This was one of the first movies to show off Wesley Snipes' martial arts skills. Much like Bruce Lee, he would have to slow down his moves so they would actually show up on camera.
Denis Leary in the 1990's was famous for his motormouth rants in his comedy routine. His character falls into these.
Defictionalization: The Taco Bell logo seen in this movie was later used as a tie-in by the restaurant and eventually became the basis for their current logo. It turns out the heads of Taco Bell at the time were big fans of the movie and did so as a shout-out.
Inspiration for the Work: Peter Lenkov had been inspired by Lethal Weapon (1987) and wanted to do something about cops, and had also read about celebrities wanting to be cryogenically frozen.
Looping Lines: The "Pizza Hut" edit of the film required a bit of ADR juggling, nonetheless the fact that multiple main characters are clearly saying "Taco Bell" in close-up shots gives away the dubbing.
No Stunt Double: According to Denis Leary, Wesley Snipes insisted on doing his own action scenes. It got to the point where the crew would wait for Snipes to leave for the day and then film scenes with his stunt double.
One for the Money; One for the Art: Nigel Hawthorne appeared in this film because he had little feature film experience and felt he needed to prove he had screen presence because he wanted to play King George III in the then-upcoming film adaptation of The Madness of George III (a role he'd played on stage). As it turned out, he hadn't needed to go through the miserable experience of making Demolition Man because he'd always been the only choice to play George III.
The Other Marty: Lori Petty was originally cast as Huxley, but was fired after two days of filming due to what Joel Silver described as "creative differences". Petty attributed it to personality differences, as she and Sylvester Stallone did not get along, and said "Sly and I were like oil and water."
Saved from Development Hell: The original draft of the movie was sold in 1988. It had a serious, darker tone and had Spartan ending up with his much older wife. The writer wanted Mickey Rourke to star.
Science Marches On: Among the things listed as "not good for you, hence illegal" are spicy foods. Since the movie came out, though, spicy foods have been shown to help burn calories and reduce blood pressure, not to mention stimulate the immune system into strengthening itself. Also, dark chocolate has been shown to have antioxidants which can reduce free radicals in the body, lowering risk of cancer.
Spared by the Cut: Amongst the deleted material, Zachary Lamb was originally shot by Phoenix as the latter stole a car and would die in Spartan's arms.
Stillborn Franchise: In 1993, US Magazine reported a sequel was planned for 1995. In 2006, Sylvester Stallone was asked about a sequel and he said, "I'd like to make a sequel to Demolition Man, but I believe that ship has sailed and maybe there are more challenges waiting on the horizon." In 2020, Stallone said a sequel is in development.
Uncredited Role: Fred Dekker did uncredited re-writes on the script. When he was brought on, the script began in the future and Spartan was introduced when he was brought out of suspended animation. Dekker suggested that this movie open with a prologue set in 1996 to showcase Spartan and Phoenix in their natural environment, saying that "If you don't show Kansas, Oz isn't all that special."
Technology Marches On: Actually, the movie did predict some things fairly accurately.
The computers the cops use are similar to tablets that came into use in the early 21st century, they just have a little handle on them that isn't seen in modern designs.
More accurate tablets are seen in the cryo prison.
The proliferation of videoconferencing is also fairly prophetic. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, platforms such as FaceTime, Facebook Video, and Discord were becoming popular. However, nobody seems to be carrying these conversations on with smartphones or tablets. And the setup of bulky monitors that display glaring closeups set around the table in Cocteau's office is laughable.
The console video chat interface in Huxley's police cruiser is very similar to a feature that is widely becoming standard in the 2020's.
Self-Driving cars first appeared in the teens, and some rideshare and delivery businesses have deployed them for testing in 2020.
Voice-activated smart homes were realized with platforms like Google Home or Amazon Alexa.
Wall-mounted flatscreen televisions are used in the movie, however, they appear to be disguised CRT monitors. But the ability to run a smart home and videoconference from them is accurate.
It's not mentioned how the police cruisers work, but they are said to run on some kind of battery. Erwin remarks about "...pure capacitance gel..." when Phoenix rigs one to explode. The teens saw the proliferation of hybrid and electric cars.
The ubiquitous use and presence of surveillance cameras is maybe understated. As of 2021, there is hardly a street or business in the United States that doesn't have at least one dedicated, monitored, networked camera pointed at it. Most of these cameras are run by government agencies, but things like home security systems and video doorbells (such as Ring) are prevalent.
Conversely, Lenina makes reference to John Spartan being better live than on "laser disc". And video is apparently still predominantly watched on physical media, judging from the discs of the museum security footage she gives John.
Vindicated by Cable: Wasn't particularly popular in its day, but now it's a Cult Classic that's beloved by fans of 90s action movies. It helps also that, much like Last Action Hero, 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.
In some early drafts, Lenina Huxley would have been revealed to be John Spartan's daughter. Obviously Lenina being John's daughter would have eliminated the romance angle for the two characters.
Another draft of the script was for Spartan to have a daughter (named Katie Spartan) be a resident of the Wasteland and one of Edgar Friendly's Scraps. During the shootout in the Wasteland, the woman Spartan was protecting was Katie, and she would later appear at the end, alongside Friendly.
It was originally planned to have Spartan and Phoenix meet face-to-face without a fight, but then it was decided that it would be much better if they tried to kill each other.
Burger King was the winner of the franchise wars in early drafts of the script. However, they declined to be featured in an R-rated movie. McDonald’s was the runner up choice, but they also declined.
For the pinball table:
Wag the Director: According to artist Doug Watson, his backglass artwork proposals were repeatedly rejected by Wesley Snipes, who wanted to ensure his career wasn't jeopardized by having him look like a crazed character. Linda Deal did the final backglass art.
by the restaurant and eventually became the basis for their current logo. It turns out the heads of Taco Bell at the time were big fans of the movie and did so as a shout-out.