Demolition Man (film)

Demolition Man is a 1993 American science fiction action film directed by Marco Brambilla in his directorial debut. It stars Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock, and Nigel Hawthorne. Stallone plays John Spartan, a risk-taking police officer with a reputation for causing destruction while carrying out his work. After a failed attempt to rescue hostages from evil crime lord Simon Phoenix (Snipes), they are both sentenced to be cryogenically frozen in 1996. In 2032, Phoenix escapes and the authorities awaken Spartan to help capture him. The story makes allusions to many other works, including Aldous Huxley's 1932 dystopian novel Brave New World<ref name="James" /> and H. G. Wells's The Sleeper Awakes.<ref name="Lambie">Template:Cite web</ref>

The film was released in the United States on October 8, 1993, to mixed reviews from critics. It earned $159 million worldwide, and was considered a successful film for Stallone.

Plot

In 1996, psychopathic criminal Simon Phoenix kidnaps a busload of hostages and takes refuge in an abandoned building. Los Angeles Police Department Sergeant John Spartan, nicknamed "The Demolition Man" for the large amounts of collateral damage he often causes in apprehending suspects, mounts an unauthorized assault to capture Phoenix. When a thermal scan of the area reveals no trace of the hostages, he raids the building and confronts Phoenix, who sets off explosives to destroy everything. The hostages' corpses are found in the rubble, and Phoenix claims that Spartan knew about the hostages but attacked anyway. Both men are sentenced to lengthy terms in the city's "California Cryo-Penitentiary", in which convicts are cryogenically frozen and undergo subliminal rehabilitation techniques.

In 2032, the city of San Angeles – a megalopolis formed from the merger of Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa Barbara – is a seemingly peaceful utopia designed and run by Dr. Raymond Cocteau. Phoenix is thawed for a parole hearing but easily escapes by using advanced technological skills he did not have before. Phoenix makes his way into the city, where to his surprise, he can now easily hack into all modern computer networks. Several police officers arrive and interrupt his hacking using only a firm voice. Annoyed, Phoenix taunts and kills the officers with ease then walks away. The modern police watching everything from a control room, have never had to deal with such primitive violence, stand shocked and helpless.

Lieutenant Lenina Huxley, an idealistic San Angeles Police Department officer who is fascinated with 20th-century culture, learns about Spartan's career from a veteran officer, Zachary Lamb, who suggests that their best chance to stop Phoenix is by enlisting someone with the experience and mindset to anticipate his actions. Huxley persuades her superior, Chief George Earle, to parole Spartan and reinstate him. Spartan finds life in San Angeles to be sterile and oppressive, since all types of behavior deemed immoral or unhealthy have been declared illegal.

Anticipating that Phoenix will attempt to secure firearms, Spartan rejects the computer's projection that Phoenix will first create a new drug network, has Huxley lead him to a museum, and finds Phoenix looting an exhibit of weapons. Phoenix escapes and unexpectedly runs into Cocteau, holds him at gunpoint but is unable to kill him, since Cocteau has altered his rehabilitation program to prevent him from doing so. Cocteau then orders Phoenix to kill Edgar Friendly, the leader of the Scraps, a resistance society that lives underground. Spartan arrives to find Cocteau unharmed and ponders why Phoenix would stop to talk to this one person.

Investigating Phoenix's extraordinary technological skills, Spartan and Huxley discover that Phoenix's rehabilitation program was tailored by Cocteau to make him even more dangerous. Unhappy with Phoenix's progress, Cocteau threatens Phoenix with a return to the cryo-prison if he does not deal with Friendly and Spartan. Phoenix persuades Cocteau to release additional cryo-prisoners to counteract Spartan's interference. Phoenix then leads his new gang underground to assassinate Friendly, only to find Spartan was already there. Spartan and Huxley thwart the attempt on Friendly's life by Phoenix, who taunts Spartan, saying that he framed him for the deaths of the 1996 hostages; they were dead before the building exploded. Afterwards, as Phoenix escapes to meet Cocteau, Spartan borrows weapons from the Scraps and pursues him.

Now pleased with Phoenix's terror, Cocteau gleefully boasts he intends to use the chaos he orchestrated to remake San Angeles into a "flawless pearl" which is even more authoritarian. Appalled, but unable to harm Cocteau, Phoenix then realizes his unconditioned minions could kill Cocteau, then thaws out the cryo-prison's most dangerous convicts. After incapacitating Huxley for her safety, Spartan battles and defeats Phoenix by freezing him solid. The uncontrolled quick-freezing effect then triggers an explosion that destroys the cryo-prison.

