Demolition Man takes place in a world with a large income gap, where the rich (or at least the middle class) live on the surface while the poor (or at least those wanting to be “free”) live underground. And there’s a lot of futuristic tech involved (like cyber sex!). But this is primarily a story about political correctness in a police state and it doesn’t include any all-powerful corporations (aside from Taco Bell, of course). So what do you think? Do you consider Demolition Man to be cyberpunk?
Here’s a trailer. It isn’t streaming anywhere right now though.
Its definitely cyberpunk.
The high tech/low life trope that makes up cyberpunk is here, just turned on its head from the typical expectations. On one hand, the world starts as a mess with all these problems in the world, very typical of a cyberpunk world. It pretty soon presents us with the high tech/high life of the future. But they show hints of the low life with the underground resistance. Even Phoenix is from the low life world, presented to this highly sanitized future that doesn’t know how to deal with him, and that’s how they turned it on its head. Its a pretty interesting idea that doesnt fall into the typical cyperbunk/noir stuff that we kind of expect.