Demolition Man - Arrow Limited Edition 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

As I really don’t have much to add to my former college Nate Boss’ review of Demolition Man, I’ll let his words hold sway here. For my own part, I thought this movie was terrific from the moment I left the second-run theater with my Dad. At the time a lot of the humor went over my head, but I still got a lot of the silly nonsense of the “perfect culture” and the satire. The one-liners were hilarious, the action was explosive, and the film ultimately became a favorite. Enough so that I saved up my allowance so I could get the ridiculous SNES game. For some reason I never picked up any of the goofy action figures - I wish I had now though, they’re too expensive for nostalgic silliness. 

Now I shall live and be well by sharing Nate Boss’s Blu-ray Review sentiments:

'Demolition Man' may very well be the first action film I fell in love with. It's my ultimate guilty pleasure, a mix of hard hitting fight scenes and humorous futuristic depictions that have held up from the day the film was released. There are no metallic costumes, funky haircuts, or extremely ridiculous technology. It all makes sense. Eighteen years after its release, portions of the film have even been validated!

1996 Los Angeles is a hellhole. It's also that way in 'Demolition Man's opening act, and it's there that we meet Wesley Snipes as the ultimate urban terrorist, Simon Phoenix, a man who knows no boundaries, and is as close to the Joker from 'The Dark Knight' as any other character in film has been. His reign of terror was stopped by one man, John Spartan (Sylvester Stallone), a supercop dubbed the demolition man due to his propensity to cause mass destruction and property damage. But there's no happy ending for Spartan, as he is blamed for the death of over twenty hostages in his act of taking down Phoenix.

Sentenced to 70 years of cryogenic stasis, with behavior modification through synoptic suggestion, Spartan's life is just about over, as his wife and child will be dead before his sentence ends. But in 2032, the unfreezing of Phoenix for a parole hearing goes awry, and the criminal mastermind is unleashed into a future that is heavily regulated and harmonic. In order to catch a maniac, the police send another one to hunt him down, as Spartan now must navigate the politics of his conditional release as he attempts to bring down his mortal enemy, once and for all.

Tell me that doesn't sound awesome. Go on. You can't deny it, can you? This isn't 'Timecop.' This is an actioner with brains to match its braun, with a fantastic mix of science fiction, comedy, and ass kicking to go along with the cautionary tale of a society that neuters itself to the point of impracticality. You have the ultimate good guy, who cares more about the end result than the means of getting there, and the epitome of chaos, a man who would be his perfect foil, if he didn't share the destructive nature. Thrown into the mix for good measure is Sandra Bullock, before she was a superstar, as a policewoman obsessed with 20th century culture, who mixes up her lingo so frequently that her every attempt to relate to Spartan and sound tough comes across as crudely sexual. "Let's go blow this guy!" Truer battle cries have never been spoken, Sandy.

The Los Angeles portrayed in 'Demolition Man' is eerily prophetic. It's no secret the comments about Arnold Schwarzenegger holding great political office coming true, and being quite a hilarious joke turned true, but there's also the hidden mention of Scott Peterson. Up for parole the same day as Phoenix, this film has a man who, a decade later, would kill his wife and unborn child, by the same name. How spooky is that shit?! And what about Snipes' run ins with the law? Did the government sic the real Sly on his ass for tax evasion? Sure, for every fun, relevant vision there are failures, but they work in the context of the film. The fast food chain wars ending? Unlikely. Guns and graffiti disappearing from Los Angeles, with no murder for 22 years?! Yeah, sure. A frozen Jeffrey Dahmer? That...that can't happen. A massive earthquake in 2010? Not in LA there wasn't! The voyeuristic Police Department able to track your every move, fining you for misbehavior such as vulgarity in your own home?! Well...that one may turn out to be the truth someday soon...

The two fish out of water, looking like barbarians to the more socially advanced citizens who underestimate their determination, it doesn't get much better than that. The way the Phoenix character is fashioned, with his cryogenic brainwashing being tampered with is intriguing, and his mission once thawed is quite simply one of the most intelligent things in an already smart film. The class separation between meat eating independent thinkers and those considered civil, and the attempts to kill the "scrap" leader? Genius. Using a terrorist to take down a "terrorist," in a film where a maniac is sent to take down a maniac. It's just layers of awesome. Throw in dialogue like "You're going to regret this for the rest of your life...both seconds of it!", and it's hard to not love this film. Hell, even Dennis Leary is present, with his anarchist character resembling his No Cure for Cancer comedy routine ironically, ranting and raving like a madman, who just so happens to be right, selfish as he may be.

To this day, there are still mysteries about 'Demolition Man.' Where did Spartan and Phoenix find all the ammo for their archaic weapons? Why don't the stun rods clobber those strapping them to them so sloppily? How exactly do the three seashells work?! ?! Has there ever been a more bad ass hero in film who could also knit a sweater? It boggles the mind. 'Demolition Man' is, easily, one of the smartest action flicks possibly ever, and it doesn't even seem like it tried to be. It just worked out. With Phoenix and Spartan seemingly willing to duel until eternity, there's every element needed for a fantastic action romp present and accounted for. Science fiction trash, as it may be, it's still an action gem.

