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==Reception==
==Reception==
=== Critical response ===
⚫
The film received mixed to positive reviews, maintaining a 63% "fresh" rating on [[Rotten Tomatoes]], based on 32 reviews. However, the film scored a 34/100 on [[Metacritic]], based on 9 reviews.<ref>{{Cite news|title= Demolition Man: Another Killer Blond|work=Los Angeles TImes|date=October 8, 1993|url= http://articles.latimes.com/1993-10-08/entertainment/ca-43330_1_demolition-man|accessdate=September 10, 2010|first=Kenneth|last=Turan}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title= Review/Film; Waking Up In a Future Of Muscles|work=The New York Times|date=October 8, 1993|url= http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F0CE1DE1531F93BA35753C1A965958260|accessdate=September 10, 2010|first=Vincent|last=Canby}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title= Futuristic Face-Off|work=Time Magazine |date=October 18, 1993|url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,979410,00.html |accessdate=September 19, 2010|first=Richard|last=Schickel}}</ref>
The film received mixed reviews. [[Rotten Tomatoes]] gives the film a score of 64% rating on based on 36 reviews.<ref>http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/demolition_man/ </ref> The film scored a 34/100 on [[Metacritic]], based on 9 reviews.<ref>http://www.metacritic.com/movie/demolition-man </ref>


{{Expand section}}
⚫
On ''[[Siskel & Ebert]]'', [[Gene Siskel]] gave the movie thumbs down, criticizing its violence, but did praise its "funny offbeat script." [[Roger Ebert]] praised the movie: "Unlike so many other movies of its genre, it really does have a satiric angle to it."
⚫
<ref>{{Cite news|title= Demolition Man: Another Killer Blond|work=Los Angeles TImes|date=October 8, 1993|url= http://articles.latimes.com/1993-10-08/entertainment/ca-43330_1_demolition-man|accessdate=September 10, 2010|first=Kenneth|last=Turan}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title= Review/Film; Waking Up In a Future Of Muscles|work=The New York Times|date=October 8, 1993|url= http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9F0CE1DE1531F93BA35753C1A965958260|accessdate=September 10, 2010|first=Vincent|last=Canby}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title= Futuristic Face-Off|work=Time Magazine |date=October 18, 1993|url= http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,979410,00.html |accessdate=September 19, 2010|first=Richard|last=Schickel}}</ref>


⚫
On ''[[Siskel & Ebert]]'', [[Gene Siskel]] gave the movie thumbs down, criticizing its violence, but did praise its "funny offbeat script." [[Roger Ebert]] praised the movie: "Unlike so many other movies of its genre, it really does have a satiric angle to it."{{citation needed}}
⚫
The film debuted at No. 1 at the box office.<ref>{{cite news|title= Weekend Box Office Stallone, Snipes: Action at Box Office|work= The Los Angeles Times|date=October 12, 1993|url= http://articles.latimes.com/1993-10-12/entertainment/ca-44901_1_box-offices|accessdate=October 27, 2010|first=David J.|last=Fox}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title= Hoping for a Box Office Blowout on 'Demolition Man'|work= The Los Angeles Times|date=October 12, 1993|url= http://articles.latimes.com/1993-10-12/business/fi-44960_1_demolition-man|accessdate=November 8, 2010|first=Jane|last=Galbraith}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title= Weekend Box Office : 'Demolition Man' Fends Off 'Hillbillies' |work=The Los Angeles Times|date=October 19, 1993|url= http://articles.latimes.com/1993-10-19/entertainment/ca-47287_1_demolition-man|accessdate=December 30, 2010|first=David J.|last=Fox}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title= DEMOLITION MAN' EXPLODES INTO CHARTS AT NO. 1|work=Chicago Tribune |date=October 15, 1993|url= http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/24259532.html?dids=24259532:24259532&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+15,+1993&author=John+Horn,+Associated+Press.&pub=Chicago+Tribune+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=`DEMOLITION+MAN'+EXPLODES+INTO+CHARTS+AT+NO.+1&pqatl=google|accessdate=September 19, 2010|first=John|last=Horn}}</ref> ''Demolition Man'' grossed $58,055,768 by the end of its box office run in North America and $159,055,768 worldwide.<ref name="thenumbers"/> The movie was nominated for a [[Razzie Award]] for Worst Supporting Actress ([[Sandra Bullock]]). Over the years, however, the film has seen a more positive reception and has also acquired cult film status through numerous cable TV airings and solid home video sales.

