Director: Marco Brambilla
Screenplay: Daniel Waters, Robert Reneau, Peter M. Lenkov
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock and Nigel Hawthorne
Country: United States
Running Time: 115 min
Year: 1993
When Arrow Video’s deal with Warner Bros. was announced earlier in the year, the last film I expected to see them release was Marco Brambilla’s Demolition Man. By all accounts, it felt like the type of film that would get the traditional WB reissue with no new bonus features, a great transfer and that’d be it. Thankfully, we got the best of both worlds because outside of an excellent transfer (which I talk about in the second half of this review) and great new audio, we were also treated to Arrow Video’s typical range of bonus features. I’m getting ahead of myself though, before I discuss the release, let’s dive into the film.
With a production history almost more interesting than the film itself, Demolition Man is one of the defining cult action films of the 90s, blending a Blade Runner-esque universe with a campy villain who feels ripped straight out of a Batman film. Stallone’s career was in a peculiar place, with a series of misfires such as Rocky V, Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot and Oscar but after the success of Cliffhanger and Demolition Man, he was all the rage again. Snipes was an up and comer too, with hits like New Jack City, White Men Can’t Jump and Passenger 57. DIrector Marco Brambilla was an interesting case because it was Brambilla’s directorial debut, something that irked Warner but thanks to producer Joel Silver’s persistence, Marco ended up making the film he wanted to make.
Demolition Man is an interesting case because while the film itself has all of the ingredients needed for a great time, I found myself slightly disappointed by it for a variety of reasons. Let’s talk about the positives first, the casting of Stallone and Snipes is iconic for more reasons than one. It’s a fantastic pairing, giving the audience the typical macho Sly performance and then facing him with the campy, over-the-top and theatrical Wesley Snipes. Sly plays John Spartan and Snipes plays Simon Phoenix, with a dynamic similar to Batman and the Joker, one of them always evading the other, feeling like they need each other to go on, etc. and it’s highlighted best in that opening scene. After the pair are cryogenically frozen and awoken almost 40 years later, they come to grips with the new-new and Spartan attempts to stop Phoenix once and for all.
The premise is fun, but outside of some fun comical moments involving the lack of freedom in the future (you can’t swear, you can’t have sex, you can’t get pregnant), the film loses steam because of the lack of that compelling dynamic that’s immediately established. The future looks great, in a 90s fashion (predicting what the future would look like from that era is something I’ll always find fascinating) and Bullock’s character, who serves as an entry-point into the future is decent too but I found my interest wavering as it went on.
There’s nothing inherently awful about Demolition Man, outside of some really poor one liners (I’m a sucker for a bad one liner but there’s some real stinkers here) but it feels full of missed potential given what it was advertised as. For a film that’s selling you on Stallone versus Snipes, there’s nowhere near enough Snipes to fulfill that promise. Still, the film has a cult following for a reason. It’s silly, there’s some fun action and it’s memorable in many ways. I wish I would have loved it, but I found it to be a fairly passable 90s sci-fi thriller.