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 
Demolition Man climbs out of the freezer for a brand new single-disc 4K UHD Limited Edition from Arrow Video. The disc is pressed on a Region Free BD100 disc. The disc is housed in a sturdy black case with reversible insert art packed with seven art cards and a set of stickers. The set also offers a double-sided mini-poster and a 60-page illustrated booklet with photos, essays, and restoration information. The whole package is bundled together in a hardstock slipcase with custom cover art with a paper slipcover depicting the classic poster art.

Breaking out of the frosty cryo-prison of 1080p Blu-ray, Demolition Man debuts with a new 2160p Dolby Vision transfer supervised by director Marco Brambilla sourced from a 4K restoration of the original camera negative. Now stepping back to Warner Bros. original Blu-ray, I always thought that one looked pretty darn good. Well detailed, and overall looked pretty good, but it was also a bit… orange. The cast in that transfer all looked like they had taken a run through the spray tan booth before jumping in front of the camera. That was the first big thing I noticed about this new transfer.

The color timing pulls back some of the harder reds to give a little more natural, a little cooler coloring to the film while avoiding any kind of hard teal push. When you see that sky over San Angeles it’s nice and bright blue compared to the hazy yellow of the older Blu-ray. It’s certainly a difference but overall one for the better. If I have a gripe I do feel that some scenes felt a little too bright, the whites a little too hot. The main offender there was when they thawed John Spartan out and updated him about the future. That scene just was, well, bright!

But that’s my only real negative. Fine details in facial features, costumes, and the wild futuristic production design are appreciable. The Dolby Vision grade lets the natural primaries pop nicely while letting whites remain radiantly crisp and clean with deep inky black levels. I also felt like this grading made Simon Phoenix’s heterochromia more noticeable. And given the two versions of the film are on the same disc via seamless branching, the different Taco Bell and Pizza Hut logos are handled well.

On the audio front, Demolition Man detonates a pretty damn terrific Dolby Atmos audio mix. Right from the jump with the helicopter jump and into the explosive opening, the mix thunders away with all channels. Heights are utilized right away and carry a lot of workload throughout the run. Gunshots and explosions punch plenty of rumble through the subs and since there are A LOT of gunshots and explosions, the LFE factor has plenty of punch.

Element spacing is well balanced throughout the soundscape so the mix never feels overworked. Interestingly, I thought this new mix brought more notice to Elliot Goldenthal’s original score. Not in a way that overpowers other aspects of the mix, but actually helps heighten the mood and atmosphere of the moment. Throughout the run dialog is clean and clear, even the obvious and awkward overdubbed “Pizza Hut” mentions in place of “Taco Bell” for the International Cut. I don’t care where you’re from, Taco Bell makes more sense and is way funnier than Pizza Hut.

But not to be left behind, if you haven’t upgraded to Atmos, this disc also sports a DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix and a 2.0 track. The 5.1 mix is very good for the scenes I previewed it on and it felt well-balanced and nuanced. It’d still pitch the Atmos over it but if you’re not rigged for that track this is a good option. I did preview some scenes with the 2.0, and it works, but it’s not as interesting. My issue with the 2.0 is it just felt too front-loaded and heavy so I didn’t look at too many moments with that mix rolling.

Not to rest on impressive A/V results, the good folks at Arrow Video offer up a nice extensive package of largely brand new extra features. The carryover is the original audio commentary with Director Marco Brambilla and Joel Silver. On the new front, we have two new audio commentaries, one with Brambilla and writer Daniel Waters. The second with film critic Mike White. All three tracks are interesting informative listens and well worth the time. After that, we have an assortment of new featurettes clocking in at just under an hour covering a range of production topics, all well worth checking out if you’re a fan. I would have loved some more cast interviews, we have some great actors in the film and it’d been great to hear their two cents, but this set is a nice assortment all the same. 

• Audio Commentary featuring Marco Brambilla and Daniel Waters
• Audio Commentary Film Critic Mike White
• Audio Commentary featuring Marco Brambilla and Jioel Silver
• Somewhere Over the Rambo (HD 17:01)
• Demolition Design (HD 14:14)
• Cryo Action (HD 5:53)
• Biggs’ Body Shoppe (HD 5:46)
• Tacos and Hockey Pucks (HD 9:55)
• Theatrical Trailer
• Image Gallery

Demolition Man was ahead of its time. I mean, it was a hit when it came out and proved to be one of the better offerings from Stallone in the '90s, but it felt like some folks just didn’t get it. It took time for the satirical elements to be fully appreciated. It's funny as hell while also delivering plenty of explosive testosterone-packed HGH-fueled macho-man action. Stallone might have been the headline star, but like so many films Wesley Snipes steals the show. If you didn’t love it back in the day, it’s time to reconsider your opinions because Arrow Video thaws out this classic actioner for a damn fine 4K UHD release. The new Dolby Vision transfer is an impressive effort with only some small nitpicking quibbles. The new Atmos track is explosive fun and if you need them there are two legacy audio options. On top of plenty of new bonus features, you get both cuts of the film, the awesome original Taco Bell cut and the silly international Pizza Hut cut all on one disc. Enhance your calm in 4K. Highly Recommended