Plot: What’s it about?
No one struggled with comedies more in the nineties that Sylvester Stallone. Oscar and Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot turned out to be box office poison. It seemed like audiences felt it was high time for Stallone to return to the action genre and the chance came at the early part of the nineties that has plenty of action but also has much humor mixed in with the future environment. He plays a cop who hangs on the thread of the rules and has earned an explosive nickname. He never leaves any investigation structurally intact, he leaves it in shambles as the Demolition Man.
Sgt. John Spartan (Sylvester Stallone) is on the trail of criminal mastermind Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes). In a hostage rescue, he encounters Phoenix in a building filled with gasoline. He catches Phoenix as the building explodes but finds out that amongst the debris is the bodies of the hostages Spartan was brought in to rescue. Both are sentenced to a CryoPrison where they are frozen for many years. Thirty five years later during a parole hearing, Phoenix escapes with more knowledge and more fighting ability than he had before as he causes havoc in an otherwise peace loving society. The police have no choice but to defrost Spartan to apprehend Phoenix but adjusting to this society has it’s own set of challenges.
This is one film not to be taken seriously by any means. Many filmgoers in 1993 expecting to be a typical Stallone action fare got a little more than they bargained for and not everyone bought into it. This viewer almost felt like those moviegoers the first time seeing this film but the film has a infectiously watchable quality to it and if a viewer goes into it knowing that there is a mix of humor, action and special effects, they might find it to be a little more than an entertaining mix. It’s also good that a mention of a future politician and the presence of another surprising politician make themselves known in this film.
Not everything works in this movie. Wesley Snipes plays a credible villain but he takes it a bit too over the top than expected and some of the low key moments he has (there are few) could’ve given a more intriguing angle to his otherwise comic book villain. It also doesn’t help that they couldn’t use Jesse Ventura to his full potential in a mute role that he could’ve cut loose in.
Other than that, Demolition Man has interesting touches, both past and present, and is very visually striking and very entertaining but an average futuristic film that makes us wonder one question that has pondered us all even today. When it comes to taking care of personal business, how do you use the three sea shells?
Video: How does it look?
Demolition Man has a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and the results are very good even for one of DVDs earlier titles. The transfer keeps the look of this film visually eye popping and there is some grain evident but not a lot of it. The clarity is right on with this one displaying the special effects without much screen debris and using many colors without any oversaturation and without overbleeding of colors. Overall, a very good transfer.
Audio: How does it sound?
The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is a good track but not a great one. The films of the nineties have much clarity when it comes to the audio part of a film and this one is no exception. The sound effects and dialogue are well balanced and well spread amongst all channels with the music and the explosions saved for the back channels and the center channels for the dialogue although there is always a sense of something missing. Other than that, a very good audio track. This film also has a Spanish Audio Track along with English, French and Spanish subtitles.
Supplements: What are the extras?
In the early titles of DVD, there wasn’t a great deal when it came to supplements, but in this case there is one more than expected. Along with production notes and the film’s theatrical trailer (with some alternate takes, thank god they got cut), there is a commentary track by director Marco Brambilla and producer Joel Silver. This is a very informative and entertaining track with Marco dominating the entire track with Silver only there for the first few minutes. There is much said about the making of the film and a little bit about most of the actors and actresses in the film. It’s not too self congratulatory but it’s not too routine either. The director comes across very well and it makes for a good commentary track.
Demolition Man luckily doesn’t self destruct with the comedic touches to this action film but manages to be a decent film and a better than decent DVD.
