DEMOLITION MAN and the Last Hurrah

DEMOLITION MAN Limited Edition

(Blu-ray)

1993 / 115 minFrom Arrow Video

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😺

1993 was a good year for Sylvester Stallone. Not only did the one-two punch of Cliffhanger and Demolition Man mark a comeback of sorts, they represent his last successful attempts to remain a bankable action hero. Three decades later, both films are still regarded pretty fondly by his fans. 

While Cliffhanger is arguably the “better” film, Demolition Man’s sense of playfulness - largely absent from Stallone’s other boomfests - makes it more memorable. Part of that is due to the satiric elements, both clever and silly, as well as the most intentionally amusing depiction of the future since Marty McFly hopped onto a hoverboard. 

Stallone could also be seen as engaging in a bit of self-parody, having fun with his own onscreen persona. On paper, there ain’t much difference between John Spartan’s violent methods and those of John Rambo or Marion Cobretti. But sending a brutal 90s cop into a docile futuristic utopia gives the character a fish-out-of-water quality that provides a wealth of comedic opportunities, which the story exploits rather well. As for Sly himself…his previous attempts at being funny have always felt a little forced and outside of his comfort zone. But here, his performance is one of the chief reasons Demolition Man strikes just the right balance of humor and bombastic action. 

"Sorry...we're not hiring right now."

He doesn’t do it all alone, though. Wesley Snipes is equally entertaining (and amusing) as Simon Phoenix, the psychotic criminal apprehended by Spartan in the present day. But when Spartan is unjustly convicted of causing the deaths of Phoenix’s hostages, both are sentenced to be cryogenically frozen and reconditioned during their stasis. 30 years later (the year 2032), Phoenix escapes, and since this future society is unaccustomed to dealing with violent criminals, Spartan is thawed out to pick up where he left off in the 90s. 

Of course, Spartan’s methods of law enforcement shock and repel everyone, save for Linina Huxley (Sandra Bullock), another cop with a fixation on the barbaric 20th Century. Meanwhile, the man who established this peacefully oppressive society, Dr. Cocteau (Nigel Hawthorne), has a nefarious agenda that involves using Phoenix to do his dirty work. This scenario sets up the usual explosive and violent action sequences. Ironically though, Demolition Man is at its best when comedically depicting this not-so-brave new world and Spartan’s reactions to it (as well as its reactions to Spartan).

Fairly successful at the time, Demolition Man has since become one of Sly's more enduring films that doesn’t have Rocky or Rambo in the title. In a way, it’s also a fitting coda to his reign as a reliable action star. As such, Arrow Video has put together a Blu-ray release (as well as a 4K edition) worthy of its legacy. In addition to an excellent video restoration and three audio options, there are a handful of new retrospective bonus features (outlined below), as well as some physical goodies (not available for review).

EXTRA KIBBLES

NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review.

U.S. and INTERNATIONAL VERSIONS - In the International Version, Pizza Hut won the “Franchise Wars”. Other than that laughably dubbed switch-out, both versions are identical.

SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAMBO - This is a visual essay by Josh Nelson, who draws numerous comparisons between Demolition Man and The Wizard of Oz. Entertaining, but really a stretch.

INTERVIEWS - All new individual interviews with production designer David L. Snyder, stunt coordinator Charles Percini, make-up FX artist Chris Biggs and “body effects”  coordinator Jeff Farley.

3 AUDIO COMMENTARIES - 1) By director Marco Brambillia & co-screenwriter Daniel Waters; 2) By critic Mike White; 3) By By director Marco Brambillia & producer Joel Silver.

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IMAGE GALLERY

THE END OF THE WORLD (1916): Apocalypse Then

THE END OF THE WORLD (1916)

aka Verdins Undergang and The Flaming Sword

Starring Olaf Fønss, Carl Lauritzen, Ebba Thomsen, Johanne Fritz-Petersen, Thorlief Lund, Alf Blütecher. Directed by August Blom. (77 min)

Essay by D.M. ANDERSON💀

My ongoing quest to see every disaster movie ever made has taken me to some interesting places. Other countries, other eras…including a film that was released back when Irwin Allen was still swimming around in his mom's womb.

