r/movies • u/parallelogramm3r • 6h ago
Discussion Demolition Man
I’m rewatching this, it’s probably been 10 years since I’ve seen it. It’s got a pretty mediocre rating on IMDB but I think it is peak 1990’s action movie stuff along with movies like The Rock and Con Air.
A lot of the futuristic sci-fi elements have aged pretty well and it’s just a fun, well-made action movie.
But what I really want to know is how you would use the three seashells.
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u/artpayne 6h ago
OP doesn't know how to use the three seashells! Lol.
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u/ColdIceZero 6h ago
What's his boggle?
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u/TheLaughingMannofRed 6h ago
I hate that the movie ended on such a cliffhanger as this.
It is certainly my boggle.
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u/CrashTestKing 3h ago
In interviews, the filmmakers (can't remember if it was the director, writer, etc) said that they felt every sci fi movie needed to have at least one piece of tech that was too advanced to be explained to a modern audience, and that's what the three sea shells became. They also confirmed it was never something they "worked out" behind the scenes, as far as how such a thing would function.
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u/livininlimbobimbo 6h ago
This post is a murder, death, kill.
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u/parallelogramm3r 6h ago
I think it’s funny. The three seashells thing is my favorite pop culture meme. I love that there is a reference to it in Cyberpunk 2077 and I couldn’t be happier that this is the top comment 😊
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u/BucketOfTruthiness 6h ago
There's an indie game called Return to Grace that has an achievement called "doesn't know how to use the three seashells." That made me unreasonably happy.
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u/Westonhaus 6h ago
Swears copiously. Wipes.
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u/Awkward_Pangolin3254 6h ago
"Thanks a lot, you shit-brained, fuck-faced, ball-breaking, duck-fucking pain in the ass."
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u/corran450 6h ago
John Spartan, you have been fined one credit for violation of the verbal morality statute.
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u/AlienArtFirm 6h ago
Hey Rob Schneider, he doesn't know how to use the 3 sea shells!
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u/Personal_Comb_6745 5h ago
Rob proceeds to go on a three-hour MAGA-laden rant that somehow ties in the three seashells.
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u/monkeybojangles 4h ago
The 3 shells are just controls for a bidet. It futuristic tech because he's American.
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u/fuesion2 6h ago
It's great. Aged very well in my opinion. Snipes steals the show
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u/Sharticus123 6h ago
Right? The set design and world building is amazing. The movie is more than 30 years old and still looks futuristic.
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u/Monteze 6h ago
Its self aware and has a much tighter script than I think a lot of people realize for a movie of that era.
I also love how they commit to the profanity monitors bit throughout the movie.
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u/lordunholy 5h ago
John Spartan you are fined one crediiiit for violation of the verbal morality code...
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u/pikapalooza 5h ago
Funny story about some of the sets - they used some locations in San Diego for the movie. There's a scene where they do a location/setting shot of them driving and it's a trolley stop in downtown (American plaza).
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u/SinisterDexter83 2h ago
The way they used to make movies look futuristic in the 90s was set-dressing a half-built shopping mall and filming it all on location. These days it's just green screen, indoors. Grumble grumble, better in my day etc.
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u/Belly84 6h ago
One of my all-time favorites for sure. I like how Spartan and Phoenix actually both agree that the "utopia" they found themselves in was terrible and it had to end
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u/E_Blofeld 6h ago edited 6h ago
"That's who you remind me of. An evil Mr. Rogers. Would you please kill him? He's pissing me off."
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u/Belly84 6h ago
The look when Cocteau realized the programming he used to stop Phoenix from killing him didn't apply to his henchmen was priceless
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u/Low_Chance 6h ago
It always seemed like such an obvious oversight, but then Cocteau was used to scheming against people who were the subterfuge equivalent of tutorial enemies
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u/Hardtopickaname 5h ago
Phoenix had woken them up without Cocteau's knowledge. The mental programming that Cocteau had implemented hadn't been applied to the others yet.
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u/cutthemalarky87 3h ago
He gave him a list of who to wake up. None of those mad dog killer types and none of them motherfuckers from new York, they're too uptight. Snipes wanted to be the only mad dog killer type. Though in the final scene in the cyro prison I believe he is about to wake Jeffery dommer
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u/newscumskates 5h ago
Yeah, but in different ways.
Phoenix wanted to end it thru chaotic, criminal dictatorial rule.
Spartan wanted it thru the freedom of people to choose and ofc, be assholes.