The police fear that the loss of Cocteau and his cryo-prison will end society as they know it. Spartan urges them and the Scraps to work together, combining both the best aspects of order with personal freedom. Huxley and Spartan kiss, then depart together.

Production

Development

Template:Anchor The original script was written by Peter Lenkov, who retained a story by credit.<ref name="Goldstein" /> Lenkov came to Hollywood straight out of college with no connections, and wrote seven different scripts, desperately hoping to break into Hollywood.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Selling the spec script of Demolition Man to Warner Bros. was his first big break.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Lenkov had been inspired by Lethal Weapon and wanted to do something about cops. He was also influenced by stories of celebrities being cryogenically frozen and listening to Sting's song "Demolition Man" on repeat due to a broken cassette player in his car.<ref name="TST">Template:Cite podcast</ref> His initial pitch was rejected by an executive who did not understand his "frozen cop" idea. The finished script, where a super cop has to battle the world's deadliest criminal, in a future where there is almost no crime, generated more interest.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Writer Daniel Waters (known for Heathers) said his version of the screenplay was essentially a rewrite; he changed the script so extensively that when the script went to arbitration he received first screenplay writing credit. In the early drafts the script was a regular action movie, with no attempt at comedy. Waters pitched it as an action movie version of Woody Allen's Sleeper. Waters had an idea about a small part of Universal City, a shopping and entertainment area called CityWalk, and wondered what it might be like if one day all of Los Angeles might be like that, and the idea grew from there.<ref name="Willmore">Template:Cite web</ref> Waters says his intention was to have fun, that he was not trying to be political or deeply examine political correctness. He cited the conclusion of the film, where society will need to find a new balance and compromise, as representing his own position in the political middle ground.<ref name="Willmore" /> Burger King was originally written as the winner of the franchise wars, but they were not interested in being part of the film. McDonald's also declined to be involved. Taco Bell welcomed the opportunity.<ref name="Willmore" /><ref name="starring-tacobell" /> The "three seashells" concept originated when Waters was trying to come up with ideas for a futuristic restroom and called writer Larry Karaszewski for suggestions, and he happened to be using the restroom when he answered the call. He looked around his bathroom and said he had a bag of seashells on the toilet as decorations, so Waters decide to use that.<ref name="Schultz">Template:Cite web</ref> A joke was cut from the script, where after using the three seashells and washing his hands Spartan was confronted by the same ineffective hand dryer from his own time.<ref name="Willmore" /> Waters wrote some of the script on index cards while waiting in line for Johnny Carson tickets. He said it was some of the fastest work he'd ever written,<ref name="Schultz" /> and that he had only worked on it for two and a half weeks.<ref name="Willmore" />

The film began with John Spartan being taken out of cryogenic freeze in the future of 2032, until Fred Dekker did uncredited rewrites on the script, adding the Los Angeles 1996 prologue, to showcase Spartan and Phoenix in their natural environment, and make the differences of the future more striking. Dekker explained "If you don't show Kansas, Oz isn't all that special."<ref name="Hayner">Template:Cite web</ref> Jonathan Lemkin also did uncredited rewrites on the film.<ref name="starring-tacobell" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Steven de Souza read the script but was unavailable to commit to rewrites. De Souza recommended setting the film in the more distant future to make the culture clash more plausible. Producers rejected his suggestion because they wanted to keep the subplot of Spartan finding his daughter, but ultimately that subplot was cut from the film.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The script had been in development for six years before filming finally began.<ref name="Goldstein" />

Director Marco Brambilla had a background in shooting big-budget TV commercials, and this was his first feature film. Brambilla was working to make Richie Rich, starring Macaulay Culkin, but they could not get the budget they needed. Instead David Fincher recommended Brambilla to Joel Silver as director for Demolition Man.<ref name="Spry" /> Steven Seagal had originally been attached as leading actor, and Jean-Claude Van Damme had been offered the part of the villain.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Brambilla met Stallone a few days after getting attached to the project and started re-writing the script with Daniel Waters. The film went into production approximately eight months after that.<ref name="Spry" /> Producer Joel Silver was able to get highly experienced crew for the film, including editor Stuart Baird and cinematographer Alex Thomson. Brambilla brought costumer Bob Ringwood to the project because of his work on Dune (1984), and wanted Alex Thomson because of his work on Alien 3 (1992).<ref name="Spry">Template:Cite web</ref>

