 Demolition Man, 1993On the Internet Movie Database, one of the first User Comments is "At least it's better than Tango & Cash". More truer words were never... written/typed/spoken/thought.But, I will say this. Demolition Man is one of the smartest movies to come out of the 90's. A bold statement, I know, but never-the-less, I think it's true. I'm going to give a breakdown of the writers credits. I think it's important, when dissecting a story, to find out the elements of the writers pasts. Peter M. Lenkov, who helped write the story and the script. This is a sad list of credits for this guy. Son in Law (the story), and the rest of it is television. Parker Kane, Ghost Stories, The Hunger, Crow: The Stairway to Heaven, Universal Soldier II and III, and Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. I didn't even know there was a Universal Soldier television series. Pretty sad. Robert Reneau, who helped write the story and the script. His only other writing credit was Action Jackson, if you can believe that, in 1988. Daniel Waters. Who helped write the script and, I'm sure, iron out some of the rough spots that those other two 'experienced' writers gave him. He wrote the scripts for Heathers, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Hudson Hawk, Batman Returns, Heathers 2 (what???) and Happy Campers... which he is also directing. Happy Campers is the Meatballs for the year 2001... and sounds like it'll be horrible. Heathers 2 is a new film, with the original Heathers writer and the Heathers director Michael Lehmann, (who gave us Meet the Applegates, Hudson Hawk, Airheads, The Truth About Cats & Dogs, My Giant and the soon to be released 40 Days and 40 Nights). Now... how did these guys create such a great film? Demolition Man took a ton of societies stuck-up attitudes (for the early 90's) and made fun of them in a futuristic cop movie... sure it has the cheesy lines, the Denis Leary banter... but it has some great moments, too. Directed by Marco Brambilla (who directed Excess Baggage in 1997 and is directing a new T.V. series in 2002 called Dinotopia)... his directorial debut... I'm trying to figure out how they found this guy, too! The direction was neat, there were some fine moments in this film... but Marco who? The fun of this movie, the great action, the sets, the costumes, the design, the locations... most everything, it looks like, can be attributed to one man. The great producing machine, Joel Silver. There were two other producers on this flick, which I will get used to... but it was a Silvers Picture, for god sake. Joel Silver is as successful a producer as Kathleen Kennedy & Frank Marshall, Gale Ann Hurd... he's one of the big ones, for certain. His first film, as Associate Producer was Walter Hill's The Warriors. Talk about getting in on the ground floor. From there he went on the co-produce a hugely popular film in 1980, Xanadu. Then, it took off. Sit down, this is some list.
Matrix 3, The (2003) (producer) LOOK AT THAT LIST!!!! In 1985 he jumped on the Schwarzenneger bandwagon (actually, the bandwagon was just starting)... and went on to produce Predator for John Mctiernan in 1987. (You can read the Predator script here). He also jumped on the Mel Gibson and Bruce Willis wagon that same year, in 1987. It wasn't until the 90's that things started to slip. Hudson Hawk, The Last Boy Scout, Richie Rich, Assassins, Fair Game, Executive Decision, Bordello of Blood, Fathers' Day... all movies with big stars attached that did not do as expected at the box-office. There were some winners, though... and in 1999, Silver went on to produce what would be the years biggest money maker, The Matrix. Now, you can watch any number of Silver pictures... and you can see the little tweaks, the nudges, the advice he must have given his directors, his designers, his production company people. The production on Demolition Man, the sets, the technology... all of it was fantastic. But now, let's move on to the actors. Ever since Death Race 2000, Sylvester Stallone has given us his own style, his own voice... as an actor. Now, we all know that stars of this nature make bad films from time to time. In fact, there are some people who consider the 'bad' ones good and the 'good' ones bad. Stars like Stallone... the viewing public is torn on certain points. This can be said about Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Gibson... even guys like Denzel Washington, Kurt Russell, Jeff Bridges... mainstream actors who will continue to get work, no matter what... they make bad decisions sometimes. Hell, just ask Travolta. Stallone is the only actor to create two characters that went on to become successful franchises. Rocky and Rambo. Hey, both R's. You have to give Stallone credit for at least that. But, I've always enjoyed Stallone's acting. After Rocky, Rocky II, Rocky III... he starred in First Blood, taken from the novel of the same name, by David Morrell. Now, around this time, Stallone was in sequel HELL. He came out with some other films while filming the Rocky films... but nothing half as successful.