=== Box Office ===
⚫
The film debuted at No. 1 at the box office.<ref>{{cite news|title= Weekend Box Office Stallone, Snipes: Action at Box Office|work= The Los Angeles Times|date=October 12, 1993|url= http://articles.latimes.com/1993-10-12/entertainment/ca-44901_1_box-offices|accessdate=October 27, 2010|first=David J.|last=Fox}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title= Hoping for a Box Office Blowout on 'Demolition Man'|work= The Los Angeles Times|date=October 12, 1993|url= http://articles.latimes.com/1993-10-12/business/fi-44960_1_demolition-man|accessdate=November 8, 2010|first=Jane|last=Galbraith}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title= Weekend Box Office : 'Demolition Man' Fends Off 'Hillbillies' |work=The Los Angeles Times|date=October 19, 1993|url= http://articles.latimes.com/1993-10-19/entertainment/ca-47287_1_demolition-man|accessdate=December 30, 2010|first=David J.|last=Fox}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title= DEMOLITION MAN' EXPLODES INTO CHARTS AT NO. 1|work=Chicago Tribune |date=October 15, 1993|url= http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/24259532.html?dids=24259532:24259532&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Oct+15,+1993&author=John+Horn,+Associated+Press.&pub=Chicago+Tribune+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=`DEMOLITION+MAN'+EXPLODES+INTO+CHARTS+AT+NO.+1&pqatl=google|accessdate=September 19, 2010|first=John|last=Horn}}</ref> ''Demolition Man'' grossed $58,055,768 by the end of its box office run in North America and $159,055,768 worldwide.<ref name="thenumbers" />

{{Anchor|Awards|Accolades}}
The movie was nominated for a [[Razzie Award]] for Worst Supporting Actress ([[Sandra Bullock]]).{{citation needed}} Over the years, the film has seen a more positive reception and has also acquired cult film status through numerous cable TV airings and solid home video sales.


==Home media==
==Home media==

Revision as of 01:11, 3 August 2013

Demolition Man
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMarco Brambilla
Screenplay byDaniel Waters
Robert Reneau
Peter M. Lenkov
Story byPeter M. Lenkov
Robert Reneau
Produced byJoel Silver[1]
Michael Levy
Howard Kazanjian
StarringSylvester Stallone
Wesley Snipes
Sandra Bullock
Nigel Hawthorne
Benjamin Bratt
Bob Gunton
Denis Leary
Glenn Shadix
CinematographyAlex Thomson
Edited byStuart Baird
Music byElliot Goldenthal
Production
company
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release date
  • October 8, 1993 (1993-10-08)
Running time
115 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$57 million
Box office$159,055,768[2]
For other uses, see Demolition man (disambiguation).

Demolition Man is a 1993 American science fiction action film directed by Marco Brambilla, and starring Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes. Sandra Bullock, Nigel Hawthorne, and Denis Leary co-star.[3]

The film tells the story of two men—one, an evil crime lord; the other, a risk-taking police officer—who are cryogenically frozen in the year 1996 and reawakened in 2032. Following a massive earthquake in 2010 that destroyed much of Los Angeles, it merged with San Diego to form a planned city called San Angeles in which all crime has seemingly been eliminated from mainstream society.

Some aspects of the film allude to Aldous Huxley's dystopian novel, Brave New World.[4]

Plot

In 1996, LAPD Sgt. John Spartan leads a raid to rescue hostages taken by the psychopathic criminal Simon Phoenix. After an initial scan reveals no sign of the hostages, Spartan enters Phoenix's stronghold and captures him. However, before he is captured, Phoenix detonates several barrels of C4, which destroys the building. The hostages' bodies are found in the rubble, and Spartan is blamed for their deaths. Both men are sentenced to "CryoPrison," where they are kept in cryogenic storage and exposed to subconscious rehabilitation techniques.

In 2032, Phoenix escapes from CryoPrison during a parole hearing and begins a crime spree. By now the cities of Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Barbara have merged into the utopian San Angeles, under the pacifist guidance of Dr. Raymond Cocteau. All vices have been outlawed, and the San Angeles Police (SAPD) are now incapable of dealing with criminals like Phoenix. However, veteran officer Zachary Lamb suggests that Spartan be revived and reinstated to the force to help them recapture Phoenix. Lieutenant Lenina Huxley is assigned to assist Spartan.

