edgar Friendly (played by Denis Leary). Spartan, Huxley, and another officer named Garcia (played by Benjamin Bratt) head to the underground and meet with Friendly, who tells them that he chose to live underground and formed his rebel faction because he believes in the freedom of choice, the way things used to be before Cocteau took over. However, Phoenix arrives with a band of criminals from the cryo prison to kill Friendly, and Spartan chases him down, learning from Phoenix that the hostages from '96 were already dead before the building was destroyed, meaning that Spartan spent 36 years cryogenically frozen for nothing.
Phoenix and his band of criminals have a final confrontation with Cocteau, who planted a fail-safe into Phoenix which prevents him from harming Cocteau. However, the same fail-safe was not placed into the other criminals, and one of the criminals (played by Jesse Ventura) kills Cocteau, freeing Phoenix to release more inmates from the cryo prison to tear San Angeles apart. At the cryo prison, Spartan has one final showdown with Phoenix, which (after so many punches, kicks, thrown objects, and typical 90's action movie banter) finally ends with Phoenix being frozen and beheaded, with part of the cryo prison ending up destroyed. Spartan, now done with Phoenix, looks to find his place in this new future, while a combination of the police, Scraps, and Cocteau's aide Bob (played by Glenn Shadix) work together to find a compromise to re-shape the society in the wake of Cocteau's death. With Huxley at his side, and after giving her a kiss, Spartan heads off wondering about something that bugged him throughout the movie (which I neglected to mention before, but here we are), which is the secret behind the three seashells found in all the bathrooms of the future.
Demolition Man is a fine example of early 90's action cheese at its finest. The idea of two iconic action stars like Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes gong head-to-head was pretty cool, but the elements of the future society were a bit off-putting to audiences at the time of release. However, in the age of the Internet we live in today, the movie has a lot more meaning now than it did when it was released. Now, I think its premise definitely wouldn't work today. However, it came out at the right time, and now is getting a cult following due to the film's themes being compared to several elements of Internet culture. As a matter of fact, this is one thing about the movie that I find myself agreeing with the Nostalgia Critic on. As for the cast, Stallone and Snipes were cool, Sandra Bullock was good, Denis Leary was, well, Denis Leary, and I even managed to enjoy Rob Schneider's performance in this movie. The 90's action cliché's, while fun, are a bit tiresome at times, and the quips and one-liners are hit and miss (some are funny, and others make me roll my eyes in annoyance). Overall, a mixed bag of a movie, but still a fun 90's action romp, I'm going to give Demolition Man a rating of 4/5. This is Chuck signing off. See you guys next week when we finish off 90's Throwback Month.
Released in 1993, this action cheese fest focuses on LAPD officer John Spartan (played by Sylvester Stallone) who is on an assignment in the inferno of Los Angeles, in an attempt to arrest psychotic criminal Simon Phoenix (played by Wesley Snipes). After arresting Phoenix, and being charged with negligence, as a bus full of Phoenix's hostages was found in the rubble of the destroyed building that Spartan pulled Phoenix out of, with all of the hostages dead, Spartan is put into cryonic preservation alongside Phoenix in LA's new cryo prison.
Many years in the future, the year is now 2032 (which, as of the time I'm posting this, is twelve years from now). The cities of LA, San Diego, and Santa Barbara have been combined into a new utopian metropolis called San Angeles. Police lieutenant Lena Huxley (played by Sandra Bullock), who is obsessed with things from a time long past, gets excited when the news breaks that Phoenix, during a parole hearing, kills several individuals at the cryo prison and escapes. With modern police, who haven't had to deal with Phoenix's level of violence in this new society, unable to handle Phoenix, Huxley suggests thawing out the officer that arrested him back in the 90's: Spartan. While acclimating to the future, Spartan finds society to be depressing and oppressive (with many things like swearing and physical contact being illegal, and thing that are deemed to be "bad" like drugs, intoxication, and Tobacco being banned), while many officers find him to be brutish and uncivilized. Spartan catches up with Phoenix, and scares him off from a confrontation with Dr. Raymond Cocteau (the leader of the new society), who thanks Spartan by treating him to dinner at Taco Bell (or Pizza Hut in some of the international markets where Taco Bell isn't popular). Apparently in this future, there was an incident called the "franchise wars," and Taco Bell/Pizza Hut was the only restaurant to make it out on top, so now all restaurants are Taco Bell/Pizza Hut.
During this dinner, Spartan is introduced to the only real criminal element of San Angeles, an underground band of rebels, called the Scraps, who choose not to be part of the society of San Angeles. Later that night, Spartan spend tine with Huxley, only to be thrown out of her home, and goes to the home that is set up for him. The next day, after learning that the reprogramming that Spartan was receiving made him want to knit, they also learn that Phoenix's reprogramming was altered so that he would become an unstoppable killing machine. We learn that it was, in fact, Cocteau that changed the reprogramming in order to send Phoenix into the underground to kill the rebel leader, Edgar Friendly (played by Denis Leary). Spartan, Huxley, and another officer named Garcia (played by Benjamin Bratt) head to the underground and meet with Friendly, who tells them that he chose to live underground and formed his rebel faction because he believes in the freedom of choice, the way things used to be before Cocteau took over. However, Phoenix arrives with a band of criminals from the cryo prison to kill Friendly, and Spartan chases him down, learning from Phoenix that the hostages from '96 were already dead before the building was destroyed, meaning that Spartan spent 36 years cryogenically frozen for nothing.
Phoenix and his band of criminals have a final confrontation with Cocteau, who planted a fail-safe into Phoenix which prevents him from harming Cocteau. However, the same fail-safe was not placed into the other criminals, and one of the criminals (played by Jesse Ventura) kills Cocteau, freeing Phoenix to release more inmates from the cryo prison to tear San Angeles apart. At the cryo prison, Spartan has one final showdown with Phoenix, which (after so many punches, kicks, thrown objects, and typical 90's action movie banter) finally ends with Phoenix being frozen and beheaded, with part of the cryo prison ending up destroyed. Spartan, now done with Phoenix, looks to find his place in this new future, while a combination of the police, Scraps, and Cocteau's aide Bob (played by Glenn Shadix) work together to find a compromise to re-shape the society in the wake of Cocteau's death. With Huxley at his side, and after giving her a kiss, Spartan heads off wondering about something that bugged him throughout the movie (which I neglected to mention before, but here we are), which is the secret behind the three seashells found in all the bathrooms of the future.
Demolition Man is a fine example of early 90's action cheese at its finest. The idea of two iconic action stars like Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes gong head-to-head was pretty cool, but the elements of the future society were a bit off-putting to audiences at the time of release. However, in the age of the Internet we live in today, the movie has a lot more meaning now than it did when it was released. Now, I think its premise definitely wouldn't work today. However, it came out at the right time, and now is getting a cult following due to the film's themes being compared to several elements of Internet culture. As a matter of fact, this is one thing about the movie that I find myself agreeing with the Nostalgia Critic on. As for the cast, Stallone and Snipes were cool, Sandra Bullock was good, Denis Leary was, well, Denis Leary, and I even managed to enjoy Rob Schneider's performance in this movie. The 90's action cliché's, while fun, are a bit tiresome at times, and the quips and one-liners are hit and miss (some are funny, and others make me roll my eyes in annoyance). Overall, a mixed bag of a movie, but still a fun 90's action romp, I'm going to give Demolition Man a rating of 4/5. This is Chuck signing off. See you guys next week when we finish off 90's Throwback Month.
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