Before Bruce Willis saved the world in Armageddon, before Roland Emmerich ushered in a new ice age in The Day After Tomorrow, even before George Pal revealed what happens When Worlds Collide, the tiny European country of Denmark wiped out nearly all of humankind in 1916 with The End of the World, a silent film about a comet that causes catastrophic global destruction. 

And here I thought the only cool things to come out of Denmark were pastries and Lars Ulrich.

 

Disaster was at its zenith in the 1970s with such classics as Airport, The Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake and The Towering Inferno. These films popularized a reliable formula that was used time and time again: A huge cast, melodramatic subplots (with at least one sappy love story), ominous foreshadowing of the disaster to come, the expert nobody listens to until it’s too late, the greedy bad guy who denies anything is wrong (or fucks-over others in the time-honored tradition of self-preservation), and of course, those special effects money shots.

As with any popular genre, the formula was milked to death, to the point where films like The Concorde: Airport ‘79 and Meteor felt more like self-parody…a few years before a real parody (Airplane!) came along. 

While that formula was a cash cow throughout most of the decade, it didn’t start in the ‘70s. Traveling further back in time, classics like The High and the Mighty (1954), San Francisco (1936), In Old Chicago (1938) and no-less than four Titanic movies (including a German-made slab of Nazi propaganda) boast many of the same elements as Airport and The Poseidon Adventure. Older still are Deluge (1933) and the silent film, The Johnstown Flood (1926), the latter of which I initially assumed was the humble prototype for what would someday be my favorite genre.

But those crazy Danes beat everybody by ten years…

I suppose if you want to get nitpicky, The End of the World isn’t technically the “first” disaster film, either. England’s Fire!, about a family’s rescue from a burning house, was a five-minute short produced in 1901. In 1912, Germany’s In Nacht und Eis depicted the sinking of Titanic (released only four months after it sank!), but was only a 35-minute two-reeler (a pretty damn good one at that).

Something molten in the state of Denmark.

However, The End of the World is the first feature-length disaster film that contains many of the attributes associated with the genre. You’ve got your melodrama, with young Dina (Ebba Thomsen) running off to marry mining mogul Frank Stoll (Olaf Fønss), which not only alienates her entire family - eventually causing Dad to die of a heart attack - it infuriates local miner Flint (Thorlief Lund), who later seeks revenge on Frank for stealing his woman.

But don’t fear for ol’ Frank because he’s a complete bastard. In what would someday be a disaster movie tradition, he fucks over a lot of people for personal gain. Damn near everybody, in fact. For starters, the astronomer who discovered the approaching comet entrusts Frank with the grave news of impending disaster, hoping the man will use his clout to inform the press. But because he’s more concerned with selling his stock holdings, Frank demands the papers print stories assuring the public there’s nothing to worry about. 

Elsewhere, young lovers Reymers (Alf Blütecher) and Dina’s younger sister, Edith (Johanne Fritz-Petersen), miss each other terribly while he’s at sea. She spends most of the film moping around the house, lamenting her loneliness, while he’s repeatedly seen gazing sadly across the water…and occasionally up at the approaching comet. Meanwhile, Frank throws a party for his wealthy friends, with plans for he and Dina to take cover in his mine when disaster finally strikes. Fuck everybody else.

All this melodrama comprises the first two-acts, with periodic shots of the comet getting closer as people helplessly gawk upward. Frank is easily the film’s most entertaining character, mainly because he’s such a dick. Director August Blom must’ve thought so, too, because Frank has the most screen time. Edith and Reymers are cute but dull, their plight dragged down by the audience’s utter certainty that these two will somehow end up back in each other’s arms. 