Casting

Stallone passed on the project at first, but came back around to it. He liked the idea of two equal opponents in Spartan and Phoenix, and decided to take a chance on doing something he had not done before.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Stallone wanted Jackie Chan for the role of Simon Phoenix. Chan turned it down, not wanting to play a villain.<ref name="Dickerson">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Wesley Snipes turned down the role several times, so Joel Silver and Marco Brambilla went to the set of the film Rising Sun to try and convince him in person. Brambilla explained what he thought the film could be and his passion for the script they were writing, and the next day they received a call and Snipes agreed to do the film. Brambilla said of Snipes, "He works without rehearsing too much, and he improvises a lot. The two of them, that combination of energies and the way they interact, really did the movie a lot of favors. They completely respected each other and were really professional, and they did get along. There was no ego or any competition between the actors."<ref name="Spry" /> Lori Petty was originally cast as Huxley, but was fired after two days of filming due to what producer Joel Silver called "creative differences".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Petty attributed it to personality differences, as she and Stallone did not get along, and said "Sly and I were like oil and water."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Silver was looking for a replacement and Lorenzo di Bonaventura recommended Bullock; impressed by her audition tape, Silver hired her.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Denis Leary said he was hired for his comedy rants, which he wrote himself and had to undergo a long approval process by the studio before it was included in the script.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Nigel Hawthorne took the role to raise his profile, as he was known as television and stage actor but having missed out on the lead role in Shadowlands to Anthony Hopkins, he wanted to make sure he was chosen for the film adaptation of The Madness of King George.<ref name="Gritten">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Filming

Template:Anchor General Motors provided the production team with 18 concept vehicles, including the Ultralite. 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

The City of L.A. allowed the filmmakers to use and demolish an old Department of Water & Power building in downtown Los Angeles. This enabled them to have more control over the explosion, instead of having to cut straight to the building being gone and rubble as they had been forced to do with other projects. "We actually created a crater in the middle of the building. And have the explosion and rubble more designed, so to speak. It's fun to do that, because those big pyrotechnics always look great", Silver noted.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The film suffered repeated delays, and the original 72-day production schedule ran to 112 days.<ref name="Goldstein" /> Stallone was out for a week due to injury. Heavy rains in Los Angeles delayed filming. A soundstage was also damaged in a fire.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The production went through five assistant directors, and many crew had to leave to work on other projects. Insiders at Warner Bros. were critical of Silver for hiring a director without previous feature film experience. Silver rejected this view, saying, "Marco's done a brilliant job. We're over-schedule because this is a very hard movie to make, not because Marco is inexperienced."<ref name="Goldstein">Template:Cite news</ref>

File:LOS.ANGELES.MDC.jpg

The cryo-prison was set in the Metro Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles.

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The Pacific Design Center was used as Sunrise Court, Lenina Huxley's apartment building.

Demolition Man was the first production to film at the Los Angeles Convention Center after it was rebuilt in the 1990s, it was used as the Cocteau Center.<ref name="Hayner" /> "San Angeles" was filmed in Orange County, California. Several locations in Irvine and San Diego were also used.<ref name="Hayner" /><ref name="Wong">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The S.A.P.D. police station in the background was the GTE Corporate Headquarters in Westlake Village, California (which later became the Baxter Healthcare building, and was used in the first episode of The Orville). The Pacific Design Center, in West Hollywood was used for the exterior shot of Lenina Huxley's apartment building. The cryo-prison used the exterior of the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Filming also took place at Wilshire Courtyard, 5700 and 5750 Wilshire Boulevard.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> A power station in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, was used as the underground dwellings of Edgar Friendly and the Scraps.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Template:Anchor The helicopter bungee jump at the start of the film was coordinated by Charles Picerni, and performed by stuntman Ken Bates. For safety, and due to the danger of recoil back into the helicopter blades, a decelerator was used instead of a real bungee, and Bates jumped Template:Convert from a Chinook helicopter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to Picerni it was a first: "We've done that off of buildings before, but never out of a helicopter."<ref name="Goldstein" />

Template:AnchorThe film mentions Arnold Schwarzenegger having served as President of the United States, after a Constitutional amendment was passed allowing him to run for the office due to his popularity. Coincidentally, a day short of ten years after the film's release, the 2003 California gubernatorial recall election was scheduled. The election saw Schwarzenegger actually begin a political career as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011. Shortly after he was elected, an "Arnold Amendment" did get proposed.<ref name="newyorker">Template:Cite news</ref>

