I mean it was his parole hearing so he would have been released anyway. Why did he kill Warden William Smithers?
shareA parole hearing isn't the same as a release date. Parole is when you are released early, and only after a hearing in which it is determined you should be released as opposed to serving your entire sentence. When somebody "gets parole", it only refers to people that get out early and are under the supervision of a parole officer. People that do all their sentence just get out when its up. So it's just a hearing where they'd discuss possibly letting him go, and even under the current system, for a criminal like Phoenix it probably would have just been a formality to follow the law, but no chance of it actually being granted. Just like Charles Manson has had countless parole hearings over the years but stays in jail.
But even more so in Demolition Man, where the law has changed and Smithers tells Phoenix outright that it was a formality. It's not hard to miss what he says, since it's easy to focus on Simon translating the Warden's speech, but he explains that 29 years earlier the parole system had been rendered obsolete (you can't get time off for good behavior as an ice cube) but under federal law they must still go through the formality of a parole hearing for those that were convicted prior to the new law.
"See you guys at the 10 year prison reunion" - Ben Richards
Considering they were able to manipulate their behaviour during incarceration you would think the whole point of a parole hearing or even a 29 year stretch was pointless.
There's a moral to this story Del Boy but for the life of me I can't find it!
How well the rehabilitation works is kind of a grey area. I'm guessing maybe it depends on the cryo-con and how open they are to suggestion. Clearly they were able to really get in Simon's head, keeping him from pulling the trigger on Cocteau, but they couldn't stop him from WANTING to kill Cocteau. Look at Spartan though, who had a normal rehab program, he was basically the same violent/vulgar/rebellious person he was as when he went in, he just had knitting as a hobby.
"See you guys at the 10 year prison reunion" - Ben Richards
Um - m - m Phoenix didn't need much of a reason to kill or attempt to kill any one in this movie. Smithers was just another notch on his gun belt.
shareSome of you have really thought about this.
Take Manson. His parole hearings are a formality. Same deal here.
Phoenix was a psychopathic killer. The end.
Maybe the fact he was a real bad dude had something to do with it.
TAG LINE: True genius is a beautiful thing, but ignorance is ugly to the bone.
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Phoenix wasn't going to be released. It was just a hearing to discuss the possibility of him being released, which wasn't going to happen because Phoenix was still a psychopathic killer. Smithers knows this and that's why he says, "Let's get this one over quick!" because he had already made up his mind there was no way Phoenix was going free.
shareI think Phoenix said that.
shareYou need to rewatch the movie more carefully. Smithers says it first and then Phoenix mockingly says it to Smithers right before he's about to cut his eye out.
shareThat's exactly what I meant. You read my mind. Also how did Phoenix know that the word teddy bear would unlock his restraints?
shareDid you actually see the movie..... You're asking questions which are quite obvious from the movie.....Looks like you missed a lot of things..... It;'s not that hard if you pay attention.
shareHe killed the Warden because he needed a way out. His eye was that way.
Besides the Warden was young enough to do both John and Simon's sentences back in the 90's so Simon probably knew who he was. Revenge factor there.