Demolition Man appears in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Though it showed its age to a degree, the Dolby Vision image largely held up.
For the most part, sharpness fared well. Occasional interiors felt a bit on the soft side, but these remained modest and appeared to reflect the source. The movie usually came with good accuracy.
No issues with jagged edges or moiré effects materialized, and edge haloes remained absent. With a nice layer of grain, the transfer appeared to lack problematic use of noise reduction, and it also came free from print flaws.
Colors leaned toward the chilly blue side, though they warm up somewhat as the movie progresses. These came across with appropriate vivacity and punch, and the disc’s HDR allowed the tones to seem more dynamic.
Blacks appeared deep and dense, while shadows boasted nice clarity. The HDR gave whites and contrast solid impact. Though not an image you’ll use to show off your 4K TV, Man nonetheless offered a satisfying presentation.
In addition, the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack worked pretty well, as it demonstrated an active and encompassing soundfield. The forward spectrum presented good stereo imaging for the music.
Various effects appeared appropriately placed within the realm. Those elements blended together well and moved smoothly across the channels.
Surround usage seemed positive. The movie displayed a solid sense of environment, and big violent sequences made the viewer a part of the action.
Audio quality seemed solid. Speech sounded nicely natural and distinct, and I heard no concerns related to edginess or intelligibility.
Effects demonstrated good clarity and accuracy, and they showed no signs of distortion. Bass response was deep and tight.
Music came across as bright and dynamic as well. Overall, the soundtrack of Demolition Man remained good enough to earn a “B+”.
The disc provides both US (1:55:08) and International (1:55:02) versions of Demolition Man. How do the two differ?
In particular, “US” features Taco Bell as the “restaurant of the future”, whereas “International” uses Pizza Hut. That doesn’t account for the six-second shorter running time, which I would guess involved minor trims to violence and/or a small change to the credits.
We find three separate audio commentaries, the first of which comes from director Marco Brambilla and producer Joel Silver. Recorded for a DVD release, both sit together for a running, screen-specific view of story/characters, sets and locations, music, cast and performances, effects, stunts and action, photography, editing and connected domains.
Don't expect much from Silver, as he barely utters a peep. Actually, I think Silver leaves the session early in the movie, as we don't hear anything from him after a few minutes into the story.
I won't complain about this, though, as Brambilla carries the load well. He offers a broad and informative discussion of the flick that gives us lots of worthwhile material.
New to the 2024 Arrow release, the second commentary features director Marco Brambilla and screenwriter Daniel Waters. Both sit together for this running, screen-specific view of essentially the same topics from the old Brambilla track.
That doesn’t mean we fail to get some new notes, mainly when Waters digs into screenplay topics. However, we find a fair amount of repetition, so this becomes a listenable piece but not one with lots of fresh info.
Also exclusive to this 2024 release, we finish with a commentary from film critic Mike White. He provides a running, screen-specific discussion of the film’s origins and development, various iterations of the screenplay, cast and crew, some production notes, contemporary reviews, genre connections and his own thoughts about the movie.
For the commentary’s first half, White offers a terrific array of background notes, especially in regard to the script’s evolution. He loses some steam in the flick’s second hour and tends to spend more time with his opinions about the film than with production information, but White nonetheless makes this a worthwhile track worth a listen until the end.
From here we go to featurettes, and Somewhere Over the Rambo spans 17 minutes, one second. It gives us a “visual essay” from film scholar Josh Nelson.
The program examines Stallone’s career at the time, social context, connections to other films and cultural elements, and interpretation. Nelson offers a good overview of these domains.
Demolition Design fills 14 minutes, 14 seconds. It gives us info from production designer David L. Snyder.
Here Snyder tells us how he came to the project and aspects of his work. Snyder provides useful insights related to the movie’s sets and other design choices.
Next comes Cryo Action. In this five-minute, 53-second reel, we hear from stunt coordinator Charles Percini.
Unsurprisingly, “Cryo” focuses on the movie’s stunts and action. Though brief, Percini brings us a few interesting memories.
Biggs’ Body Shoppe occupies five minutes, 46 seconds. This one involves special makeup effects artist Chris Biggs.
Expect Biggs to let us know how he became part of the production and his creations for the film. Biggs gives us fun observations about these effects.
Finally, Tacos and Hockey Pucks takes up nine minutes, 55 seconds. It features body effects set coordinator Jeff Farley.
We learn how Farley and colleagues made the “frozen” characters. We get another enjoyable reel here.
In addition to the film’s trailer, we get an Image Gallery with 84 stills that mix publicity elements, shots from the set and movie scenes. It becomes a decent compilation.
Although its futuristic setting offers potential spark, Demoliton Man instead ends up as Just Another Cheesy Action Flick. The movie lacks the creativity it needs to become anything more than silly. The 4K UHD comes with very good picture and audio as well as a solid roster of bonus materials. Demolition Man disappointed me in 1993 and it continues to do so in 2024.