Film: 
Demolition Man releases on Limited Edition 4K UHD and Blu-ray via Arrow Video on the 16th December. I viewed the 4K UHD version for this review. The transfer’s brand new, restored from the original negatives by Arrow themselves and it’s a stunning watch. The new Dolby Vision grade is subtle, not overdoing the HDR and looks great too. Image quality is fantastic, which shouldn’t be a surprise given that it’s Arrow and it’s a restoration of something shot on film, but it blew me away. Audio wise, there’s three tracks, English 2.0, English 5.1 and a brand new Dolby Atmos mix, which came as a shock to me. Usually, Arrow don’t put Atmos mixes on their discs, the last time I remember seeing one was their RoboCop disc. I flipped between all three and while the Atmos track sounds great, the 2.0 was my favourite sounding track. Optional English subtitles are included. All in all, it’s a fantastic disc on an A/V level. The following extras are included:
4K ULTRA HD LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
Brand new 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative by Arrow Films, approved by director Marco Brambilla
Includes both the domestic “Taco Bell” and international “Pizza Hut” versions of the film presented via seamless branching
4K Ultra HD (2160p) presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
Original lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 and Dolby Atmos audio options
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Brand new audio commentary by director Marco Brambilla and screenwriter Daniel Waters
Brand new audio commentary by film historian Mike White of the Projection Booth podcast
Archive audio commentary by Marco Brambilla and producer Joel Silver
Demolition Design, a new interview with production designer David L. Snyder
Cryo Action, a new interview with stunt coordinator Charles Percini
Biggs’ Body Shoppe, a new interview with special make-up effects artist Chris Biggs
Tacos and Hockey Pucks, a new interview with body effects set coordinator Jeff Farley
Somewhere Over the Rambo, a new visual essay by film scholar Josh Nelson
Theatrical trailer
Image gallery
60-page perfect bound collector’s book featuring new writing by film critics Clem Bastow, William Bibbiani, Priscilla Page and Martyn Pedler
Limited edition packaging featuring newly commissioned artwork by Laurie Greasley
Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Laurie Greasley
6 postcard sized artcards
‘Three Seashells’ and ‘Edgar Friendly graffiti’ stickers
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Laurie Greasley
Two versions of the film are included, the Taco Bell cut and the infamous Pizza Hut version for international audiences. I watched the Taco Bell version, but seeing the alternate cut’s inclusion is great.
Three audio commentaries are included, one archival and two exclusive to this release. The archival track with director Brambilla and producer Silver is a decent listen, although the audio for the film’s a tad too loud for my taste. It was recorded for the DVD release and has been on most home video releases, so it’s great to see it ported over once again. Mike White’s critic commentary offers a great history on the film, its production history and it’s a solid listen. If you’re interested in hearing a factual recounting of Demolition Man’s history, you couldn’t ask for a better track. Finally, the brand new audio commentary with director Brambilla and writer Daniel Waters is probably the most entertaining of the three tracks, with Brambilla sounding even more lively than his original track and Waters is a great co-host for the track too. All in all, it’s a really good trio of commentaries that get better and better as they go along.
A video essay by Josh Nelson is included, running for 17 minutes and as expected, his analysis on the film is fascinating. I’ve enjoyed the commentary tracks I’ve heard from Nelson and hearing him discuss the politics of the film, its importance in Stallone’s filmography and the influences of writing and film that came before (Blade Runner, The Wizard of Oz, Brave New World) and violence’s place in the film. A great video essay that’s easily my favourite extra on the entire disc.
Four brand new and exclusive interviews are included for this release, with production designer David L. Snyder, stunt coordinator Charles Percini, special make-up effects artist Chris Biggs and body effects set coordinator Jeff Farley. They’re all solid watches. Snyder’s 14 minute interview is a good one, with him discussing how he worked on the live-action Super Mario Bros. film and wanted to go from creating a dystopian future to a utopian future with Demolition Man. He also dives into the creation of the museum and more. Absolutely worth watching. In Percini’s 6 minute interview, he talks about his prior experience with producer Joel Silver and his work on television series like Starsky & Hutch before working on feature films. It’s a fun, if brief interview. Biggs talks for 6 minutes about his experience working on countless Joel Silver productions prior to Demolition Man, how he became attached to the film in general as well as some of the most memorable special effects, including the creation of some fake breasts for Sandra Bullock in one scene. A fascinating interview for sure. Farley’s interview runs for 10 minutes and highlights his experience working on the film, helping with some of the body effects for Stallone and Snipes, as well as visiting the set. It’s a nice capper to the interviews.
The theatrical trailer and an image gallery are included.
I wasn’t provided with any of the physical extras, so I’m unable to comment on those.
While I wasn’t a huge fan of the film, Arrow Video’s release of Demolition Man is a great one. Packed with solid extras, a great transfer and audio and by all accounts, another stellar Arrow physical release, it’s the definitive home media release of this messy cult classic.
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