{"id":2214,"date":"2024-08-10T03:58:19","date_gmt":"2024-08-10T03:58:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=2214"},"modified":"2024-10-14T14:28:20","modified_gmt":"2024-10-14T18:28:20","slug":"commando","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/08\/10\/commando\/","title":{"rendered":"Commando"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Commando <\/strong>(1985)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 20th Century Fox\/Action\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 90 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, strong abundant violence, brief nudity)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Mark L. Lester\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Steven E. de Souza\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: James Horner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Matthew F. Leonetti\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: October 4, 1985 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong, Dan Hedaya, Vernon Wells, James Olson, David Patrick Kelly, Alyssa Milano, Bill Duke, Drew Snyder, Sharon Wyatt, Michael DeLano, Bob Minor, Mike Adams, (Gary) Carlos Cervantes, Chelsea Field, Branscombe Richmond, Bill Paxton.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $35.1M\/$57.4M (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Body Count: 87<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ****<\/p>\n

\u00a0If I was inclined towards verbal brevity, I\u2019d restrict my review of the Arnold Schwarzenegger actioner Commando <\/strong>to the three-word comment exclaimed by a teen in the audience: \u201cThat was INTENSE!\u201d It encapsulates the movie perfectly. Directed by Mark L. Lester (Class of 1984), Commando<\/strong> is non-stop action from the moment the bad guys make the fatal mistake of pissing off Schwarzenegger\u2019s character, retired Special Forces colonel John Matrix, by kidnapping his daughter. From that point on, he becomes a single-minded, unstoppable killing machine determined to make the responsible parties pay for their transgressions in blood, lots of it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0In his first time out as a contemporary action hero, the actor formerly known as Conan shows his softer side (albeit briefly) as the loving father of preteen daughter Jenny (Milano, Charmed). They live together in a secluded mountain house where they take care of each other. Their peaceful existence is shattered with the arrival of Matrix\u2019s former CO (Olson, Amityville II: The Possession) who\u2019s come to inform him that members of his old unit have been murdered by persons unknown and he might be next on the hit list. Shortly thereafter, armed men show up and make off with Jenny. Matrix puts up a hell of a fight, but they manage to subdue and abduct him.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The leader apparent is Bennett (Wells, The Road Warrior), a former member of the unit who was kicked out because he enjoyed killing people too much. He\u2019s now a mercenary currently in the employ of Arius (Hedaya, Blood Simple), the former dictator of the fictional South American country of Val Verde. What they want is simple. They want Matrix to go in and kill the current leader, the one he helped put in power, so Arius can reclaim his old position. If he does this, they will release his daughter unharmed. If not, they\u2019re both dead.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Deciding he can\u2019t comply with their terms, Matrix manages to get away after killing his guard and jumping from a plane as it ascends. He has roughly 11 hours to find out where they\u2019re holding Jenny before they find out he\u2019s on the loose. He “enlists” the aid of flight attendant Cindy (Chong, Quest for Fire) to drive him around Los Angeles while he works his way through the network of scumbags involved in the assassination plot. Once he has a location, he heads to the scene with a huge arsenal of weaponry and explosives. IT\u2019S PAYBACK TIME!<\/p>\n

\u00a0In case you’re unclear about what to expect next, let me put it in the form of a mathematical formula: Schwarzenegger + a crapload of guns + an R rating = a high body count. It\u2019s that easy. I won\u2019t lie, Commando<\/strong> is simple-minded and simplistic. There\u2019s nothing complex about it. It\u2019s not remotely believable, not even for a second. It\u2019s violent as hell. It\u2019s also a whole lot of fun! These are the things 80s action flicks are about, right?<\/p>\n

\u00a0Commando<\/strong> delivers 100% on its tacit promise of wall-to-wall action, but what about the rest of it? The acting is as cartoonish as you\u2019d expect. Ah-nuld plays it broadly as an indestructible action hero strong enough to rip a phone booth out of the floor, hold it over his head and throw it like it\u2019s nothing while taking on a dozen mall cops. He gets off many great lines including his trademark \u201cI\u2019ll be back.\u201d and a funny turn on one of his signature Terminator lines, “F*** you, a**hole!”. It goes without saying Commando<\/strong> contains a lot of goofy macho dialogue, a point Chong\u2019s character comments on while witnessing Matrix and a baddie go at it in a motel room. It goes down like this:<\/p>\n

Bad Guy: \u201cThis Green Beret is going to kick your big ass.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matrix: \u201cI eat Green Berets for breakfast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cindy: \u201cI can\u2019t believe this macho BS.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chong makes an interesting female sidekick. It doesn’t take long for her to go from unwilling hostage to active participant. Nobody fires a rocket launcher like she does. It helps that she\u2019s studying for her pilot license. Somebody has to fly the seaplane they steal. Wells, a most formidable opponent, is great as the bad guy with a personal grudge to settle with the hero. Hedaya does little more than sneer and threaten as the bitter deposed dictator. Other bad guys are played by cool supporting players like Bill Duke (Predator), David Patrick Kelly (48 Hrs.) and Bob Minor (Action Jackson). Milano is perfectly feisty as the chip off the old block kid who boldly tells her captors she can\u2019t wait to see her father smash their faces in.<\/p>\n

\u00a0James Horner\u2019s score contains echoes of his work in 48 Hrs, especially with the steel drum cadence that folds over itself and specialty instruments like the shakuhachi<\/em> (a Japanese flute). It\u2019s an unusual instrumental arrangement that effectively drives the relentless action. This is NOT an exaggeration. Commando<\/strong> barely slows down long enough to catch its breath. Lester packs more action in 90 minutes than other films with longer running times. It doesn\u2019t waste time on non-essentials like character exposition or plot development. It gives its protagonist an objective and turns him loose. It\u2019s dumb, but FREAKING GREAT! I love Commando<\/strong> just as much now as when I was a teen. It\u2019s still intense!<\/p>\n

NOTE TO READERS: I recently acquired a copy of the unrated Director\u2019s Cut. It\u2019s a minute longer than the theatrical version. It has two added scenes of conversation between Matrix and Cindy including one where he talks about Jenny\u2019s late mother and his regrets about his past deeds. Much to my delight, the tool shed scene contains additional shots of graphic violence- e.g. the saw blade cutting a neck, a bad guy\u2019s arm being cut off. Thank you. Mr. Lester!\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Commando (1985)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 20th Century Fox\/Action\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 90 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (language, strong abundant violence, brief nudity)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Mark L. Lester\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Steven E. de Souza\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: James Horner\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Matthew F. Leonetti\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: October 4, 1985 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong, Dan Hedaya, Vernon Wells, James Olson, David Patrick Kelly, Alyssa Milano, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kick-ass-actioners"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Commando-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2214"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3127,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2214\/revisions\/3127"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}