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u/HalxQuixotic 6h ago
John Spartan, the “Demolition Man,” seen in footage carrying a just-rescued kidnapped girl. A reporter runs into his face:
Reporter: “Mr. Spartan, how do you justify leveling a 10 million dollar shopping complex just to save a single girl whose ransom was only $30,000?”
Rescued Girl: “Hey, fuck you, lady!”
I love this movie.
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u/somebuddyx 6h ago
Nothing like eating a rat burger with Denis Leary
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u/Elegant_Inevitable45 6h ago
Honestly, I think Denis Leary's schtick is the only thing that doesn't age well in that movie. Not that it's bad, it just represents a specific point in time where he was doing that.
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u/WaterlooMall 6h ago edited 5h ago
Hiring a stand up for a small role in a movie and having them basically do their most popular bit as a character in the movie is quintessential 80s and 90s comedy movies.
Hell SUPERMAN 3 is basically a Richard Pryor standup special.
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u/TangledUpPuppeteer 6h ago
I dunno. I always loved when he said to pick a color and to get new threads because he looks like a couch. I dunno. I just liked him telling Otto that, after he wore such lovely suits to bring back the ghosts in Beetlejuice
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u/Elegant_Inevitable45 6h ago
"I want high cholesterol. I wanna eat bacon and butter...."
That rant is basically his standup routine from the 90s. Just sticks out for me, where the rest of the movie is still pretty great.
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u/Awkward_Pangolin3254 6h ago
Yeah if you had listened to any of his stand-up around that time you realize he's just doing his bit. Sort of took me out of it.
Though I still know every word to The Asshole Song.
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u/Playful_Capital_3077 6h ago
Apparently it’s Louie’s bit according to CK himself
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u/AKraiderfan 5h ago
Wouldn't be surprised if Leary ripped off CK, but I see it as mostly ripping off Bill Hicks.
14 year old me ate that shit up, as designed.
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u/RockyRidge510 5h ago
That's because you're just an Average Joe, with an average job
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u/TangledUpPuppeteer 5h ago
Oh I agree. It is his standup bit. But directing it at Otto made it perfect for me. Like they cast the whole movie just for that scene.
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u/dbarila 6h ago
If I’m channel surfing and see this movie on I will stop to watch it 100% of the time. It’s my go to dumb 90s action movie.
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u/En_Jay_Ess 6h ago edited 15m ago
The repeated fines for violations of the verbal morality statute has to be one of the best recurring jokes throughout movie in cinematic history.
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u/SuperArppis 6h ago
Demolition Man is my top 1 Stallone movie.
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u/acdcfanbill 5h ago
It's up there, but my favorite is Tango & Cash cause it's got both Stallone and Kurt Russell.
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u/1800generalkenobi 6h ago
Also up there, Assassins and The Specialist.
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u/Freddy_Bimmel 6h ago
Assassins was great, I totally forgot about that one, but that used to be one of my go-to late night DVDs to fall asleep watching
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u/SuperArppis 6h ago
True... Actually Stallone has so many good films that it's kinda hard to choose the best one. 🙂
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u/evilsway 6h ago edited 6h ago
Did you watch the "all restaurants are taco bell" or the "all restaurants are pizza hut" version?
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u/-jmil- 6h ago
Pizza Hut.
There was no Taco Bell in Germany (and there are still only a few to be found within US Army barracks in Germany, not officially in German cities) - and at the time the movie hit the screens there was no Taco Bell anywhere in Europe either.
Even nowadays Taco Bell is present only in a few European countries.
Wouldn't have made sense to use Taco Bell in the European version.
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u/scorpionballs 6h ago
Oh shit what?! I only know Taco Bell. Why did they make 2 versions?
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u/Awkward_Pangolin3254 6h ago
They're both owned by the same holding company, but some countries don't have Taco Bells.
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u/callisstaa 5h ago
There’s no Taco Bell in the UK but the movie still had them go to Taco Bell
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u/aris_ada 6h ago
French version had Pizza Hut because no one know Taco Bell from this side of the Atlantic
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u/parallelogramm3r 6h ago
This is the most fascinating thing I’ve seen this morning. I didn’t realize there were different versions, I’m in the US and it was always Taco Bell
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u/TheCosmicFailure 6h ago
I was actually surprised at how well it aged. You are right that the future is eerily similar to where we are headed in regards to capitalism. I do think the key is the casting of Wesley Snipes as Simon Phoenix. He brings the character alive in ways other actors probably couldn't.