The revived Spartan has trouble adapting to life in the future. Most of Huxley's fellow officers, especially Chief George Earle, find him brutish and uncivilized. After Phoenix breaks into a museum's weapon exhibition to arm himself, he runs into Cocteau and tries to shoot him, but can not. Cocteau calmly reminds him of why he was revived: to kill Edgar Friendly, the leader of the Scraps resistance fighters, who live in underground ruins beneath San Angeles. After seeing the exchange on security cameras, Spartan and Huxley check prison records and determine that Cocteau programmed Phoenix to make him an even more dangerous criminal and assassin, with the goal of eliminating Friendly. While Spartan and Huxley enter the underground to warn Friendly, Phoenix confronts Cocteau and demands that he release other prisoners to assist him.

At Friendly's underground base, Phoenix and his gang of Cryo-Cons attempt to kill both Spartan and Friendly, but the two of them and Huxley repel the attack. During a subsequent car chase through San Angeles, Phoenix admits that the hostages that Spartan tried to save in 1996 were already dead before the building exploded, so Spartan spent 36 years in prison unnecessarily. Though Phoenix escapes, the Scraps emerge from the underground to join the SAPD against Phoenix and his new criminal gang.

Opposed to Cocteau’s plans for San Angeles, and realizing that he cannot kill Cocteau himself because of his programming, Phoenix has one of his men kill Cocteau. Spartan and Huxley arrive at Cocteau’s headquarters to capture Phoenix and what remains of his gang, but Phoenix escapes to the CryoPrison to revive the most dangerous convicts. After knocking out Huxley to protect her, Spartan raids the CryoPrison to confront Phoenix. After an intense battle with Phoenix, Spartan freezes him solid. Spartan escapes just before the cryo-machinery overloads, destroying the prison. With Cocteau dead and the prison destroyed, the police and Scraps find themselves at odds over how to run their society. Spartan suggests that they find a way to compromise between order and personal freedom, then kisses Huxley and departs with her.

Cast

Jack Black played one of the "Wasteland Scraps" in the underground scene, who flinches when Spartan shoves the gun out of his face and says "And Cocteau's an asshole!"[5] Rob Schneider played Erwin, one of the operators in the San Angeles Police control room; he would also play opposite Stallone in the 1995 movie Judge Dredd.[6]

Sandra Bullock replaced original actress Lori Petty in the role of Lenina Huxley after a few days filming.[7] Her character's name is a reference to Aldous Huxley, the author of Brave New World, and Lenina Crowne, a character in Brave New World.[4]

Originally Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal were offered lead roles in the movie.[8] The role of Simon Phoenix was also offered to Jackie Chan.[9]

Production

General Motors provided the production team with 18 concept vehicles, including the Ultralite concept vehicle. More than 20 fiberglass replicas of the Ultralite were produced to portray civilian and SAPD patrol vehicles in the film. After filming had completed, the remaining Ultralites were returned to Michigan as part of GM's concept vehicle fleet.[10] The movie also features a 1970 Oldsmobile 442 in its chase scene. The Oldsmobile brand is featured prominently in the film (including a scene involving an Oldsmobile dealership), becoming an unintentional anachronism due to the Oldsmobile brand's discontinuation in 2004.

For some non-American releases, references to Taco Bell were changed to Pizza Hut because the latter had a much larger share of foreign fast food markets in the early 1990s. This includes dubbing, plus changing the logos during post-production. Taco Bell remains in the closing credits. In the Swedish release the subtitles still use Taco Bell while the sound and picture has been altered as above. The original version released in Australia (on VHS) contained Taco Bell, yet the newer version on DVD was changed both in logo and dubbing to Pizza Hut. (In the scene where the restaurant patrons are looking through the glass window to the fight scene outside, "Taco Bell" can be seen etched into the glass, even in the modified version.)

In one scene, Phoenix makes a comment about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer being one of the cryo-inmates. Since this movie was made before his death in prison in 1994, in this alternate time period, he had been frozen with all the other criminals that were deemed too dangerous.

Hungarian science fiction writer István Nemere claims that most of Demolition Man is based on his novel Holtak harca (Fight of the Dead), published in 1986. In the novel, a terrorist and his enemy, a counter-terrorism soldier are cryogenically frozen and awakened in the 22nd century, when violence was purged from society. Nemere claimed that a committee proved that 75% of the film is identical to the book. However, Nemere chose not to initiate a lawsuit, as it would have been too expensive for him to hire a lawyer and fight against major Hollywood forces in the United States. The author claims that Hollywood had ripped-off works of many Eastern European writers after the fall of the Iron Curtain, and that he knows the person he claims to be responsible for illegally selling his idea to the filmmakers.[11]

Soundtrack

Main article: Demolition Man (soundtrack)

The theme song to the film, "Demolition Man", is played over the end credits. It is a remix (heavier version) of the song originally recorded by Grace Jones and written by Sting during his time as frontman for The Police. The song was first released in March 1981, as an advance single from Jones's fifth album, Nightclubbing. Sting released an EP featuring this song and other live tracks, entitled Demolition Man.

