History YMMV / DemolitionMan

* CompleteMonster: [[AxCrazy Simon Phoenix]], a psychotic criminal from the gang-ruled era of Los Angeles in the late 20th century, indulged in theft, kidnapping, arson, rape, and murder to his heart's content. Phoenix holds 30 people hostage and demands a ransom when in fact he had already killed them all, and frames [[CowboyCop John Spartan]] for their deaths. They are both sentenced to [[HumanPopsicle cryo-stasis]] and only woken up in 2032 when the new city of San Angeles has become a crime-free nanny state. Phoenix breaks out of confinement by gouging out a guard's eye to bypass the retinal scanner and indulges in his freedom to be a maniac and [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans spread chaos again]], brutally murdering almost everyone who gets in his way. It turns out that Phoenix was unfrozen by the [[WellIntentionedExtremist benevolent dictator]] Dr. Raymond Cocteau to assassinate Edgar Friendly, the underground RebelLeader who has been trying to undo the oppressive system. Simon sets out on this task with murderous glee, killing many innocent bystanders in the process. Phoenix eventually teams up with his old gang after they're unfrozen and murders Cocteau [[ToCreateAPlaygroundForEvil to start a new lawless dystopia]]. Phoenix starts by unfreezing every violent criminal locked up in the cryo-prison, before [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness gunning down all the technicians because he no longer has any use for them]].

** While it's more Makeup Failure, but [[JustForPun keep an eye]] on Phoenix's Heterochromia. Several times in the film his blue and brown eye noticeably switch sides between shots.

** While it's more Makeup Failure, but [[IncrediblyLamePun keep an eye]] on Phoenix's Heterochromia. Several times in the film his blue and brown eye noticeably switch sides between shots.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: The whole film's premise of a future society where everything bad you say and do is banned is a pretty clear product of the [[TheNineties Early '90s]] backlash to the concept of "Political Correctness" (although looked upon through the lens of late 2010s eyes, the "backlash" part falls into YMMV as a number of statements made in the film).

* {{Woolseyism}}: Some versions of the movie replace Taco Bell with Pizza Hut. This is because Taco Bell wasn’t as familiar in some countries.

** The entire movie has been treated as a general critique of California's politics since the film's contemporary times, in which the state is often touted as a socially liberal and wealthy state while also facing housing issues, income inequality (especially between the income between executives and employees in tech sector), and harsh criminal code (having Three Strikes Laws and Death Penalty).

** [[SwearJar You are fined One credit for violation of the verbal morality statute.]]
** The seashells. They've supposedly replaced toilet paper, but are otherwise NoodleImplements, so many memes have sprung up about them. Taken to a new level during the COVID-19 pandemic due to toilet paper shortages caused by people panic-buying.

** The film also takes a nuanced look at the issue of PoliceBrutality: Spartan is unfairly criticized for his excessive force against criminals who do need it, but he makes it clear it's wrong to use that kind of force against people who steal out of desperation, reflecting modern-day debates over how police can do their jobs without violating the civil liberties of others.

* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: The [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem SNES]]/UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis/UsefulNotes/SegaCD game was praised as an action-packed RunAndGun.

* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: The [[UsefulNotes/ThreeDOInteractiveMultiplayer 3DO]] version was fairly ambitious and even had exclusive footage of Creator/SylvesterStallone. Unfortunately, the varied gameplay at times was lacking, such as ShootEmUp levels where the objective was non-intuitive, and lots of lame one-on-one versus fights against Simon Phoenix.

** The entire movie has been treated as a general critique of California's politics since the film's contemporary times, in which the state is often touted as a socially liberal and wealthy state while also facing housing issues, income inequality (especially common in Tech Giant's executives and employees), and harsh criminal code (having Three Strikes Laws and Death Penalty).

** Because the citizens of San Angeles are so incredibly prissy, arrogant, and self righteous at times, coupled with the overall CrapsaccharineWorld Cocteau created, it's not hard to start cheering for Phoenix to just burn the while thing down.

** Could work the other way around too. Seeing how Los Angeles was a burning, wartorn hellscape at the start of the movie, the clean, propserous and utterly peaceful San Angeles that most inhabitants are perfectly happy living in could be considered a massive improvement. And Spartan's initial distaste for the city can appear as SkewedPriorities, as PoliticalOvercorrectness seems like a somewhat less serious flaw than AxeCrazy criminals running around murdering civilians left, right and center. Of course, Corteau personally loses all sympathy by unleashing one of those criminals on his own city.

** Because the citizens of San Angeles are so incredibly prissy, arrogant, and self righteous at times, coupled with the overall CrapsaccharineWorld Coctau created, it's not hard to start cheering for Phoenix to just burn the while thing down.