The comet itself causes worldwide catastrophe, though all the action centers on the mining town where everyone lives. Fire rains from the sky while buildings are wiped out by a tsunami. Those who don’t die from the disaster are killed by toxic gas or shot during a riot when oppressed miners attempt to spoil Frank’s party. For a 100+ year old film, The End of the World features pretty interesting special effects, including early examples of split-screen to show panic-stricken crowds and fiery destruction within the same shot. 

But overall, is it a good film? The story is kind of meandering and slows to a crawl whenever Frank isn’t engaged in douchebaggery, but the disaster itself is kind of fun. Later apocalyptic movies with the same premise would obviously be grander, but this one did it first. Therefore, The End of the World is an important historical milestone in the disaster genre. And it’s still better than Armageddon.

THE POOP SCOOP: Warner Archive's Biggest Sale & New Year's Kibbles

WARNER ARCHIVE’S END-OF-YEAR SALE, NOW THRU 12/16.

The largest sale Warner Archive has ever sponsored is happening now through December 16th. AV Entertainment's e-commerce subsidiary, Movie Zyng, is the exclusive host of this giant sale. Over 3800 Film and TV titles on Blu-ray, 4k, and DVD. Many titles have never been included in a sale before. Buy 3 and get 33% off. Just use the coupon code WARNER2024 at checkout. Sale ends December 16th at midnight, so shop now. Over 91% of the Archive catalog is eligible for the sale. The only titles not on sale are those released since May 15, BBC Television titles, and a handful of box sets. Much of the DVD and Television titles have never been priced this low! Click HERE to start shopping!

Clint Eastwood’s JUROR #2 on Digital NOW, on Blu-ray & DVD 2/4/25 from Warner Bros.

Juror #2, the legal thriller from Academy Award winning director Clint Eastwood, arrives for purchase and rental Digitally at home on December 3. The film will also be available to purchase on Blu-ray and DVD on February 4, 2025. Academy Award winner Eastwood directs from a screenplay by Jonathan Abrams (“Escape Plan”).  Juror #2 follows family man Justin Kemp who, while serving as a juror in a high-profile murder trial, finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma…one he could use to sway the jury verdict and potentially convict—or free—the accused killer. The film stars Nicholas Hoult (upcoming Superman, The Menu), Oscar nominee Toni Collette (upcoming Mickey 17, The Sixth Sense), Oscar winner J.K. Simmons (Whiplash), and Kiefer Sutherland (Designated Survivor, 24), and also features Chris Messina (Air, Based on a True Story), Gabriel Basso (The Night Agent), Zoey Deutch (The Politician, Zombieland: Double Tap), Cedric Yarbrough (Unfrosted), Leslie Bibb (Palm Royale, Tag), Amy Aquino (Bosch) and Adrienne C. Moore (Orange Is the New Black).

Limited 4K & Blu-ray Editions of INGLORIOUS BASTERDS (1/14/2025) and THE CELL (1/21/2025) Coming from Arrow Video.

On January 14th, Arrow Video exposes an alternate version of World War II history with the invigorating Inglourious Basterds arriving on 4K UHD and Blu-ray. Director Quentin Tarantino puts his own verbal and violent twist on the fighting in Nazi-occupied France. The Limited Edition release features a brand new 4K restoration from the original camera negative in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) and hours of special features. On January 21st, Arrow Video offers a police chase into the mind of a serial killer in The Cell on 4K UHD and Blu-ray. Director Tarsem Singh (The Fall) brought his visual boldness to the big screen after a career making innovative major music videos (R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion”). The Limited Edition release features brand new 4K restorations of the theatrical cut and the director’s cut by Arrow Films, approved by director Tarsem Singh, in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible) and hours of special features.

THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE in Theaters 2/28/25 from Ketchup Entertainment and Warner Animation.

