4K UHD Review: Arrow Video’s Demolition Man (Limited Edition) 

Stallone and Snipes face off in Demolition Man.  Arrow Video delivers a stunning 4K UHD edition. 

The Film 

There are few if any action films from the 1990s that are as smart as Demolition Man.  The Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes action vehicle adroitly sends up the genre itself while remaining firmly planted in the genre itself.  The high-wire balancing act between self-parody and self-seriousness is thanks in large part to the deft script by Daniel Waters and the sharp witty direction by Marco Brambilla.  

1996, Los Angeles. John Spartan (Stallone) is the lone wolf cop who’s chasing the most dangerous criminal in the United States Simon Phoenix (Snipes).  After a daring siege of Phoenix’s compound, Spartan is framed for the murder of innocent civilians.  Both are sentenced to a new form of incarceration – cryogenic sleep and reprogramming.  Cut to 36 years later to now San Angeles – a perfect utopia, where Phoenix is unleashed onto.  Unprepared and ill-equipped, the government unfreezes Spartan in the hopes he can catch the mass murderer.  Spartan with the aid of police officers Lenina Huxley (Sandra Bullock) and Alfredo Garcia (Benjamin Bratt) attempts to stop the now seemingly super-powered super intelligent Phoenix – who appears to be being helped by other forces.  

One could be so bold to say Demolition Man is the best film produced by Joel Silver.  At the very least in the top five of the mega producer’s filmography***.  It is the rare action film overstuffed with ideas.  Where the comedic/satirical collides with the very best of the hardboiled action of the era.  Demolition Man manages the rare feat of being both sincere and sarcastic in its tone and both fascist and progressive in its viewpoint without feeling like a cop-out.  

Much of why Demolition Man remains infinitely watchable and salient today is because of its deadshot aim at its societal targets.  It also helps that the film manages to be right about many of its predictions, if only in different contexts.  Though none of it would work if Sylvester Stallone wasn’t game enough to play along.  Stallone seems to be willing to go through the rollercoaster of tones and lampooning of his own image with the same sort of skill and seriousness he approaches his dramatic action fare.  

Many have said that Stallone’s comedies never work.  For that one just needs to point to Demolition Man.  A film so good it erases any ill will brought on by comedic stinkers such as Rhinestone or Stop or My Mom Will Shoot.  Well… maybe not Rhinestone.  

*** The Top 5 Films Produced by Joel Silver 

5.) Kiss Kiss Bang Bang 

4.) 48 HOURS 

3.) Demolition Man 

2.) Predator 

1.) Die Hard 

The Transfer

The all-new 4K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative by Arrow Films, approved by director Marco Brambilla presented in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) is a masterful upgrade.  The work done by Arrow Video is simply stunning.  The film looks like it was filmed yesterday.  The transfer is sharp, and clean without any hints of scratches or blemishes on the negative.  The color reproduction and contrast levels because of the Dolby Vision encoding are both deeper in their details giving us a darker luminous and far more textured and beautiful image.  There isn’t a scratch, blemish, or issue with the picture.  It is free of any sort of digital artifacting or DNR to remove the grain.  Demolition Man in its 4K UHD iteration is the best version ever produced for the film – even the 35mm release prints.  

The Extras

They include the following;

• Includes both the domestic ‘Taco Bell’ and international ‘Pizza Hut’ versions of the film presented via seamless branching
• 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
• Cryo Action
• Biggs’ Body Shoppe
• Tacos and Hockey Pucks
• Somewhere Over the Rambo
• Theatrical trailer
• Image gallery

The first of three audio commentaries is an all-new track by director Marco Brambilla and screenwriter Daniel Waters opens with their bonafides and how the film’s original intent and how Waters changed it to be something very different than the hardcore action sci-fi thriller originally written.  Some of the details include a discussion of the opening explosion and the work that went into accomplish it; a discussion of Stallone’s work during the “freezing” section; a discussion of Brambilla almost being fired because of a complex shot he was trying to accomplish; a funny discussion of where Waters took inspiration for San Angeles; a discussion of the fact that Sandra Bullock was cast in Speed in large part because of this film; Waters discussion of the two weeks he had to rewrite the script and where he did those rewrites; a discussion of Brambilla’s two Phillip K Dick adaptations that never came to fruition and how he placed much of the research into Demolition Man; how the long pre-production period allowed for the complexity to all of the action scenes – including working with well-known Storyboard artist Robbie Consing; a discussion of working with Stallone and Silver from Brambilla’s perspective; the reasons why they cut the John Spartan’s Daughter storyline; how they came up with the jingles being the music of the future; the score by Elliot Goldenthal; the way that action scenes in this differ in a major way from modern era of action films; the casting of Nigel Hawthorne; a whole discussion of the Taco Bell / Pizza Hut and how they came to be these two fast food restaurants – the reason why McDonald’s (who was their first choice) turned them down; a discussion of the virtual sex scene; a larger discussion of the work of cinematographer Alex Thompson throughout; a larger discussion of the various actors that appear in the film – including their characters and the work they did and how successful they’ve become; a larger discussion of the production design, sets and locations they used to accomplish the visual look of the future; a larger discussion of the technology that appears in the film – its closeness to modern era and what it took to bring them to screen; and much more.  Brambilla and Waters provide an informative and entertaining commentary track.  