Rocky - 1976 Now, there are really no notable films that came out in this time... but after Rocky IV, Stallone obviously wanted out. Sequels from there on were strictly investment and money makers... and I'm sure he must have been bored with it (though that's just speculation). Rhinestone, Cobra, Over the Top, Lock Up, Tango & Cash... he started to feel his way out of the two R characters... and was having a tough time with it. The stories were piss poor... but they were late 80's action flicks that the public couldn't get enough of. Stallone then made the colossal mistake of going to comedy. Oscar, Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot... terrible films that Stallone thought would branch out his viewing audience. In 1993, Stallone came out with two fantastic films. One was Demolition Man. The second, directed by Renny Harlin, was Cliffhanger. Both were pretty successful and put him back on track as an action star. The Specialist (because everyone had to 'star' with Sharon Stone), Judge Dredd, Assassins, Daylight... all cheesy... all action... all the time. In 1997, Stallone took on a much more serious role in Cop Land. I remember reading a review of Cop Land, where the reviewer (in the Village Voice) had said "If Stallone is looking to have James Mangold do for him what Tarrantino did for Travolta, he's mistaken." I thought this was an unfair judgement on the part of the reviewer. It was Stallone's first serious role (serious meaning not 'action guy serious') since Rocky, for god sake... the guy wanted to branch out... and I loved him in this movie. He then went on to his first animated feature, for a voice in the film Antz. He then did the re-make of the 70's movie, Get Carter... a poor film. He has 3 films coming out in 2001, including the recently released Driven (which he co-wrote and was directed by Renny Harlin)... My Little Hollywood starring Andrew Dice Clay, Dennis Hopper, Frank Stallone (his b-movie brother) and Gi Gi Merone (I have no idea who that is, but what a fun name)... and Avenging Angelo: A woman (Madeleine Stowe) who has just discovered she is the daughter of a murdered Mafia chieftain (Anthony Quinn) seeks revenge, with the aide of her Father's faithful bodyguard (Sylvester Stallone). Sounds pretty neat. My take on Stallone in this movie... fantastic. He was charming, funny, a hero... he played the role perfectly. Sorry for the long diatribe on Stallone... but I think he's really misunderstood as an actor... I dig his work a lot. Wesley Snipes. I was about to say "Jesus, what happened to this guy?", but that's not exactly fair. His first movie, Wildcats, set the mood for the majority of his roles. Funny, strong, and a badass attitude. I mean, the guy was in the Michael Jackson Bad video, for god sake. That means something... (don't ask). One of his funniest roles was as Willie Mays Hayes in Major League. I loved him in this role, but his acting ability allowed him to flip-flop between roles, such as the hard-nosed cop in King of New York (with a lot of humor coming through in that role) to the drug lord in New Jack City. Snipes flip-flopped a lot in the 90's. Jungle Fever, Mo' Better Blues, White Men Can't Jump, The Waterdance... he was one of the few black actors in his age group that could pull off multiple characters, from comedy to serious... but he wasn't really getting the roles (save White Men Can't Jump). He then must have said to his agent "I want to do action films. That's it, just action films. I'm sick of this Waterdance crap." He went on a string of pictures like Passenger 57, Rising Sun, Boiling Point, Drop Zone, Money Train... he was trying to carve a nitch in the viewing community... trying to become a heavyweight black actor... and was failing miserably. These movies ended up being clones of other action films... and were not popular at all. A smart movie, To Wong Foo... Snipes made a fantastic decision to play a transvestite in that film... he showed that he didn't want to take himself too seriously anymore... and was a better actor for it. The Fan, Murder at 1600, U.S. Marshals... all mediocre films. Nothing that really stood out for the fan base... and trust me, I'm sure more people went to see U.S. Marshals because of Tommy Lee Jones than because of Snipes. In 1998 he finally came out with a breakthrough film that people not only dug, but flocked to numerous times. This time, Snipes could be the badass, the good guy, the hero, the funny guy... all in one. And do it with style. Blade became one