Demolition Man(1993)
Warner Bros. Oct 8, 1993
A police officer is brought out of suspended animation in prison to pursue an old ultra-violent nemesis who is loose in a non-violent future society.
Release Details
Original Release | Oct 8, 1993 | Wide
Box Office Results
2025-12-14T08:24:56.903Z
Results
$14,262,432
$58,055,768
$58,056,466
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Technical Specifications
Sound Mix: Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1
Other Details
Country of Origin: United States
Language: English
Summaries
Plot Summary
- In 1996, LAPD Sgt. John Spartan (Sylvester Stallone) leads a raid to rescue a busload of hostages taken by the psychopathic criminal Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes). Spartan is nicknamed "The Demolition Man" for the large amounts of collateral damage he often causes in apprehending suspects. Spartan mounts an unauthorized assault to capture Phoenix. Spartan kills all of Phoenix's henchmen and approaches the building where Phoenix has kept the hostages captive.After a scan of the area shows no sign of the hostages' presence, Spartan enters Phoenix's stronghold and captures him, but Phoenix sets off explosive gasoline to destroy the building. Spartan carries Phoenix out of the building before it explodes. The hostages' bodies (numbering 30) are found in the rubble, leading the LAPD to arrest Spartan as well. Phoenix claims that Spartan knew about them and attacked anyway. Both men are sentenced to lengthy terms (Spartan is imprisoned for 70 years and not eligible for parole before 2046) in "CryoPrison," where they are kept in cryogenic storage and exposed to subconscious rehabilitation techniques.In 2032, Phoenix is thawed for a parole hearing, but he escapes from the Cryo-Prison by saying a secret password (which releases him from his restraints), without knowing how he had learned it. He subsequently murders his guards and the warden, making his way into the city where he easily overpowers and kills several police officers who have never had to deal with violent crime.By this time, the Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa Barbara regions have merged into the pacifist utopia of San Angeles, under the guidance of Dr. Raymond Cocteau (Nigel Hawthorne). The city has eliminated crime, and the police are mostly confined to their station. All of humanity's vices have been outlawed, and the police have become incapable of dealing with violent and pathological criminals such as Phoenix.Lieutenant Lenina Huxley (Sandra Bullock) is an idealistic SAPD officer who is fascinated with 20th-century culture. Alfredo Garcia (Benjamin Bratt) is Huxley's colleague.The SAPD is left shocked by the murders committed by Phoenix. Huxley learns that Phoenix escaped with one of the doctor's vehicles at the prison facility and tracks the vehicle. Police officers are dispatched to apprehend Phoenix. Phoenix easily defeats the officers and escapes. He somehow knows all the safety or access codes used across various equipment across the city.Phoenix accesses an automated information kiosk and learns that 20th century firearms are now only kept in museums. Phoenix is subconsciously programmed to hunt for a man named Edgar Friendly, but he does not know why. Cocteau orders SAPD Chief George to apprehend Phoenix by any means necessary. Edgar Friendly is the leader of the resistance movement and Cocteau is determined to apprehend him and bring him to justice.Huxley learns about Spartan's career from veteran officer Zachary Lamb (Bill Cobbs), who suggests that their best chance to stop Phoenix is by enlisting someone with the experience and mindset to anticipate his actions. Huxley learns that in his time Spartan arrested 1000 criminals in 3 years.Huxley persuades her superior Chief George Earle (Bob Gunton) to parole Spartan and reinstate him to active duty. Spartan is brought out from Cryogenic suspension and thawed out. He is told that Phoenix is on the loose and has killed 11 people so far. Local police cannot deal with him as SAPD had no homicides in the last 16 years. Spartan finds life in San Angeles to be sterile and oppressive, since all types of behavior deemed immoral or unhealthy, such as sports, alcohol, swearing, eating meat, and having sex have been declared illegal.Spartan has trouble adapting to life in this peaceful setting, while most of Huxley's fellow officers especially Head Chief George Earle (Bob Gunton), find him brutish and uncivilized. Anticipating that Phoenix will attempt to secure firearms, Spartan has Huxley lead him to a museum. Phoenix breaks into a museum's weapon exhibit to arm himself. To Spartan's surprise, Phoenix is even deadlier than before. Phoenix escapes and holds