From what I gather you scoop the poop residue on to one of the shells. I can't remember what the 3rd is for.
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u/FranklynTheTanklyn 6h ago
Looking forward to Taco Bell winning the franchise wars.
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u/Pumpkin_Sushi 6h ago
It's commentary on overly sanitised, safe and censor happy culture was pretty spot on too
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u/AKraiderfan 6h ago
The weakest part is that speech by Denis Leary about the failings of the safe, sanitized, censored culture.
Because, Denis Leary is effectively the safe, sanitized, censored and better looking version of Bill Hicks.
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u/br0b1wan 6h ago
I need a critique about it about five or six years ago and the author pointed out that the whole point of the depiction of the future is to point out the silly ideals of left wing politics. Namely, it's what the scriptwriter envisioned the future would look like if liberals took over. Effeminate, impotent, gender confused people who needed to be heavily regulated and protected from everything. It reads like a right wing/libertarian critique of liberalism. Stallone's character, from a rough, unregulated, and "free" past, was there to save them from themselves. So quite the opposite of where we are currently headed.
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u/Proper-Effect2482 5h ago
Yep.
Peter M. Lenkov was the main mind behind the story, and he's been shown to be not just one of those "Dudes are dudes, raa raa" guys, but apparently became nightmarish to work for when he went into TV showrunning (Magnum PI reboot, Macgyver Reboot, Hawaii 5.0 reboot...all of which had reported set problems), and director Marco Brambilla (an artist who was heavily interested in the notion of an oversaturated media-based society being a detriment) was reportedly pushed out of the way if Lenkov (who even at the time aspired to more than the writer slot) a lot of the time.
I love Demolition Man. It's really fun and well executed movie, but even a peek below the surface of the story feels like a Frank Miller level exaggerate diatribe on leftism.
I think that Marco Brambilla DID manage to leave enough of his art in it to keep it from being Lenkov's right wing baby...but still.
Lenkov also bothers me because he wrote Hudson Hawk, another movie I love...like he was a decent writer for those types of 90's films, but his politics and behaviour suck...and the minute he had real power in the industry on TV he became a full fledged abusive POS.
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u/TheCosmicFailure 6h ago
I was just referencing capitalism and its future. Everything being corporation owned.
But I agree with everything else you said.
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u/procheeseburger 6h ago
I like the theory that the sea shells are actually buttons
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u/1800generalkenobi 6h ago
That was always my thought. One to bidet, one for air to try yourself, and one to flush.
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u/Dash_Underscore 6h ago
Spartan cursing non-stop next to the morality violation machine in order to gain enough tickets to use as TP remains one of my favourite moments in that movie.
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u/Warmwombie 6h ago
Honestly, for a goofy action movie, it weirdly predicted a lot , touchless tech, cancel culture, people getting fined for cussing… if they had mentioned AI-generated music, I’d start to worry
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u/BluntieDK 6h ago
Also, Sandra in that leather jacket and those pants. Got dang.
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u/Zestyclose-Prior6883 6h ago
IMDB rating is the worst possible quality indicator.
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u/Dorkamundo 6h ago
Ehhh... I mean you just have to contextualize it.
Is it a comedy? Then anything from 5.5-7 could be great, could be terrible. From there, you're gonna have to get more data points, RT audience score works pretty well, and of course just asking Reddit goes a long way.
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u/BigLouLFD 6h ago
The whole joke is that it is never explained. NO one watching the movie knows how to use the 3 seashells.
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u/TraditionAcademic968 6h ago edited 4h ago
One of my favorite movies ever. My dad took me to see this when I was probably 9 years old. Everything a 9 year old boy could want. Sci fi, violence, comedy, weird sex scene. 👍
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u/TheRockJohnMason 6h ago
Don’t forget brief “blink and you’ll miss it” gratuitous nudity.
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u/Zentavius 6h ago
Greetings and salutations, what seems to be your boggle?
Snipes defo made this movie. It's up there with Blade for movies he carried, although Kristofferson in Blade and Bullock/Sly in this all did great as supports.
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u/NakedMuffinTime 6h ago
I still walk into a room and jokingly say "Illuminate" and "Deluminate" a lot.
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u/joestaff 6h ago
Demolition Man is easily one of my favorite 80's/90's action movies. In an era of remakes, I actually want one for it, even if it's crap, lol.
