History YMMV / DemolitionMan

* SpiritualAdaptation: With its campy action and strong undertones of satire, many people have called this a better ComicBook/JudgeDredd movie than Stallone's own adaptation [[Film/JudgeDredd two years later.]]

** 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 2010s has been more successful than its previous attempt.

** A future world where PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad. We're practically halfway there.

%%* ValuesResonance: Demolition Man takes place in the future but came out in the early 90’s. Yet as of 2020, many of the themes that were largely PlayedForLaughs have become relevant.

** 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 has been more successful in their second attempt at overseas expansion during the 2010s.

** A future world where PoliticalCorrectnessGoneWrong. We're practically halfway there.

* RootingForTheEmpire: Phoenix is the BigBad, but it's hard not to cheer at him when he offs the not-so-evil, but LawfulStupid Dr. Cocteau.

* HilariousInHindsight: This wouldn't be the [[Film/TheHeat only time]] Creator/SandraBullock plays a GoshDarnItToHeck-raised law enforcement character who uses profanity in a {{Malaproper}} fashion.

** one must remember, the movie didn't show how the world became the world it is today, and Simon Phoenix was released by the government specifically to kill people who refused to get in line of the government, only for the government to lose control of him

** 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.

** Zachary Lamb is the last cop on the force to really remember the bad old days, and is an old friend of Spartan, but he barely appears after Spartan is woken up, when his interactions with Spartan and Huxley could have provided a long and satisfying subplot to the movie.

** Spartan renders Huxley unconscious before the final battle even though she proved just a few minutes before to be quite a capable fighter (even saving Spartan's life) and probably would have come in handy during the final fight (WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic actually did a run-down of all the possible things Huxley could've done to give Spartan an assist during the fight). Justified somewhat in that ItsPersonal between him and Phoenix. Afterward he explains he did it for her own good, and he may have been right; Phoenix was tweaked to be much stronger and deadlier than his mooks, and would have had no problem with killing her.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Given how the programming of both Spartan and Phoenix while they were frozen did have results it would have ben interesting to see an actual felon who was reformed and made int oa productive member of society that way, and watch Spartan wrestle with the conflict between free will and a scumbag having been changed for the better.

* HilariousInHindsight: This wouldn't be the [[Film/TheHeat only time]] Creator/SandraBullock plays a law enforcement character who uses profanity in a {{Malaproper}} fashion.

* ValuesResonance: Demolition Man takes place in the future but came out in the early 90’s. Yet as of 2020, many of the themes that were largely PlayedForLaughs have become relevant.

* VindicatedByCable: Wasn't particularly popular in its day, but now it's a CultClassic that's beloved by fans of [[TheNineties 90s]] action movies. It helps also that, much like ''Film/LastActionHero'', more viewers today understand that it's not really an unironically straight action film, and better recognize the satirical aspect that caught contemporary critics and audiences off-guard.

* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: As [[https://www.cracked.com/article_26410_5-insanely-ridiculous-movies-you-need-to-watch-right-now.html noted]] by ''Website/{{Cracked}}'', while San Angeles is supposed to be a CrapsaccharineWorld, to a modern viewer it can look quite livable and prosperous, at least if you don't mind milquetoast. The reason the police are so helpless against Simon Phoenix is because they ''won'': they [[GoneHorriblyRight succeeded so well]] that it's been years since crime was ever a problem, leading to complacency. It's especially apparent when you compare it side-by-side with the dystopian hellscape of near-future Los Angeles seen in the opening. Becomes less cool when the facistic nature of the city becomes clear.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** The 2032 method of non-touch greeting and even reacting to being touched with disgust is this in the wake of the 2020 COVID-19 coronavirus outbreaks.
*** This also makes the three seashells a FunnyAneurysmMoment after reports of people stocking up on toilet paper to the point of low supplies in stores.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger is briefly mentioned as a former President, with Huxley explaining that his popularity forced an amendment to the Constitution to allow him to run. Now, Schwarzenegger is a former governor of California, and there is a serious and fairly popular movement to amend the Constitution to allow naturalized citizens to become president.
** Gamers may find it difficult to hear the name John Spartan, Prisoner 117 without thinking of John-117 the SPARTAN-II SuperSoldier of ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}''.
** In 2015, the supposed year of the Franchise Wars, Taco Bell's parent company reported a generous upturn in earnings, while UsefulNotes/McDonalds and Burger King started to go into a slight decline. This is even funnier when one considers that TV broadcasts of the film often delete the Taco Bell reference due to carrying commercials for its competitors.
** Phoenix wants to know where the Radio Shacks are in the future. Well, Simon, there aren't any.
** Dr. Raymond Cocteau's PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad police state is eerily prescient of so-called "social justice warriors" of TheNewTens.

* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: As [[https://www.cracked.com/article_26410_5-insanely-ridiculous-movies-you-need-to-watch-right-now.html noted]] by ''Website/{{Cracked}}'', while San Angeles is supposed to be a CrapsaccharineWorld, to a modern viewer it can look quite livable and prosperous, at least if you don't mind milquetoast. The reason the police are so helpless against Simon Phoenix is because they ''won'': they [[GoneHorriblyRight succeeded so well]] that it's been years since crime was ever a problem, leading to complacency. It's especially apparent when you compare it side-by-side with the dystopian hellscape of near-future Los Angeles seen in the opening. Becomes less cool when thr facistic nature of the city becomes clear.

* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: As [[https://www.cracked.com/article_26410_5-insanely-ridiculous-movies-you-need-to-watch-right-now.html noted]] by ''Website/{{Cracked}}'', while San Angeles is supposed to be a CrapsaccharineWorld, to a modern viewer it can look quite livable and prosperous, at least if you don't mind milquetoast. The reason the police are so helpless against Simon Phoenix is because they ''won'': they [[GoneHorriblyRight succeeded so well]] that it's been years since crime was ever a problem, leading to complacency. It's especially apparent when you compare it side-by-side with the dystopian hellscape of near-future Los Angeles seen in the opening.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** The 2032 method of non-touch greeting and even reacting to being touched with disgust is this in the wake of the 2020 COVID-19 coronavirus outbreaks.
*** This also makes the three seashells a FunnyAneurysmMoment after reports of people stocking up on toilet paper to the point of low supplies in stores.
* HilariousInHindsight:
** Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger is briefly mentioned as a former President, with Huxley explaining that his popularity forced an amendment to the Constitution to allow him to run. Now, Schwarzenegger is a former governor of California, and there is a serious and fairly popular movement to amend the Constitution to allow naturalized citizens to become president.
** Gamers may find it difficult to hear the name John Spartan, Prisoner 117 without thinking of John-117 the SPARTAN-II SuperSoldier of ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}''.
** In 2015, the supposed year of the Franchise Wars, Taco Bell's parent company reported a generous upturn in earnings, while UsefulNotes/McDonalds and Burger King started to go into a slight decline. This is even funnier when one considers that TV broadcasts of the film often delete the Taco Bell reference due to carrying commercials for its competitors.
** Phoenix wants to know where the Radio Shacks are in the future. Well, Simon, there aren't any.
** Dr. Raymond Cocteau's PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad police state is eerily prescient of so-called "social justice warriors" of TheNewTens.