Sylvester Stallone is the face of major Hollywood franchises, and one of the most iconic action stars of all time. From Rocky to Rambo, Stallone has led films that have become beloved pieces of popular culture across generations. However, one of the projects that doesn’t always surface when discussing the actor’s body of work is the film Demolition Man. But as it turns out, you should include it. Stallone says that the 1993 dystopian action movie is one of his few films that have aged well.
Co-starring Wesley Snipes, Demolition Man follows Stallone as John Spartan, who wakes up in the future after being cryogenically frozen for decades. Spartan is awakened because he’s the only one who knows how to fight Simon Phoenix, a violent killer who has escaped from the same futuristic penitentiary. What follows is the former agent’s navigation through a very different future from what he imagined, and the ongoing havoc caused by his nemesis.
While talking to GQ, Stallone talked about Rocky, Cobra, Creed, and The Expendables. Even though these are more prominent titles from the action star’s filmography, he defended Demolition Man as “one of the few films that really hold up”:
“I think it was a great movie. It’s one of the few films that really hold up. And it’s almost close to happening. There’s certain kind of mannerisms… we call it the ‘gentilization of society.’ I thought it was just very contemporary. I thought it was really well done.
“Wesley was wild, he’s a wild man, very energetic, good fighter. When we were doing kicks, I wore a plate, I could feel it, and it was good, he really dug down there and gave a very memorable character. He was good, he was at the top of his game then.”
‘Demolition Man’s Rocky Production Did Not Stop It From Becoming an Entertaining Action Movie
Demolition Man was commercially successful, grossing $159 million at the box office, and becoming one of Stallone’s hits during the 1990s. The critical reception was also good, and, along with Cliffhanger and Copland, it stands as one of the actor’s highest-rated films from that decade (it currently sits at 66% on Rotten Tomatoes). However, it isn’t a secret among Hollywood connoisseurs that Demolition Man was not an easy movie to make.
The screenplay was re-written several times, and Stallone was not always the first choice to play John Spartan (Steven Seagal was attached to the project initially). When Stallone joined the movie, Jackie Chan passed on the opportunity to play the villain (Jean-Claude Van Damme was also considered), and the part went to Wesley Snipes instead. Nevertheless, he wasn’t easy to convince, and producer Joel Silver and director Marco Brambilla had to personally visit him and ask him to be in the movie.
Additionally, after a few days of shooting, Lori Petty was fired from the production. Sandra Bullock was then hired to play Lenina Huxley, and reshoots were just one of the reasons why the project suffered delays. Ultimately, it cost nearly $100 million to make and promote Demolition Man. Stallone shared some details of the difficult production, revealing that he performed two of the “most dangerous stunts” while making the movie:
“I thought the set design was brilliant. It was what we call a practical set. Those things really worked. Those are the two most dangerous stunts I’ve ever done, is the one with that giant claw… Sometimes the hydraulics would go sideways and the strength of those metal claws would tear you up.
“And the other thing is, when they froze me originally, and they put me in this round tub [with] thick plexiglass, you couldn’t break it with a sledgehammer. And they started pouring in warm oil, and it’s filling up, and it’s supposed to cut. If it goes longer than 30 seconds, it’s going to go to here [point to his mouth], and you can’t get out.”
- Release Date
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October 8, 1993
- Runtime
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115 minutes
- Director
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Marco Brambilla
- Writers
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Daniel Waters, Peter M. Lenkov, Robert Reneau
- Producers
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Howard G. Kazanjian, Joel Silver, Michael Levy