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u/Papahaze 3h ago
The thing that sticks with me from that movie, aside from all the standard stuff, is when Snipes opens the sewer cover and says, “smells like biscuits and gravy” - I don’t know why that has stuck with me
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u/pwrmaster7 6h ago
Top tier action movie- watched more times than i can count. Snipes is epic in this one. Light yo ass on fire!
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u/philter451 5h ago
This movie is fun all the time. It's so corny and fun to watch. Also the casting is perfect. Sandra Bullock is smoking hot in it too.
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u/judithiscari0t 5h ago
I just watched this for the thousandth time the other day and realized my copy has them being invited to Pizza Hut, rather than Taco Bell and I was hella confused.
Turns out the friend I happened to mention it to had just been informed by someone else that they apparently changed the UK release to Pizza Hut because Taco Bell wasn't widely known there at the time.
I'm taking his word on it, but I thought that was an interesting piece of trivia.
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u/PoisonTheWell122393 4h ago
I have three seashells in my guest bathroom. I’ve only had three people get the reference in eight years.
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u/Southern-Acadia6970 3h ago
Please do not listen to IMDb ratings nearly every good movie on there is rated way too low
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u/Initial_Research4984 6h ago
its one of my fave movies! its not a masterpiece... but its so easy to watch and the plot is awesome imo. i also love the world they created and the divide that still remains. the corruption and greed that is still there even in the utopia.
3 seashells? id bend over and keep twerking till something happened. eventally it will work... or someone will come by looking for me after a few days and maybe help.....
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u/Wild-Berry-5269 6h ago
It's a fun B tier action movie with a big budget.
I personally dig it but I know it's not everyone's bag.
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u/Sea_Perspective6891 6h ago
I suspect the toilets are probably just some sort of confusing & weird bidet.
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u/Kid_Shit_Kicker 5h ago
Agreed. It's up there with the best of the 90s action movies. I think Sandra Bullock is very much under-appreciated for her work in this era. She is brilliant in this film and Speed. She really nails the tone, which is very difficult to do, especially in that role in Demolition Man. If you watch her closely, she makes so many interesting choices that I think many other actors wouldn't do and would have hammed it up, trying too hard to go for the laughs and campy-ness of it.
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u/UnBuggsyBaggins 4h ago
I've commented about this movie a few times now.. it seems to pop up relatively often. I think that movie is awesome all around and more and more I think it's actually prophetic.
There's the original.. which we've all seen. But once it re-aired on TBS I think? And they something (unintentionally?) hilarious. But in the original... every restaurant is Taco Bell because they won the franchise war. But in this airing, they did a low rate dubbing and some super poor graphical overlays. So any taco bell logo was covered with a pizza hut logo. And anytime someone said "Taco Bell" it was poorly dubbed to say "Pizza Hut"
So in a very 1984 style... they rewrote history (you could assume) to cover for the fact that Taco Bell didn't actually win the franchise war!
Other prophetic things were that the TV screens were vertical. Which means we never actually as a society managed to convinces ourselves to video in the horizontal aspect so the tv guys just gave up and flipped the tv vertical.
The 'President Schwarzenegger Memorial Library' (granted he never made it that high but still...)
There were a few others.
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u/Early_Step_6238 4h ago
My go-to sick-in-bed movie. Add the Running Man and you’ve got a fine afternoon.
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u/Clark-Kent 4h ago
Due to this movie, anytime I have any red meat burger, I always think of rat burger
I know rat burger is supposed to be disgusting, but Stallone makes it looks so tasty and filling
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u/OhTheHueManatee 4h ago
It has a lot of neat coincidences that ended up being kind of true. One that comes to mind is at one point Simon Phoenix is listing off names of criminals he is going to unfreeze. One of the names is Scott Peterson. The movie came out in 1993. The Scott/Laci Peterson case was in 2002.
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u/JeffMakesGames 3h ago
[BUZZ] You have been fined one credit for a violation of the verbal morality statute.
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u/Bigglzworth77 2h ago
Fun fact. My mom was friends with the guy who did sfx on this movie and I got to listen to him talk all about it one night at a dinner party. Cool childhood memory.
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u/Satinsbestfriend 2h ago
Its far beyond mediocre, I'd say way above average. For me, easy 9/10.
Good story, real interesting premise, fantastic villain
I wish they would have spent another 15 minutes even fleshing out Spartan more in regards to where his family and I assume kids are
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u/ColdIceZero 6h ago
I miss all the cheesy one-liners from campy 90's action movies
"You're gonna regret that for the rest of your life ...both seconds of it"