Movie Info
Movie Name: Commando
Studio: Silver Pictures
Genre(s): Action/Adventure
Release Date(s): October 4, 1985
MPAA Rating: R
You will all DIE!!!
John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger) was once part of an elite group of commandos under the U.S. government control. When an old enemy comes looking for him, Matrix finds his daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano) kidnapped and learns that he is supposed to assassinate a South American dictator. Escaping the plane, Matrix has twenty-four hours to find his daughter before Arius (Dan Hedaya) knows he’s missing. Matrix teams with a flight attendant named Cindy (Rae Dawn Chong) to find his daughter and stop.
Directed by Mark L. Lester, Commando was another huge hit for Arnold Schwarzenegger and helped establish him as the premiere action star of the ’80s and ’90s. The script was penned by comic book writer Jeph Loeb and was originally intended for Gene Simmons of Kiss (then Nick Nolte was considered for awhile). The movie was a huge financial success and received fairly positive reviews from critics.
Rae Dawn Chong…armed and dangerous!
Commando is one of those films that you feel like you know, even if you haven’t seen it. The movie is just classic action full of guns with unlimited ammo, explosions, and death and dismemberment. The movie does all of this while having that sense of humor that peppered ‘80s action.
Arnold Schwarzenegger can be credited for most of Commando’s success. He has that flat acting that for some reason worked so well in these action movies. He gets to quip and joke while toting guns and knives…here of course he works against the classic “former friend” character Bennett (Vernon Wells) who he gets to battle in hand-to-hand combat which is a nice switch-up to all the gunfighting. It is a bit odd however that he carry around Alyssa Milano who is far too old to be carried.
Seriously Dad, I’m like 12…why are you carrying me?
The movie is loaded with bigger than big explosions. Schwarzenegger can practically just look at things, and they blow-up…completely. It is this lack of logic that makes ’80s action films work. Rocket launchers, machine guns, and giant knives plus Schwarzenegger’s brawn makes for some great fun.
Commando is an action classic. The movie is everything you’d expect from an action film and it also goes at a fast past. A sequel was proposed for the film and it was to be based on the novel Nothing Last Forever by Roderick Thorp…which ended up became a little movie called Die Hard. There has been talk of a remake to Commando (of course) but as of yet, nothing has developed.
