Naming some of Sylvester Stallone’s most memorable and cult classic movies is easy work. The actor looks back at his extensive career and has a surprising pick for which one of his movies he thinks has aged the best.
In an interview with GQ, Stallone looks back at his most iconic characters like Rambo, but reveals that the 1993 sci-fi movie Demolition Man is at the top of the list.
“I think it was a great movie. It’s one of the few films that really [holds] up, and it is almost close to happening,” Stallone said.
He went on to add that there are “certain kinds of mannerisms” and a “gentle-ization of society” reflected in the movie’s concept of a technologically advanced future and its leading characters. For Stallone, Demolition Man was a “very, very contemporary” film.
Directed by Marco Brambilla, Demolition Man focuses on John Spartan (Stallone), a risk-taking police officer known for causing mayhem in the pursuit of justice. When he fails to save civilians trapped by his arch-nemesis, Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes), they are both sent to be cryogenically frozen in the year 1996.
In 2032, the world has undergone drastic changes, and Phoenix escapes cryofreeze. With the current police not trained to handle a ruthless killer, they awaken Spartan for help in capturing him.
Demolition Man performed moderately well at the box office, earning $159 million against its $77 million budget. Critics called it a better-than-average sci-fi movie that, in return, has become one of Stallone’s undermined cult classics.
Stallone also credits Snipes as one of the most standout villains on screen, calling the actor “a wild man, very energetic, good fighter.”
“But Wesley, he really dug down there and gave a very memorable character. [He did] things with his hair and his voice and he was good. He was at the top of his game then,” he said.