of the bigger money makers of 98 (though didn't have a prayer with such movies as Private Ryan, Armageddon, Something About Mary... all movies that topped $150 million plus), and spawned a much awaited sequel coming later on this year. I think, personally, Snipes is taking what he can get... or at least did in the past. I think with breakthrough moneymaking films like Blade, and certainly its sequel, he'll be able to get smarter parts in better movies. But, his role in Demolition Man was hysterical. Sure, he had some cheesy lines... those one liners that they give to stars in big blockbusters to get the audience pumped... but I really dug him in this film... it's my second favorite role of his, ever... even beating out Blade. What can you say about Sandra Bullock. This was pre-Speed (which was pretty ok), so she wasn't doing terrible films like Speed 2, The Net, Forces of Nature, 28 Days, Practical Magic, Hope Floats... and, pre-Demolition Man, can you believe that she was Tess McGill in the television series Working Girl? I didn't even know that existed! I personally think this was her best role ever... save for the fact that I did not see (yet) Ms. Congeniality... which I do want to see. She's got quite a few movies coming out in the next two years. Fool Proof, Exactly 3:30, The Chambermaid and (with Ellen Burnstyn) Diving Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood in 2002. We shall see. Her name doesn't draw me to the theater, for certain... but she's an actress when she wants to be. She was a damn fine actress in Demolition Man, had some of the best lines and scenes... and she was gorgeous. So, I dug watching her act in this movie. This film sports Denis Leary which, at the time, if you wanted to have a cool movie, this guy was involved. Now, his schtick is old... so you kind of want him off the screen. It's almost like why Oliver Stone left out Leary's part in Natural Born Killers... thank god. He gets annoying too quickly... and it's the same rapid fire speak he's been doing for years. Glad he didn't break out into song and sing "I'm an Asshole" in the movie. Howard G Kazanjian and Michael Levy round off the producers of this film... though there were 8 other producers (executive and co-producers) on this film. Kazanjian worked on both aiders of the Lost Ark (as an exec-producer) and Return of the Jedi (as a producer)... then did nothing for seven whole years. In 1990 he produced The Rookie (with Charlie Sheen and Clint Eastwood), and after Demolition Man produced some tv (JAG)... and then, it seems, B-movies. Too bad, you have to wonder where he lost his touch... and his contacts. Levy, it seems, fell out of touch... but he seemed to be having some decent luck. He was exec-producer on both Die Hard 2 and Predator, producer of The Last Boy Scout and Ricochet... all with Joel Silver... and then, after Demolition Man... he seems to have dropped off the Hollywood Earth. I wonder if Silver had him killed, or something. David L. Snyder (Production Design), Walter P. Martishius (Art Director), Christopher Biggs, Scott Eddo, Laini Thompson and Natalie Wood (all make-up artists)... all did wonderful jobs. Robert Gould, the Set Director, has worked on some incredible films... and his work is fantastic. The Quest, Carrie, Commando, RoboCop, Leviathan, Total Recall, Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, Starship Troopers, U-571... all incredible pieces of work. Realistic, well done jobs that helped make great films. I loved the set designs in Demolition Man... and all I can say is that Gould has a nice eye for the future. Bob Ringwood, the Costume Designer... this man has worked on some incredible films... all fantastic jobs. Excaliber (his first feature!!!), Dune, Empire of the Sun, Batman, Alien3, Batman Returns, The Shadow, Alien Resurrection, Supernova and the upcoming film A.I... this guy has done incredible work... and did a fine job with this film. Everyone associated with the look of this film did an excellent job. I really mean it. I was taken aback then, as I am now when I look at the completeness of this film. This is the longest review I've ever written. I know it's for a cheesy 90's action film... but I have to tell you, I think it's one of the best action movies of the 1990's, definitely in the top ten. It's smart, funny... and for the time, it poked fun at all the right things. Rent it. Own it. Either one, but you should really watch it. It's worth the time. J.P.
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