Acclaimed composer Elliot Goldenthal composed the score for the film. It was his second big Hollywood project after the Alien³ score.

Reception

Critical response

The film received mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 64% rating on based on 36 reviews.[12] The film scored a 34/100 on Metacritic, based on 9 reviews.[13]

[14][15][16]

On Siskel & Ebert, Gene Siskel gave the movie thumbs down, criticizing its violence, but did praise its "funny offbeat script." Roger Ebert praised the movie: "Unlike so many other movies of its genre, it really does have a satiric angle to it."[citation needed]

Box Office

The film debuted at No. 1 at the box office.[17][18][19][20] Demolition Man grossed $58,055,768 by the end of its box office run in North America and $159,055,768 worldwide.[2]

The movie was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress (Sandra Bullock).[citation needed] Over the years, the film has seen a more positive reception and has also acquired cult film status through numerous cable TV airings and solid home video sales.

Home media

The film was first released on VHS in the spring of 1994. Three years later in 1997, the film was first released on DVD, and was reissued once more in 2010. A year later in 2011, the film was released on Blu-ray.

Adaptations

Games

Acclaim Entertainment and Virgin Interactive released Demolition Man on various home video game systems. The 16-bit versions were shooting games distributed by Acclaim. The 3DO version is a multi-genre game that incorporates Full Motion Video scenes, with both Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes reprising their roles as their characters in scenes that were filmed exclusively for the game.

In April 1994, Williams released a widebody pinball game, Demolition Man based on the movie. It is designed by Dennis Nordman. This game features sound clips from the movie, as well as original speech by Stallone and Snipes. This game was part of WMS' SuperPin series (Twilight Zone, Indiana Jones, etc.).

See also

References

  1. ^ Goldstein, Patrick (August 1, 1993). "Hollywood's Big-Bang Theorist". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 19, 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Demolition Man – Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information". The Numbers. Retrieved June 1, 2010.
  3. ^ Wong, Stacy (April 16, 1993). "Irvine Cast as Futuristic L.A. : Movie: Action-thriller starring Wesley Snipes and Sylvester Stallone is being filmed in the city this week". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 8, 2010.
  4. ^ a b James, Caryn (October 24, 1993). "FILM VIEW; 'Demolition Man' Makes Recycling an Art — The". New York Times. Retrieved March 9, 2009.
  5. ^ Jack Black at IMDb
  6. ^ Rob Schneider at IMDb
  7. ^ http://tv.yahoo.com/lori-petty/contributor/31686/bio
  8. ^ "The Jean-Claude Van Damme/Steven Seagal Movie That Never Will Be...'Demolition Man'". MTV. March 3, 2008. Retrieved May 16, 2011.
  9. ^ Dickerson, Jeff (April 4, 2002). "Black Delights in Demolition Man". The Michigan Daily. Archived from the original on December 24, 2007. Retrieved September 19, 2010.
  10. ^ "How Many Ultralite Concept Vehicles Were There?". GM Heritage Center. Retrieved January 8, 2012.
  11. ^ "Nemere István: A cenzúra a fejekben van". Origo (in Hungarian). Retrieved November 28, 2010.
  12. ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/demolition_man/
  13. ^ http://www.metacritic.com/movie/demolition-man
  14. ^ Turan, Kenneth (October 8, 1993). "Demolition Man: Another Killer Blond". Los Angeles TImes. Retrieved September 10, 2010.
  15. ^ Canby, Vincent (October 8, 1993). "Review/Film; Waking Up In a Future Of Muscles". The New York Times. Retrieved September 10, 2010.
  16. ^ Schickel, Richard (October 18, 1993). "Futuristic Face-Off". Time Magazine. Retrieved September 19, 2010.
  17. ^ Fox, David J. (October 12, 1993). "Weekend Box Office Stallone, Snipes: Action at Box Office". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 27, 2010.
  18. ^ Galbraith, Jane (October 12, 1993). "Hoping for a Box Office Blowout on 'Demolition Man'". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 8, 2010.
  19. ^ Fox, David J. (October 19, 1993). "Weekend Box Office : 'Demolition Man' Fends Off 'Hillbillies'". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 30, 2010.
  20. ^ Horn, John (October 15, 1993). "DEMOLITION MAN' EXPLODES INTO CHARTS AT NO. 1". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 19, 2010.
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