Template:Anchor One of the film's focal points is Taco Bell being the sole surviving restaurant chain after "the franchise wars." The European version of the film substitutes Taco Bell with Pizza Hut, because Taco Bell is not as well known outside the United States and Canada; both restaurant chains were owned at the time by PepsiCo. Lines were re-dubbed and logos changed during post-production.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="starring-tacobell">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to The Wall Street Journal, this kind of localization of product placement was a first.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="afi" /><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The film was green-lit with a production budget of $45 million. The cost increased to $77 million after the shooting schedule was extended. The combined cost of production and marketing was estimated at nearly $97 million.<ref name="Galbraith" />

Template:Anchor A subplot involving Spartan's daughter was cut for pacing reasons. This led to some confusion at test screenings, where audiences thought Sandra Bullock was the daughter, and reacted negatively to the scene where they were about to have sex.<ref name="Willmore" /> Originally Spartan's daughter was one of the Scraps living underground with Edgar Friendly's resistance.<ref name="Hayner" /> A scene where Stallone fights Jesse Ventura was cut from the film.<ref>Template:Cite web Template:Cite AV media</ref>Template:Better source needed

Marketing

MTV held a competition and demolition event to promote the film, with MTV Sports presenter Dan Cortese as host, and stars from the film in attendance. The Belknap Hardware and Manufacturing Company building in Louisville, Kentucky was imploded.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Music

Elliot Goldenthal composed the score for the film. It was his second big Hollywood project after the Alien³ score.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The two commercial jingles, which are not part of the soundtrack, include the jingle from the 1967 commercial "Armour Hot Dogs" sung by Sandra Bullock and Benjamin Bratt in the police car,<ref name="James" /><ref>Template:Cite AV mediaTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref> and the jingle from the 1960s commercial "Jolly Green Giant" sung by Dan Cortese in the Taco Bell restaurant.<ref name="James"/><ref>Template:Cite AV mediaTemplate:Cbignore</ref><ref>Template:Cite AV mediaTemplate:Cbignore</ref>

The theme song "Love Boat" of the series of the same name, which is also not part of the soundtrack, was played by Sandra Bullock as a romantic background music in her apartment before the "virtual sex" between her and Sylvester Stallone.<ref name="James"/>

Reception

Box office

The film debuted at No. 1 at the box office.<ref name="Galbraith" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Demolition Man grossed $58 million by the end of its box office run in North America and a total of $159 million worldwide.<ref name="the-numbers">Template:Cite web</ref>

Film critic Roger Ebert was asked why this film was considered a success, but Last Action Hero was considered a disappointment, despite similar budgets and box office grosses. Ebert concluded it was due to expectations, and that the film was seen as a comeback for Stallone whose career had been flagging, whereas Schwarzenegger failed to live up to his previous record breaking successes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Template:Anchor In 2017, Sylvester Stallone's loan-out company filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. over the disbursement of profits from the film.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The lawsuit was settled in 2019.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 66% based on 44 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The site's consensus reads: "A better-than-average sci-fi shoot-em-up with a satirical undercurrent, Demolition Man is bolstered by strong performances by Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, and Sandra Bullock."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 34 out of 100, based on nine reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.<ref name="CinemaScore">Template:Cite web</ref>

Critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert from At The Movies reviewed the film: Siskel found the film amusing but did not care for the action sequences and gave it "thumbs down", whereas Ebert enjoyed both the satirical edge this film had over other films of this genre and thought the action sequences were good for this type of film, and gave it a "thumbs up".<ref>Template:Cite web Template:Cite episode</ref> Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film fails to give action fans what they desire, instead substituting out-of-place satirical commentary.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Vincent Canby of The New York Times called it "a significant artifact of our time or, at least, of this week".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Richard Schickel of Time wrote, "Some sharp social satire is almost undermined by excessive explosions and careless casting."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Peter Travers of Rolling Stone criticized the film calling it "sleek and empty as well as brutal and pointless."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Emanuel Levy of Variety called it "A noisy, soulless, self-conscious pastiche that mixes elements of sci-fi, action-adventure and romance, then pours on a layer of comedy replete with Hollywood in-jokes." Levy says it "works better as a comic-book adventure" than did Last Action Hero, but reserves his praise for the technical merits of the film, complimenting "the high-tech, metallic look created by production designer David L. Snyder and his accomplished team" as well as the cinematography of Alex Thomson. He concludes "what's badly missing is a guiding intelligence to lift this disjointed pic from its derivative status."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave it a "B−". Despite his low expectations of a Joel Silver production and "the everything-goes-boom school of high-tech action overkill", he found it "an intermittently amusing sci-fi satire" before it switches to full-tilt destruction mode. Gleiberman says "if it's the promise of overwrought violence that lures people into theaters, I suspect it will be the quieter scenes—the ones with a pretense of wit—that keep them satisfied."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Hal Hinson of The Washington Post wrote: "Basically, Demolition Man is a futuristic cop picture with slightly more imagination and wit than the typical example of the slash-and-burn genre."<ref name="washpost">Template:Cite news</ref>