Cocteau at gunpoint, but is unable to kill him, as Cocteau had implanted a command in his rehabilitation program to prevent him from doing so.Cocteau instead orders Phoenix to kill Edgar Friendly (Denis Leary), the leader of a resistance group called the Scraps who refuse to conform to Cocteau's moral ideals and who live in the underground ruins of old Los Angeles. Spartan first encounters the Scraps when they raid a dinner party given by Cocteau.Spartan and Huxley witness this exchange on security cameras and review the Cryo-Prison records. They discover that Phoenix's rehabilitation program was tailored by Cocteau to make him even more dangerous than he was in 1996, including martial arts, computer hacking, knowledge of torture techniques, and murderous impulses; by contrast, Spartan's program taught him to knit and sew. Spartan deduces that Cocteau was training Phoenix with the goal of eliminating Friendly and go to the ruins to meet with Friendly and warn him. Meanwhile Phoenix meets with Cocteau, realizing what he has done, and has him release other prisoners to assist him.During a car chase through San Angeles, Phoenix admits to Spartan that the hostages he took in 1996 were already dead before the building exploded, so Spartan spent 36 years in prison for a crime he never committed. Phoenix escapes and Spartan arms himself with help from the Scraps as they emerge in force to get food. Realizing that he cannot kill Cocteau himself because of his rehabilitation, Phoenix instead has one of his men do it and begins thawing the CryoPrison's most dangerous convicts. Spartan enters the facility and fights Phoenix. Spartan kills Phoenix by freezing him solid. The uncontrolled quick-freezing effect then triggers an explosion that destroys the Cryo-prison.With Cocteau dead and the prison destroyed, the police and Scraps find themselves at odds over how to run their society. The police fear that the loss of Cocteau and the Cryo-Prison will end society as they know it, but Spartan suggests that they and the Scraps cooperate to combine the best aspects of order and personal freedom. He kisses Huxley and they leave together.
Storyline
- Frozen in 1996, Simon Phoenix, a convicted crime lord, is revived for a parole hearing well into the 21st century. Revived into a society free from crime, Phoenix resumes his murderous rampage, and no one can stop him. John Spartan, the police officer who captured Phoenix in 1996, has also been cryogenically frozen, this time for a crime he did not commit. In 2032, the former cities of Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Barbara have merged into peaceful, utopian San Angeles. Unable to stop him with their non-violent solutions, the police release Spartan to help recapture Phoenix. Now after 36 years, Spartan has to adapt himself to the future society he has no knowledge about. — Rob Hartill In the late 20th century, Simon Phoenix is a psychotic criminal who is extremely elusive. He took some people hostage. John Spartan is a cop who is known as the Demolition Man because he demolishes property to get to his man. When Spartan thinks the hostages are dead, he goes after Phoenix blowing up the building he was in. But when he turns Phoenix in, traces of the hostages are found and it's believed that they could have been alive. Spartan says they were already dead but Phoenix says they were alive. Spartan would then be charged and found guilty and sentenced to a cryogenic prison as is Phoenix. 36 years later Phoenix is released for his parole hearing but he escapes and goes on rampage. The police try to apprehend him, but it turns out that the police are less aggressive, so Phoenix escapes. So when it is discovered that Spartan was the one who caught Phoenix he is released and tasked with finding him. But Phoenix is now stronger than he was 36 years ago, Spartan wonders how is this possible. — rcs0411@yahoo.com In 1996 Los Angeles, the streets are ruled by acts of violence and terror, nothing and nobody is safe. Simon Phoenix is one of the worst criminals that Los Angeles has ever seen, and only one man can stop him - police officer John Spartan. When John arrested Phoenix, he was surprisingly found as an accessory to the recent crime and was also sent to the CryoPrison. During Spartan's 36-year sentence, Los Angeles' theme and society had dramatically changed from one of violence to one of peace. Phoenix, revived for a parole hearing, managed to escape and uses Los Angles to his advantage. The police are unable to stop him with their non-violent solutions and have no choice but to release Spartan to stop him. Now Spartan not only has to stop Phoenix, but to adapt himself to the future society he has no knowledge about. — John Wiggins
