15. Demolition Man 4K Limited Edition (1993) from Arrow Video
John Spartan (Sylvester Stallone) is hot on the trails of the terrorist Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes). He is holding a bus full of hostages at an abandoned building in Los Angeles. Spartan arrives on scene and captures Phoenix. But his unauthorized assault on Phoenix and his men has lead to the death of all the hostages.
Both Spartan and Phoenix are cryogenically frozen to serve out their sentences.
Flash forward to 2032. Los Angeles and San Diego have suffered a massive earthquake and are now San Angeles. Phoenix is up for a parole hearing and he escapes. Killing everyone who is in his way. Life has changed so much since Spartan and Phoenix have been on ice, that the San Angeles Police Department is not prepared to stop him.
Spartan is seen as the only person who can stop Phoenix and is awaken from his cryo-sleep and teams up with Lieutenant Lenina Huxley (Sandra Bullock) to take him down. Spartan soon learns that everything isn’t what it seems in San Angeles, and not only must he stop Phoenix but also the politics and people that want to see Phoenix succeed.
Demolition Man is just plan fun. The action is awesome. The dialogue is funny and cool. Stallone and Snipes are in top form. The “future” is usually portrayed as grimy and dirty in most films. In Demolition Man it is clean and beautiful. Maybe too clean.
I have a blast every time I watch the film and I will never look at three seashells the same ever again.
Rating
Demolition Man 4K Video Quality
Demolition Man crushes it on screen with a brand new 4K scan from its original 35mm camera negative and the results are splendid. The orange on Phoenix’s shirt was the first thing I noticed on watching the film. I have seen Demolition Man too many times to count and this was the first time I thought to myself, “wow that is a great looking orange.”
The HDR grading gives new depth and details to all of the film, The blues sparkle and the blacks are inky and smooth. The image is pristine, even when the film goes dark underneath San Angeles. There is no crushing or pixelated frames to be found.
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Demolition Man 4K Audio Quality
Every explosion, Gun shot. Punch. Everything on the Dolby Atmos DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sounds terrific. The mix is very much in your face with thumping music and action to spare. The dialogue is not lost however.It is mixed well through out the film and in the case of my system, the sub-woofer was getting a workout.
Rating
Demolition Man 4K Special Features
Another winning release from Arrow, it comes with a 60-page booklet with some cool essays and photos. The release also comes with six postcards, two stickers, reversible cover and a double sided poster.
There are two versions of the film, with the International Version 6 seconds shorter…not sure what I missed but I something was cut. What is different is the restaurant that won the fast food wars, in the international cut it is Pizza Hut, in the US version it is Taco Bell.
Audio Commentaries: There are three audio commentaries with a new one featuring Director Marco Brambilla and writer Daniel Waters. Another new commentary from Critic Mike White and lastly an older commentary featuring 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. Yes this is a real job and the interview is great.
Somewhere Over the Rambo: A visual essay by Josh Nelson that is also interesting as it correlates some aspects of Demolition Man to The Wizard of Oz.
Theatrical Trailer and Image Gallery
Rating
Demolition Man is a fun, loud and entertaining slice of early 90’s action. Bullock steals every scene she is in with her bright eyed love of violence and golly-shucks line delivery. Snipes is in total control as bad boy Simon Phoenix. He is funny and powerful. Stallone carries the film for all of us film goers and is our beacon to this unfamiliar future.
Arrow once again delivers an incredible package. The swag, the transfer and all the great extras, they continue to raise the bar on physical releases.