The second of three audio commentaries is an all-new track by film historian Mike White of the Projection Booth podcast that opens with White’s bonafides and his thesis of the commentary track.  Some of the details include the release, box office and production budget; the various screenwriters that worked on the screenplay – a larger discussion how it was developed including some quotes from the screenwriters; where the title came from – including a discussion of the Grace version and the Police version (which Sting would do another version for the end credits); the origins of the story that began with a boom box, the Police song, and Walt Disney; a discussion of the long tradition (not just in film) of the “man out of time” story troupe; how David Fincher helped Marco Brambilla get the directing gig; a discussion with Brambilla quotes of why he did not go further as a feature film director beyond this and Excess Baggage; a history of Brambilla’s work in shorts, ads, and art installations; the relationship between Silver and Brambilla; a great anecdote about the day that Wesley Snipes – and what the star kept saying during his first meeting with Silver; the relationship between the film, its themes and the 1992 LA Riots; Stallone’s wanting Jackie Chan to star as Simon Phoenix; the influence of HK Action cinema on Demolition Man; the entire issue with the initial casting of Lori Petty who would be replaced by Sandra Bullock – the reasons why she was cast and the reason why Petty was fired; how he found out that Taco Bell was changed to Pizza Hut when he was outside of the US; the appearance of Jesse Ventura and the deletion of his footage; the two novelizations of Demolition Man; a larger discussion of the various actors that appeared in this film – including anecdotes from the production, their career and personal anecdotes; and much more.  White’s commentary track is a deeply researched informative commentary track on the development, production, release, and themes of the film.  

The third and final audio commentary is an archival track by Marco Brambilla and producer Joel Silver, which begins with the opening epic action scene and how it was accomplished.  Some of the other details include a discussion of stunt man Kenny Bates’ contribution to the film which he won an Academy Award for; a discussion of convincing Wesley Snipes to star in the film; the original idea for the opening fight between Snipes and Stallone; the dangers and precautions that the production took in order to safely film the John Spartan freezing scene; the hilarious directive that Stallone gave in making the life cast they used in the film; how Silver was able to convince GM to let them use the concept cars in the production; a discussion of the graphics that appear on screens that was done by Video Image and their dictum of simplicity and based on Mac (of the era); a larger discussion of the various tech, sets, and props that appear in the film and how they were accomplished with lack of CGI; a larger discussion of the various actors that appear in the film; and much more.  Brambilla and Silver deliver an informative track about the film’s production. 

Somewhere Over the Rambo (17:01) – is an all-new visual essay by film scholar Josh Nelson gives us a contextual overview of where Stallone was, in his career, when he made Demolition Man.  Nelson goes on to look into the themes, politics, current events at the time (the 1992 LA Riots) and comparisons to the Wizard of Oz.  The sharply produced (written by Nelson and edited by William Allum) visual essay makes compelling arguments for just how adroit a film it is and its star-canny choice in making it.  

Demolition Design (14:14) – is an all-new interview with production designer David L. Snyder discusses how working on The Super Marios Bros. Movie, Joel Silver hired him for Demolition Man over a shirt.  Snyder discusses the reasons why he took the job – in large part because of Bladerunner; the various locations and how they secured locations like the new (at the time) LA Convention Center; the various locations that they used exteriors to create San Angeles; the building they used in the opening scene; and much more.  

Cryo Action (5:53) – is an all-new interview with stunt coordinator Charles Percini discussed why he was hired by Joel Silver as both Coordinator and 2^nd Unit Director to help Brambilla.  Some of the other discussion points include how Percini started in TV Stunt work that lead to 2^nd Unit on TV; the difficulties of the various set pieces and how they had to change them to accomplish them; and more.  

Biggs’ Body Shoppe (5:46) – is an all-new interview with special make-up effects artist Chris Biggs how they were offered the job by Joel Silver and the challenges of the project.  Some of the discussion points include their original vision for Wesley Snipes character; what they specifically did on the film – including the eyeball gag, and the augmented breast that Sandra Bullock wears in the film – how they were accomplished; and more.  

Tacos and Hockey Pucks (9:55) – is an all-new interview with body effects set coordinator Jeff Farley opens with how he got the job on Demolition Man through Tom Woodruff and Alec Gillis.  Some of the discussion points include how they accomplished the full body sculpt of Sylvester Stallone for the iconic freezing scene; and more.  

Theatrical trailer (2:06) 

Image gallery – the gallery consists of 85 images ranging from production stills, behind the scenes photos, and poster art.  One will find a nice picture of Stallone with a certain martial arts super star that’s referenced in the film.  The gallery can be navigated using the next and back chapter stop buttons.   

The Final Thought 

Arrow continues to impress with their 4K UHD editions.  Their work on Demolition Man is one of the finest examples of the format in 2024.  Highest Recommendations!!

Arrow Video’s 4K UHD Edition of Demolition Man is out December 17^th