That’s not all folks! From Ketchup Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation, director Pete Browngardt, and the creative team behind the award-winning “Looney Tunes Cartoons” comes THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE, a brand new buddy comedy starring one of the greatest comedic duos in history–Porky Pig and Daffy Duck! This  richly-crafted, hand-drawn 2D animated adventure marks the first fully-animated feature-length film in Looney Tunes history, told on a scope and scale that’s truly out of this world. Porky Pig and Daffy Duck venture to the big screen as unlikely heroes and Earth’s only hope when their antics at the local bubble gum factory uncover a secret alien mind control plot. Faced with cosmic odds, the two are determined to save their town (and the world!)... that is if they don’t drive each other totally looney in the process.

Free Kittens’ HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE!

‘Tis the season, and the big day is coming soon! But there’s still time to pick up some delicious crunchy kibbles for that special cinephile in your litter. Check out some of the purr-fect presents in our 2024 Holiday Gift Guide.

MEN OF WAR: What Were You Expecting?

MEN OF WAR (Blu-ray) 

1994 / 103 min

From MVD Rewind Collection

Review by Mr. Bonnie, the Bonesnapper😽

A common thread among movies boasting Dolph Lundgren’s name above the title is that our expectations are automatically lowered. This is especially true of all those direct-to-video action flicks he started cranking out after Hollywood realized he was never gonna be another Stallone (maybe not even a Van Damme). 

So when one of those films actually exceeds our expectations, it’s a nice surprise. And it has happened on occasion. 2013’s Battle of the Damned was better (and funnier) than it had a right to be, as was the blood-soaked Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, a guilty pleasure if there ever was one. Somewhat belatedly - having never seen it until now - I’d add 1994’s Men of War to that short list.

The story is nearly as generic as its title, a virtual checklist of characters and tropes we’ve seen in bigger (and generally better) action movies. Beefy protagonist with a cool name? Check. Beefy protagonist is a retired, disillusioned mercenary? Check. Beefy protagonist reluctantly agrees to one more mission? Check. Beefy protagonist reassembles his eclectic old team of badasses? Check. Team of badasses engages in a pre-mission barroom brawl? Check. Sadistic, bug-eyed antagonist? Check. Sadistic, bug-eyed antagonist shares a dark past with beefy protagonist? Check. You get the idea.

For the most part, the story is standard-issue. Nick Gunar (Lundgren) and his team are hired to chase a village of natives off their island to make way for a corporation’s plan to mine its treasures. But in a plot turn that reflects shades of The Magnificent Seven (and therefore Seven Samurai), Nick has a change-of-heart. Following his tryst a gorgeous native girl (Gratuitous nudity? Check.), he chooses to defend the natives from another batch of hired guns led by sweaty, snarling bag of hate, Keefer (Trevor Goddard), who strips his shirt off in his very first scene and never finds it again.

Dolph and co-star.

On paper, Men of War reads like countless other 90s-era boomfests fighting for space on Blockbuster shelves, and often plays like one, too. However, it’s well-assembled and fast paced, with some exciting bouts of violent action and a surprising amount of intentional humor. And considering the rigid narrative parameters of the genre, the film even manages to throw a few curveballs, such as half of Nick’s team abandoning the mission to join the bad guys, or more amusingly, the actual nature of the “treasure” everyone’s fighting over.

Overall, the characters are familiar but fairly engaging, performed by a solid cast of faces we’ve seen before (even if we don’t recall all their names). While Lundgren certainly doesn’t leave his comfort zone, he’s a better second-tier action hero than he’s often given credit for (better than Van Damme, anyway). And I’d be remiss if I didn’t single-out Goddard as a particular highlight. He attacks his role with hyper-caffeinated zeal, perpetually looking like his nuts are attached to jumper cables. Not exactly subtle, but pretty damn fun to watch.  

Believe it or not, none other than John Sayles originally conceived the film (and still shares credit for the screenplay), which was then significantly reworked to showcase Lundgren’s beefy brand of badassery. As such, Men of War is far from a forgotten masterpiece, but it delivers more bang for the buck than one might expect from a budget-conscious action flick. For fans of this sort of thing, this Blu-ray is an enjoyable blast from the past with solid technical specs and a smattering of bonus features.