** Some have described ''Demolition Man'' as being one of the most libertarian movies ever made. One of the film's villains is a scientist who has basically created the ultimate nanny-state, where everything deemed bad for you has been outlawed. And Edgar Friendly and his followers, who are initially portrayed as terrorists, turn out to be sympathetic freedom fighters who want to make their own decisions without the overbearing government's influence. The worst thing they do is steal some food and spray graffiti.[[note]]Which, by the way, explode, and we see small detonations on the spray machine, and that's just the result of small amounts of it being left on the spray nozzles, imagine what a full graffiti scrawl would have done. The detonating action appears to be an anti-graffiti feature within the wall itself, meant to remove the paint. Phoenix uses a San Angeles terminal to activate it against one of the officers come to arrest him, overriding it when the human presence close to the wall prompted it to abort.[[/note]]

* {{Woolseyism}}: Some versions of the movie change Taco Bell into Pizza Hut because Taco Bell wasn’t as familiar in some countries.

* {{Woosleyism}}: Some versions of the movie change Taco Bell into Pizza Hut because Taco Bell wasn’t as familiar in some countries.

** Taco Bell being replaced by Pizza Hut in some international cuts due to the fast food chain's lack of availability outside North America during the Nineties due to failed attempts at expanding overseas becomes this when you consider that the restaurant's second attempt at overseas expansion during the mid 2010s has been more successful than its previous attempt.

** Some have described ''Demolition Man'' as being one of the most libertarian movies ever made. One of the film's villains is a scientist who has basically created the ultimate nanny-state, where everything deemed bad for you has been outlawed. And Edgar Friendly and his followers, who are initially portrayed as terrorists, turn out to be sympathetic freedom fighters who want to make their own decisions without the overbearing government's influence. The worst thing they do is steal some food and spray graffiti (which, by the way, is actually coded to explode).
** In all fairness, the graffiti is stated to be detonating graffiti, and we see small detonations on the spray machine, and that's just the result of small amounts of it being left on the spray nozzles, imagine what a full graffiti scrawl would have done.
*** The detonating action appears to be an anti-graffiti feature within the wall itself, meant to remove the paint. Phoenix uses a San Angeles terminal to activate it against one of the officers come to arrest him, overriding it when the human presence close to the wall prompted it to abort.

** Some have described ''Demolition Man'' as being one of the most libertarian movies ever made. One of the film's villains is a scientist who has basically created the ultimate nanny-state, where everything deemed bad for you has been outlawed. And Edgar Friendly and his followers, who are initially portrayed as terrorists, turn out to be sympathetic freedom fighters who want to make their own decisions without the overbearing government's influence. The worst thing they do is steal some food and spray graffiti.

* EvilIsCool: Simon Phoenix is an entertaining and memorable villain. Really, what else can you expect from a CardCarryingVillain placed in a "utopia" that got rid of personal freedom?

* EvilIsCool: Simon Phoenix is an entertaining and memorable villain. Really, what else can you expect from a CardCarryingVillain placed in an unbearable utopia?

* CompleteMonster: [[AxCrazy Simon Phoenix]], a psychotic criminal from the gang-ruled era of Los Angeles in the late 20th century, indulged in theft, kidnapping, rape, arson, and murder to his heart's content. Phoenix holds 30 people hostage and demands a ransom when in fact he had already killed them all, and frames [[CowboyCop John Spartan]] for their deaths. They are both sentenced to [[HumanPopsicle cryo-stasis]] and only woken up in 2032 when the new city of San Angeles has become a crime-free nanny state. Phoenix breaks out of confinement by gouging out a guard's eye to bypass the retinal scanner and indulges in his freedom to be a maniac and [[DystopiaJustifiesTheMeans spread chaos again]], brutally murdering almost everyone who gets in his way. It turns out that Phoenix was unfrozen by the [[WellIntentionedExtremist benevolent dictator]] Dr. Raymond Cocteau to assassinate Edgar Friendly, the underground RebelLeader who has been trying to undo the oppressive system. Simon sets out on this task with murderous glee, killing many innocent bystanders in the process. Phoenix eventually teams up with his old gang after they're unfrozen and murders Cocteau [[ToCreateAPlaygroundForEvil to start a new lawless dystopia]]. Phoenix starts by unfreezing every violent criminal locked up in the cryo-prison, before [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness gunning down all the technicians because he no longer has any use for them]].

** Becomes less cool when the fascistic nature of the city becomes clear; the most sympathetic of observers to San Angeles' soft tyranny is bound to object when it's explained that even sexual intercourse is heavily restricted by law, to the point of being nearly banned. The lack of violence and consequence has also had a negative impact on people's sense of empathy. The city is also not actually crime free but a super-gentrified, super-gated community with the poor living literally underground.
* EvilIsCool: Simon Phoenix is an entertaining and memorable villain. Really, what else can you expect from a CardCarryingVillain placed in a unbearing utopia?