In “Demolition Man”, Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes are frozen in 1996 and wake up in 2032 for a muscular confrontation in a sanitized society, where three seashells replace toilet paper. Mysterious objects for which Sly recently unveiled the instructions for use.
Demolition Man : a shock duel in the future
First film by Marco Brambilla, who will sign only one other thereafter with Excess Baggage, Demolition Man allows Sylvester Stallone to catch up in the second degree after the disastrous Stop where my mother is going to shoot! Released in 1994, the feature film offers a futuristic confrontation between two heavyweights of the time: Wesley Snipes and Sly.
The first embodies Simon Phoenix, a raging psychopath who puts the city of Los Angeles on fire and bloodshed in 1996. As he tries to stop him, the cop John Spartan breaks into his lair, which causes a disaster. The criminal carries out his threats and triggers an explosion that claims the lives of 30 hostages. The two men are frozen because of this tragedy.
But when Simon Phoenix wakes up in 2032 and starts stirring up trouble again, the overwhelmed authorities decide to thaw Spartan, nicknamed “Demolition Man”, to stop him for good. In this new and non-violent worldthe policeman can count on the help of his colleague Lenina Huxley (Sandra Bullock) to try to adapt.
The explanation of the three shells by Sylvester Stallone
A future where Pizza Hut has become a gourmet restaurant, where the poor live underground, where swearing is prohibited and where the toilet paper has given way to the three seashells. During a scene that has become cult, John Spartan is at the police station and is surprised at what he finds in the toilets. Erwin (Rob Schneider) then laughs at him and laughs:
He doesn’t know how to use the three shells!
But what is the user manual? It is a fundamental existential question that torments lovers of Demolition Man for almost 30 years, on which screenwriter Daniel Walters has already spoken. Quoted by Filmsnewshe assures about these mysterious instruments :
I won’t tell you the real secret of the three shells, but I can tell you where they come from. There was this scene where Stallone had to go to the bathroom and I was trying to find something futuristic to fit there. I was a bit dry, so I called a friend of mine, who was also a screenwriter, to ask him if he had an idea. Coincidence: when I called him, he was in the bathroom. He looked around, and told me he had seashells as decorations in his toilet. I hung up and stitched something from that…
Sylvester Stallone has his side a more concrete explanation. During a recent live Instagram, the star is questioned on the subject by a user. Amused, he replies:
Without getting too disgusting, imagine how chopsticks work. Use your imagination from there…
