Demolition Man is an American motion picture released on Friday, October 8, 1993. It was directed by Marco Brambilla, written by Peter M. Lenkov and Robert Reneau, and produced by Howard Kazanjian.

The film is a story about two men, one an evil criminal and another a policeman. Although the initial scenes are set in a anarchic, dystopian version of Los Angeles, circa 1996, most of the film is set in the year 2032, where San Angeles, Southern California has become a peaceful paradise.

Simon Phoenix (played by Wesley Snipes), has been released from his confinement in a "cryoprison," which is a huge freezing device (used in place of traditional prisons), and soon embarks on a reign of terror throughout the city of San Angeles. Because cops no longer know how to deal with ultraviolent criminals like Phoenix, supercop John Spartan (Sylvester Stallone) is sprung from the cryoprison for the purpose of apprehending Phoenix. Spartan had been imprisoned on trumped-up charges for underestimating Phoenix's evil genius in the first scene; numerous hostages had died as a result and Spartan became the scapegoat.

Sandra Bullock plays Spartan's kooky sidekick, in a scene-stealing performance.

The future world portrayed in the movie, where human reproduction has been entirely relegated to medical science, and humanity was kept from its own bloody past in the interests of society, clearly owed much to Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Bullock's character is a clear reference to this, "Lenina Huxley" combines Huxley's surname with the first name of a major character in the older work.

Certain distinctive terms are used in the film; for example, a homicide is referred to as a "non-sanctioned life termination" in one sequence, and as "Murder Death Kill" in several others. In addition, the use of even the mildest profanity is against the law, and is punishable by a fine which is automatically deducted from a computerized document resembling a credit card that every citizen is required to carry.

There are some hints dropped throughout the movie about how the United States may have undergone a period of anarcho-capitalism before it was stabilized. In particular, Taco Bell is the only restaurant available, because it won the "Restaurant Wars" (in overseas versions of the film this was changed to Pizza Hut).

The film runs for 110 minutes, and is available on VHS and DVD.

Cast:

• Sylvester Stallone - John Spartan
• Wesley Snipes - Simon Phoenix
• Sandra Bullock - Lt. Lenina Huxley
• Nigel Hawthorne - Dr. Raymond Cocteau
• Benjamin Bratt - Alfredo Garcia
• Bob Gunton - Chief George Earle
• Glenn Shadix - Associate Bob
• Denis Leary - Edgar Friendly
• Grand L. Bush - Zachary Lamb (Young)
• Pat Skipper - Helicopter Pilot
• Steve Kahan - Captain Healy
• Paul Bollen - T.F.R. Officer
• Mark Colson - Warden William Smithers (Young)
• Andre Gregory - Warden William Smithers (Aged)

The theme song to the film is also called Demolition Man and is played over the end credits. It is a remix of the song originally written by Sting and recorded during his time as frontman for The Police. The song was first released in 1981, as the fifth track on the band's fourth album, Ghost In The Machine.

In one scene, the Arnold Schwarzenegger Presidential Library is visible. Some fans (of the film or Schwarzenegger) have speculated that such a thing could become possible in the near future if Schwarzenegger's political career is successful and the U.S. Constitution is subsequently amended to allow foreign-born citizens to serve as President.

fr:Demolition Man