TV Guide praised the film and wrote: "The pleasant surprise about Demolition Man is that both the script, and Stallone, are funny; the film blends big-budget action and tongue-in-cheek humor in the way that 'Last Action Hero' tried, and failed, to do."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Phillipa Bloom of Empire magazine gave it 4 out of 5, and compared it to a one-night stand "not necessarily something you'll remember next day but fast, furious and damn good fun while it lasts." Bloom was critical of the thin plot but called Stallone and Snipes "a dynamite screen combination".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Accolades

Template:Anchor The film was nominated for three Saturn Awards, Best Costumes (Bob Ringwood), Best Special Effects (Michael J. McAlister, Kimberly Nelson LoCascio) and Best Science Fiction Film.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The MTV Movie Awards nominated Wesley Snipes in the Best Villain category.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Sandra Bullock was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award in the Worst Supporting Actress category.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Adaptations

Toys

File:GM Heritage Center - 056 - Cars - 442.jpg

The Oldsmobile 442 was used in the car chase and also included in the Hot Wheels toys from the film.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Demolition Man action figures and vehicles were released in 1993. Produced by Mattel the toys were based on their "New Adventures of He-Man" style of figures. In addition to seven action figure, the set included a car, a red convertible called the "Fast Blast 442", an airplane "Bolajet" , and a "Missile Shooter" toy gun.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Lenina Huxley was not included in the toy line.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Hot Wheels released a set of nine cars from Demolition Man.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Video games

Template:Anchor Template:Main 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.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Pinball

Template:Main In April 1994, Williams released a widebody pinball machine, Demolition Man based on the film. It was designed by Dennis Nordman. The game features sound clips from the film, as well as original speech by Stallone and Snipes.

Comic books

Template:Anchor A four-part limited-series comic adaptation was published by DC Comics starting in November 1993, written by Gary Cohn and art by Rod Whigham with covers by Kevin Maguire.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Novelization

A novelization, written by Robert Tine (using the pseudonym Richard Osborne), was published in November 1993.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Home media

Warner Bros. released Demolition Man on VHS in March 1994,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> on DVD in October 1997<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> (and November 2010), and on Blu-ray in August 2011.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The film was released by Arrow Video on Ultra HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray on December 10, 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This Limited Edition release includes both the domestic "Taco Bell" and international "Pizza Hut" versions of the film.

Legacy

Inspired by the film, Dennis Rodman had his hair dyed and styled the same way the character of Simon Phoenix played by Snipes, for his San Antonio Spurs debut, which was the start of Rodman dyeing his hair in different colors.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Snipes hated this hairdo and shaved it off as soon as filming had wrapped.<ref name="11 Things">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Spry" />

The development of erotic games for the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset has been compared to the "virtual sex" scene from the film.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

To celebrate the film's 25th anniversary, Taco Bell recreated the 2032 San Angeles version of their restaurant at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The film has been described as a cultural touchpoint, and the restrictive future society portrayed has been used as an example of government overreach,<ref name="Willmore" /> and called a "Libertarian manifesto".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Demolition Man has been referred to as "the only plausible dystopian vision for our time".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The film found renewed relevance during the COVID-19 pandemic; the film was seen as predictive when there were calls to end the practice of shaking hands, and shortages of toilet paper.<ref name="Willmore" /><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Collis">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In the video game Cyberpunk 2077, three shells are found in the bathroom of the player's apartment.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2022, Sylvester Stallone reflected positively on the movie: "I always enjoyed this movie. It was a great action film wonderfully directed by Marco Brambilla. And the writers were way ahead of their time."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Potential Sequel

Template:Anchor In 1993, Us Weekly magazine reported a sequel was planned for 1995.<ref name="afi" /> In 2006, Stallone was asked about a sequel and he said, "I'd like to make a sequel to Demolition Man, but I believe that ship has sailed and maybe there are more challenges waiting on the horizon."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On May 4, 2020, Stallone said a sequel is in development.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Collis" />

External links

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