![]() ![]() This comes in the form of then-rising star, Mark Dacascos as a former student back from military duty and now an expert in Capoeira. A crime-riddled and troubled school, rife with drugs and underachieving wasters, needs a swift kick of inspiration. The helmer of several Van Damme classics, Sheldon Lettich took a break from lensing his old buddy JC and made this riff on this Class of 1984/The Substitute riff. Likewise, it’s one of the better ‘Die Hard on a…’ riffs. It never got the appreciation it deserved for nailing an interesting and visually arresting concept. Cliffhanger did well at the box office and received so-so reviews. Michael Rooker is great in support, arguably upstaging Stallone, whilst John Lithgow gnaws up the scenery as the villain. He provides plenty of visual flair here in a film that utilises its snowy mountain, occasionally vertigo-inducing, visuals to great effect. Stallone wrote the script, so he certainly gave himself some good arcs.ĭirector Renny Harlin, coming from the school of 1980s, music video-inspired stylists, was already well versed in this Die Hard archetype, having directed Die Hard 2. It also gave Stallone a haunted character seeking redemption that allowed him to inject a bit of pathos into his performance. It’s a film that felt suitably grandiose for a Stallone vehicle. With a nice balance of man vs terrorists and man vs elements, we have Cliffhanger. Whether they quite knew it, the makers of Demolition Man created one of the most enduring action classics of the 90s. ![]() The satirical humour works well, the film is affably silly in places but above all, it’s got Stallone in good fettle and Wesley Snipes and Sandra Bullock vying to steal the movie. Now, with the benefit of time and the fact that the film’s depiction of the future wasn’t too far from where we are now, it’s become a little bit more heralded. Critics were decidedly underwhelmed too, not quite attuned to the mix of satire, humour and genre elements. An old-fashioned crim can only be caught by an old-fashioned cop.ĭemolition Man did okay business on release, but perhaps not enough to convince that Stallone could repeat his 80s success. They both inevitably wake and Phoenix goes on the run in a PC gone made, a woke paradise of a future. After a battle between the two leaves a building destroyed and a bus full of hostages dead, Phoenix is sentenced to be cryogenically frozen but manages to frame Spartan. Stallone gambled on sci-fi, with Demolition Man, the tale of John Spartan and his arch nemesis, Simon Phoenix. When 93 rolled around he was coming off the back of a dire run which saw a failed third Rambo, a fifth Rocky and two critically annihilated comedies. Sly Stallone was having a tough time in the early 90s. Let’s cock our shotguns, mount our hogs and grease our mullets as we jump back to 1993 and look at the underrated action movies of the year. In time, many of these have found themselves held in higher regard, however. The year was an interesting mixture of films that were either torn apart by critics, failed at the box office, or fell short of the expectations of fans. Jumping back 30 years we see a time of transition, where the stalwarts of the 80s like Stallone and Schwarzenegger were finding it difficult to match their best successes, whilst being challenged by the likes of Jean-Claude Van Damme and Wesley Snipes. In the grand scheme of action films, 1993 was an interesting year. We take a 30 year trip back to 1993 to look at ten action movies you have to see… ![]()
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