EXTRA KIBBLES

OPTIONAL INTRODUCTION - By director Perry Lang.

FEATURETTE - An Unsafe Place: Making Men of War

RAW FOOTAGE/DELETED SCENES

PHOTO GALLERY

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THE BLOCK ISLAND SOUND and the Happy Accident

THE BLOCK ISLAND SOUND (Blu-ray)

2020 / 99 min

From Synapse Films

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

Wanna hear something stupid? For the longest time, whenever surfing Netflix for something to kill a few hours, I repeatedly skipped right over The Block Island Sound, never pausing to read the synopsis because the title suggested some kind of hipster music doc about indie artists I’d never throw on my turntable. In my defense, there’s so much crap on Netflix that if I stopped to check out every movie summary, I’d spend more time looking for something on Netflix than actually watching something on Netflix. 

But one night, I accidentally left the thumbnail for The Block Island Sound highlighted. While I’m personally annoyed by Netflix’s practice of playing a scene from the film whether you want it to or not, I was suddenly intrigued. Oh…this is a horror film. And as it turned out, a pretty good one.

The first thing that struck me was the overall aesthetic, which effectively captures the inherent bleakness of small north-coastal towns. The ones that aren’t tourist traps are typically dreary and cold, seemingly drained of color, with perpetually gray skies. Like such horror films as Dead & Buried and the criminally underseen The Beach House, the setting of this one immediately establishes an ominous tone…

…as does the opening scene, where an old man named Tom (Neville Archambault) wakes up on the deck of his adrift fishing boat surrounded by dead fish. Later, he frequently falls into a trance-like state before waking up on his boat again. His son, Harry (Chris Sheffield), fears Tom is sleepwalking, at least until the morning they find his wayward boat empty. Short-tempered and suspicious, he assumes Dad met with foul play, especially after he’s found dead. Conversely, Harry’s semi-estranged sister Audrey (Michaela McManus), who’s there to investigate the mysterious deaths of thousands of fish, is certain the man’s chronic drinking killed him.

Sometimes having a bigger boat doesn't matter.

Harry has a similar drinking problem, so when he begins experiencing similar trances - seeing his undead father - and waking up alone on the same boat, everyone thinks grief and booze are driving him crazy. For awhile, the narrative does a great job keeping that suspicion in the back of the viewer’s mind. But as the story progresses, with intriguing ambiguity, it appears that an unseen entity is lurking off-shore, coercing Harry into committing terrible acts (I won’t say what), only to wake up later with no memory of them.  Meanwhile, Audrey is torn between exasperation over Harry’s behavior and increasing fear he’s gonna harm someone.

For a low budget film, writer/directors Kevin & Matthew McManus manage to assemble a pretty engaging Lovecraftian tale. With limited resources, the overall lack of onscreen monsters and mayhem is offset by a consistently dark tone, menacing sound effects and, most importantly, believable characters. However, the film loses some of its punch during the final act, when the nature of this entity is revealed and visual effects are required. Not that they’re necessarily bad, but aesthetically, these scenes seem to belong to another movie. Ultimately, it’s most effective when the horror is more psychological than supernatural.

Catching The Block Island Sound turned out to be a happy accident. It’s an eerie, quietly unsettling little horror film, which is certainly more fun than another music doc about obscure musicians. It’s still on Netflix (and has been for years), but you never know when it’ll get yanked. And since the movie is probably worth seeing more than once, it’s nice to have it on Blu-ray with a good video/audio transfer and some interesting bonus features, which help one appreciate what the McManus brothers are able to accomplish with so little.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - A Practical Apocalypse; Finding the Cast; Filming on the Water; Special Effects on a Shoestring.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By writer/directors Kevin & Matthew McManus

BEHIND THE SCENES FOOTAGE

MCMANUS FAMILY HOME MOVIES

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