We travel to the year 2032 by way of 1993 to review the Action/Sci-Fi/comedy hit Demolition Man, starring Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes and Sandra Bullock. So put on your happy joy joy feelings, grab some Taco Bell and enjoy this episode of VIA VHS. We have a brand new segment on this week’s show! The Director Spotlight focuses on famous directors celebrating birthdays. This week’s featured directors are: John Carpenter-
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000118/?ref=nvsr1 John Lasseter-
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005124/?ref=nvsr1 John Mctiernan-
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001532/?ref=nvsr_1 This week’s Flux Capacitor looks back on films from 1999, 1994, 1989 and 1984: Broadway Danny Rose-
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087003/?ref=nvsr1 Cohen and Tate-
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097074/?ref=nvsr1 Intersection-
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110146/?ref=nvsr2 Still Crazy-
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0149151/?ref=nvsr1 REWIND REVIEW: Demolition Man is bizarre. On the surface it seems like your typical shoot-’em-up 90s action flick starring Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes, but there’s much more to it than that. Demolition Man is a witty social satire, laced with Orwellian elements and blatant homages to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, a denouncement of the PC culture nanny state and the lack of true humanity in the placid, rose colored Utopia many people crave. Demolition Man has aged well, perhaps to well. The fact that tho film is as relevant as it is almost 26 years after its release is actually frightening to me. Lenina Huxley, played by Sandra Bullock is a citizen of San Angeles in the year 2032. A soft, calm, tranquil society that is free of violence and crime, where harsh language and physical touch has been outlawed, especially real life intercourse. Lenina surrounds herself with relics of the 90s, a time when humans could be, well, human. Sure there was violence, crime and offensive language in the 90s but people could express themselves and not worry about offending anybody. People could enjoy many of their vices, as long as nobody else was getting hurt, they could take risks, have sex, laugh at vulgar jokes and watch R rated films. Of course, the real life 90s weren’t exactly perfect, but it was definitely a smorgasbord of culture compared to Lenina Huxley’s bland new world. One could argue even better than real life 2019. Of course, in this alternate universe of Demolition Man, a great Earthquake of 2010 precipitates a major paradigm shift in their culture. While the cultural change hasn’t been as dramatic, you can see a parallel in the change of culture in Lenina’s world to the shift we experienced in the 9/11 terror attacks, and this is portrayed in a film that was released 8 years before that event happened. I don’t think our world is in danger of becoming as ridiculously overbearing and neutered as Demolition Man’s version of 2032, but we aren’t as far off as I’d like. Demolition Man’s greatness comes in the form of two machismo maniacs and rivals from the 90s named John Spartan and Simon Phoenix, who are thrust into a docile daycare society after being unthawed from cryogenic freezing. These two turn San Angeles upside down as they settle scores with hand to hand combat, car chases, explosions, guns and bad one liners, as two muscle bound meatheads from a bygone era.