Review: Demolition Man

by Nathan Stout (of AccordingToWhim.com)

Today I am reviewing the movie Demolition Man. This is one of those movies universally panned but I'd like to be someone who stands up for it... ok, maybe not as much I'd stand for a movie like Star Wars, but I'd like to stand never the less.

Demolition man rated 63% on the tomato meter at RottenTomatoes.com. Not a a completely bad thing on the whole but any sort of movie buff will generally spurn this movie. BluRay.com rated this movie
 4.5 out of 5 for video quality (of the BluRay) and 4 out of 5 for the audio.

This review is based on the BluRay I got for Christmas. I also got a surround sound system for Christmas and this is the first movie I watched using it. Unfortunately the surround sound system only has component inputs for stuff like a BluRay. This stops the BluRay from utilizing it's surround sound ability so this made my viewing a little crappy. I have since remedied this by buying a digital audio cable to connect the two so I might have to go back and watch this at a later time.

Demolition Man is what it is. The title isn't Thoughtful Thinking Man or Compassion Man... no, it's DEMOLITION MAN. You can be assured that you will see lots of things blow up when you went to see this movie. It certainly delivered.

The movie is set in the future where a Utopian Los Angeles has arisen from 'The Big One' has ruined the old city. A sub cast of people live under the pristine city causing mayhem as they struggle for survival. The creator of this Utopian society secretly releases a uber violent criminal (played by Wesley Snipes) from cryogenic prison to kill off the leader of the sub cast (Dennis Leary). The police are totally incapable of dealing with someone so violent (since the Utopian society is so un-used to any kind of violence) that they resort to unfreezing the criminal's only real equal, a former police officer (Silvester Stallone).

The movie plays out as a Alice in Wonderland or Dorthy in Oz sort of plot where Stallone's character tries to adjust to life in 2023 while tracking down Wesley Snipe's character... all the while blowing stuff up.

I think this movie appeals because it uses a lot of that Dorthy in OZ for comic relief and provides enough action to keep the plot moving along. A real fun summer popcorn movie.

The soundtrack is interesting because there are some strange elements used to accent what is going on, on screen. A sort of hip-hop beat will start up out of no where when Wesley Snipe's character starts his shenanigans. I am sure that the audio rocks if you have the 5.1 surround sound setup.

Things go awry when Wesley Snipes becomes too much for the creator of the Utopian society to handle. Sylvester Stallone steps in and has a big battle (and eventually wins, what a surprise). The leader of the sub cast leads his people to surface to integrate back into society since the old leader is now out of the way (cause Snipe's character had him killed).

Sure, this is no Schindler's list but you can't measure it against that. It's a big budget shoot-em up and if you go in expecting that you will be pleased.