Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes star in this sci-fi action thriller directed by Marco Brambilla. LAPD Sergeant John Spartan (Stallone), nicknamed 'Demolition Man' due to his often destructive approach to law enforcement, is sentenced to spend 70 years in a cryo-penitentiary after he is set up by Simon Phoenix (Snipes), the criminal he is chasing. Halfway through his own sentence, Phoenix is thawed so that he can attend a parole hearing.

He takes the opportunity to escape and finds himself in a changed world where violent crime has almost completely disappeared. When he embarks on a murderous crime spree, it quickly becomes apparent that there is no one qualified to stop him and so Spartan is freed and joins forces with Lieutenant Lenina Huxley (Sandra Bullock) to hunt Phoenix down. However, Spartan and Huxley soon realise that there is more to Phoenix's escape than they first thought...