Demolition Man

PLOT:

In 1997, Los Angeles has fallen into chaos, with criminal warlords ruling various sections of the city. The most dangerous of these is Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes), who has just kidnapped a busload of people that strayed into his territory. The LAPD mounts a raid on his headquarters, with Sergeant John Spartan (Sylvester Stallone) – nicknamed “Demolition Man” for the extensive property damage that occurs when he apprehends criminals – going in first and alone. He captures Phoenix, but the latter sets off explosives to destroy the building; the bodies of the bus passengers are soon found in the rubble. Spartan is also arrested on Phoenix’s accusation that the hostages had been alive before Spartan’s actions, and both men are sent to the California State “CryoPrison,” where they are cryogenically frozen in suspended animation to serve out their lengthy sentences (Spartan is sentenced to seventy years; eligible for parole no earlier or later than the year 2046, 50 years from ’97. Phoenix is sentenced to life imprisonment).

Thirty-six years later, in 2032, Phoenix is thawed out for a parole hearing, whereupon he kills the warden and escapes. He begins to rampage through what is now “San Angeles” (a combination of Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa Barbara), hacking into the city’s computer network and overpowering police officers with ease. Since San Angeles is a pacifist utopia, the police are helpless to deal with this sort of behavior. However, Lieutenant Lenina Huxley (Sandra Bullock), an officer fascinated with 20th-century culture, suggests that Spartan be brought in to stop Phoenix.

Spartan is revived and reinstated on the force, but he chafes at the enforced tranquility of this society and many of the people he interacts with, particularly George Earle (Bob Gunton), the commanding Chief of Police/Captain, find his behavior barbaric. He still gains respect from the San Angeles police (particularly Huxley and Zachary Lamb, a fellow officer from 1996) due to his blue collar nature and anti-authoritarian attitude. Phoenix arms himself by breaking into an exhibit of now-anachronistic firearms at a local museum. Spartan tracks him down and fights him here, but Phoenix escapes and briefly encounters Dr. Raymond Cocteau (Nigel Hawthorne), the creator of San Angeles’ society. Cocteau suggests that Phoenix has a job to do: kill Edgar Friendly (Denis Leary), leader of the homeless “Scrap” people who live in the underground “Wasteland,” or the ruins of old Los Angeles.

Spartan and Huxley later witness Friendly leading the Scraps in an above-ground food raid, part of a resistance movement aimed at bringing down Cocteau’s paradise. They also determine that Phoenix was trained in all manner of violent criminal behavior while in CryoPrison, then allowed to escape so he could work for Cocteau. Meanwhile, Phoenix confronts Cocteau again and demands the release of several other criminals to help rebuild his organization.

Entering the Wasteland in search of Phoenix, Spartan, Huxley and sidekick Alfredo Garcia (Benjamin Bratt) meet Friendly face to face. The reason for his defiance of the established social order, he says, is that he is a free-thinking individual who only wants to be left alone to live his life as he chooses. Spartan and Phoenix fight down here, leading to a car chase through the San Angeles streets. At this point, Phoenix reveals that the bus passengers he kidnapped in 1996 were already dead before Spartan arrived, so the latter went to prison for a crime he never committed.

Phoenix eventually gets away, but Spartan and Huxley pursue him into the CryoPrison. Along the way, they find the body of Cocteau, shot dead by one of Phoenix’s men, and learn that Phoenix is thawing out the prison’s worst offenders. Going in alone, Spartan battles him one last time and finally freezes him solid, then kicks his head off to shatter on the floor. Damage from the brawl causes the system to overload, and Spartan barely makes it to the street before the entire CryoPrison explodes. In the aftermath, he suggests that the surface dwellers and Scraps work together to build a better society, then departs with Huxley to explore life in the future.

REVIEW:

I used to have this movie poster hanging above my bed when I as in high school. Strangely enough, I never saw the film until a few years ago. I thought it was just a cool poster to have and all, never thinking the film would be worth watching. Boy was I wrong. This movie is totally awesome!!!

Set in the future, society has become totally peaceful. So much so, that any and all crimes are as obsolete and outdated as dinosaurs. Anything that the powers that be have deemed “bad for you” is illegal, such as salt, carbonated beverages, foul language, etc. Other than having a chip installed in your skin so that they know where you are at all times and the whole stuff that is bad for you being outlawed thing, I’d love to live in this society, but that’s just wishful thinking.

When the film opens in 1996, Sylvester Stallone confronts Welsey Snipes, who inadvertently blows up a factory which holds a bus full of people. At the time, it is believed that they were still alive when he went in there, but it is later revealed theat they were killed before Stallone gets there. The results of this catastrophe lead to both Snipes and Stallone being cryogenically frozen.

Somehow, Snipes is up for parole when we get to the future. In his hearing, he escapes and begins tearing through San Angeles with “old school” crime. This leads the inept police to thaw Stallone out with the hopes that he can track him down and catch him agin. Little did they know that man behind Phoenix’s release is the top dog in the city. You can imagine the complications that can cause.

On top of all this, there is some sort of subplot involving Dennis Leary and a group of underdwellers (look for Jack Black) and a bit of romance between Stallone and Sandra Bullock’s 90s obsessed character. These don’t take anything away from the story, but they do get a tad confusing, especially the virtual sex that Stallone has with Bullock.

The action is this film is what you would expect from a flick of this nature, especially the climactic fight with Stallone and Snipes. Sure, it could have been better, but there are tons of worse fight scenes in cinema. The setting of San Angeles is beautiful, if I do say so myself, but it would have been nice to see a bit more of it. Of course, Taco Bell being the only restaurant would kill me.

This film is highly underrated, and I don’t understand why. It has sci-fi action, future dystopian setting, some dark, violent moments, comedy, pretty much everything that would make a good film, yet it doesn’t get the respect it deserves. While it wasn’t a flop, it just deserves more notoriety. If you don’t belive me, then check it out and see for yourself.

4 out of 5 stars

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