Demolition Man: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Cult Classic

Demolition Man was released in 1993, and the film’s main characters were frozen in 1996 before being unthawed in 2032. That means the world is currently well over the halfway mark of John Spartan and Simon Phoenix’s Cyro-freeze time.

Still, there is a while to go yet until the boys are let loose, so why not pass the time with some fun facts about this cult classic? Here are 10 things many may not know about Demolition Man, including how those seashells work…

10 A New Script

The movie, in its most basic terms, is about a cop and a criminal who fight each other, are frozen for almost 40 years, then keep fighting. However, in Demolition Man‘s original screenplay, the story was set to start straight away in 2032 with no glimpse of the past (which, at the time, was the near future, but nowadays is the past).

Fred Dekker is the man to take credit for changing things up, even though his re-write is uncredited. He gave the film a prologue that showed Spartan and Phoenix in their natural environment. “If you don’t show Kansas, Oz isn’t all that special.”

9 Too Fast, Too Furious

Nobody needs to be told that Wesley Snipes is an intense fella, but why do his fight scenes in Demolition Man look slightly telegraphed and stiff whereas movies such as Blade showcase the stars silky smooth martial art skills?

Reportedly its because Snipes was so fast at swinging punches and kicks he needed to slow it down for the camera to pick up his sweet moves. Snipes also insisted on doing his own stunts which some, at least according to Denis Leary, had to be secretly reshot with a stuntman at night.

8 Dressed To Impress

During a scene where John Spartan (Stallone) and Lenina Huxley (Sandra Bullock) go for dinner at Taco Bell, the only existing restaurant in the future (more on that later), Bullock wore a dress made out of gemstones which weighed over 40 pounds.

It was so heavy in fact, that after the scene when Huxley animatedly recounts the action that just took place, the dress ripped, which is why Bullock has her arms down at her side for the remainder of the dialogue.

7 Evil Chan

Wesley Snipes was not the first choice to play the villainous Simon Phoenix. Originally Stallone had his friend and co Planet Hollywood founder Jackie Chan in mind for the role. However, Jackie had never played a baddie before, he decided against the part in order not to alienate or confuse his fans.

Other rumors state that Steven Segal and Jean Claude Van Damme also turned down the part for similar reasons, although both would play villains a few decades later in Machete and The Expendables 2 respectively.

6 The Three Sea Shells

One of the biggest mysteries of Demolition Man is the bathroom etiquette needed when one utilizes the three seashell method of cleaning oneself. Apparently the three seashells idea came about when screenwriter Daniel Waters phoned his friend wanting ideas for a futuristic toilet.

Waters’ friend said he had a bag of seashells in his bathroom, and that was that. According to Stallone, the first two seashells are used to clamp and pull the waste, whilst the third is used to clean up! So now you know, and you probably wish you didn’t.

5 Blond Hair Boy

Snipes look in Demolition Man is quite iconic, but he wasn’t the only golden-haired villain with that name to come out in a 1993 movie. The other was portrayed by Roy Fegan, who played Simon, The Golden Lord Chief in the superhero comedy movie The Meteor Man.

As well as that coincidence, Basket Ball legend Dennis Rodman has gone on to credit Snipes for inspiring his own hairstyle during his platinum-haired days.

4 Taco Bell Out, Pizza Hut In

As previously mentioned, Taco Bell is the only surviving restaurant chain in the future. This had to be changed for the oversea markets though, as Taco Bell is not as well known outside of the US.

As Pizza Hut is owned by the same parent company, many of the scenes were shot twice or overdubbed with mention changed to the alternate brand. Surely there has to be a simpler way for product placement?

3 Golfin’ Around

Stallone was going through a major golf phase during the time Demolition Man was shooting. According to Denis Leary, he had his own driving range and pro golf instructor on set.

This rumor is only strengthened by an interview by Rolling Stone with Bullock. “We’d knock heads, but at some point, I became like his younger sister. He’d bang on the trailer with his golf clubs in the middle of the night: ‘Come out and play.’ You know, he’d want to swat golf balls in the middle of the night.”

2 Spartan’s Daughter

There is actually an entire subplot in the movie that was cut out of the finished feature. In the final wasteland battle, John is seen protecting a wasteland scrap named Kate. Kate is also seen at the end of the movie standing next to Edger Friendly when Associate Bob introduces himself. 

Apparently, in a cut scene Spartan is introduced to Kate where he learns she is his daughter. This, plus other scenes that didn’t make it in the final film were cut because Warner Brothers wanted a much shorter run time.

1 Sandra Bullock Career Predictions

It is known that The Simpsons has an eerily better understanding of the future than the Mayans or Nostradamus, but Demolition Man has a fair share of its own predictions, especially when it comes to one of its leads.

In the movie, when the cops are talking about bringing Spartan out of cryo, a bus miniature in the background, not unlike the one seen in Speed, which was released a year later starring Bullock. Also, the only existing restaurant in the future is Taco Bell. Bullock would play the wife of one of the owners of the chain in The Blindside.

Still not enough? How about when talking to Spartan about the changes made while he was frozen, she utters the line “While you were sleeping.” This is, of course, a reference to Miss Congeniality 2…Just kidding, While You Were Sleeping was also the name of a 1995 Bullock movie!