Demolition Man Details

This pretension-free, futuristic thriller comes pretty close to being Sylvester Stallone's best ever picture. Wisely keeping his tongue stuck firmly in his cheek, Stallone plays a tough cop whose unconventional methods land him in a cryogenic prison. Decades later, he is defrosted to hunt down an old sparring partner, the spectacularly psychopathic Wesley Snipes (complete with blond thatch), who has escaped from his deep frozen state and is creating havoc in the now crime-free Los Angeles (renamed San Angeles). The writers have a lot of fun sending up modern-day political correctness in this caring vision of the future — violence, red meat and sex are among the items on the banned list — and director Marco Brambilla delivers the goods when it comes to the all-important action set pieces. Of the supporting cast, Sandra Bullock has an early run at a role she would later perfect in Speed, Denis Leary gets to deliver one of his thinly disguised stand-up routines, while Nigel Hawthorne plays the doctor overseeing this 21st-century Utopia.

An exciting adventure, clever and violent, that has fun at the expense of a sanitized future, complete with the President Schwarzenegger Memorial Library, and also indulges in self-parody without compromising the action.