Demolition Man (Released in 1993) - A corny futuristic movie starring Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock, Nigel Hawthorne

Experimenting with different genres to exercise his talent (maybe) - Stallone’s Demolition Man is a sci-fi thriller, released in 1993 starring him as John Spartan, an LA cop nicknamed ‘Demolition Man’, for his reckless and destructive law enforcement work style. He is pitted against Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes) who is evil to the core. In 1996, Spartan is set up by Phoenix in a case implicating him for the deaths of hostages in a bus, which was taken hostage by Phoenix. Spartan leads a Special Operations Unit which is unable to rescue the people, as result they all perish and he is sentenced to sixty years approximately, in prison.
This is where the movie takes off - in 2032. In that distant future, prisons are scientifically more advanced and sound ‘cryo prisons’; prison inmates are cryogenically frozen. A terrible natural catastrophe has struck LA, as a result of which much of the city is destroyed. A new one is formed in its stead - wherein erstwhile LA and San Diego are merged to form San Angeles, the city is in the capable hands of Dr. Raymond Cocteau (Nigel Hawthorne). What merges, other than the geographic territory, is also the criminal demographic, despite the fact that weapons are banned and every human desire is sanctioned by the SAPD.
Phoenix seizes the opportunity to escape during a prison hearing for parole - he is able to overpower the guards and prison warden without problems. He is the quintessential villain - physically strong with fighting prowess, multi lingual, with a superior understanding of futuristic sciences and heightened sensory skills. Given the largely pacific environment in San Angeles, the law enforcement agencies are incapable of dealing with the heightened menace of Phoenix. A veteran on the Force suggests that the ‘Demolition Man’ Spartan be resurrected to help capture Phoenix.




Unlike Phoenix, Spartan has adaptability issues and is unable to make a smooth transition from the cryo stage to part human-part machine creature. The actual face behind menacing Phoenix is actually Cocteau who aims to overpower the underground resistance called ‘Scraps’ and reign supreme over San Angeles. Spartan sees security footage of a conversation between Phoenix and Cocteau; the former is in a museum at the weapons exhibit, in a bid to arm himself. Sandra Bullock is Lenina Huxley, who is Stallone’s love interest in the film - awkward kisses are exchanged between the two as they remain in their robotic, machine state.
The culture represented in the film is truly surreal - no one dies of unnatural causes, there are no human activities that includes sex (great future there!), best aspect is that there is no poverty. There are no fast food joints, they were all ‘killed’ in the franchise wars - only Taco Bell survives (for overseas audiences, the equivalent was Pizza Hut, since it had more brand presence abroad). Every person is fitted with a microchip, which can be tracked by a central federal computer. What happens in the battle between Spartan and Phoenix, given that they cause mayhem all around during their fights ?
The film was well received by audiences, 64% audiences ruled in favor of the film, and Stallone was lauded for his performance, even Snipes gave a stellar performance as Phoenix. Rolling Stone magazine called it the ‘Frankenstein of action thrillers’ -directed by Marco Brambilla, it is his directorial debut.

Judge Dredd (released in 1995) - Starring Sylvester Stallone, Diane Lane, Rob Schneider - Future of society

Set in the Third Millennium, the film Judge Dredd follows the Elite Force, who are responsible for law enforcement; remember, the world is plagued with chaos, violence and poverty in the aftermath of climate change. This is the “Cursed Earth”, where there are only deserts, traversed by bands of roving savages and criminals. This Elite Force is made up of Judges - who are to dispense of the duties of police officers, judge, jury and even executioner! One such ‘Street Judge’ is Judge Joseph Dredd (Sylvester Stallone) - who is most devoted to his job, and also being assistant to Judge Hershey (Diane Lane).
A block war is on - members of the Force arrive - just two, actually, Judge Hershey and a rookie Street Judge - she requests back up - enter Judge Dredd, who commands the warring factions to drop their weapons in a staccato – robotic voice; meanwhile, a bunch of squatters, is  looking for a fight. The leader provokes Dredd to come and get them! Dredd finishes off the squatters in ‘summary executions’. The toll in the Mega City costs nineteen people their lives, fifty three persons, including five kids are hospitalized.
Hershey blames herself for the death of the Street Judge, but Dredd tells her it was the cop’s fault that got him killed, not hers; she feels frustrated that he has no emotions, to which Dredd sardonically replies, “Emotions. There oughtta be a law against them.”




Back at the headquarters of the Hall of Justice, Judge Griffin (Jürgen Prochnow) is talking about how the block wars are turning into an epidemic that ought to be dealt with immediately. He asks for a tougher criminal code, which won’t be easy, as almost sixty five million people inhabit these blocks. The Chief Justice – Chief Judge Fargo (Max Von Sydow) however believes in ‘freedom, not repression’. When he summons Joseph Dredd, he asks him whether it was necessary to carry out seven summary executions - to which Dredd replies that they were unavoidable, because life never seemed to mean much to the men.
Fargo is fond of Dredd and knows his intentions are honest and he means no ill; and in order to assist him in staying out of trouble, he asks Joseph to spend two days a week at the Academy, training cadets. Dredd feels honored and asks him what he would be teaching - unarmed combat or marksmanship? Fargo simply replies, “Ethics.”
Elsewhere at the Aspen Penal Colony, Warden Miller is visiting Rico Dredd (Armand Assante), to deliver a package to the prisoner from a mysterious benefactor. It is actually a gun which Rico uses to kill the Warden with. A while ago, Rico was also a judge, and in fact, he was a good friend of Joseph. However, he was dismissed and judged by Joseph for killing civilians. That ended their friendship. After he escapes from prison, Rico once again dons his uniform and claims his Lawgiver gun, also taking on as partner, a decommissioned combat robot. His first target is a journalist (incidentally the gentleman had carried out a smear campaign against Joseph for the summary executions) - everyone was aware that the scribe was against Joseph, and so, he is arrested for the murder and sentenced on the evidence of DNA left on the murder weapon.
An interesting twist is the Jekyll & Hyde aspect to the story - the two men share the same DNA, as part of the Janus Project, they were genetically engineered. While Joseph became the perfect judge, Rico turned into the perfect criminal. The film takes off from here, following the proverbial Good vs. Evil battle between Joseph Dredd and Rico Dredd.
Based on the character from 2000 AD, it is the longest running comic strip since its conception in 1977. The comic was created by UK’s John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra. In 1995, director Danny Cannon decided to adapt it to celluloid. The amazing armor costume for Stallone was designed by none other than the late Gianni Versace himself. Best avoided if you’re a fan of the original comic strip! No resemblance there! Some of the concepts of a futuristic disaster are easy to imagine, and this movie serves a drastic vision of society, can watch if one is interested in these.