Commando is a 1985 American action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vernon Wells, Rae Dawn Chong, Alyssa Milano, Bill Duke, Dan Hedaya and James Olson. It was directed by Mark L. Lester and shot on location in and around Los Angeles, California.

The film was nominated for a Saturn Award in 1986 for Best Special Effects but lost to James Cameron's Aliens, another movie with music provided by James Horner from Commando. A critical success and commercial hit, Commando is the 7th highest grossing movie of 1985 worldwide.

Plot[link]

Retired Delta Operative Colonel John Matrix is informed by his former superior Major General Franklin Kirby that all the other members of his unit have been killed by unknown mercenaries. Despite being given protection, the mercenaries attack Matrix’s secluded mountain home, kill Kirby’s men and kidnap Matrix’s young daughter Jenny. Matrix desperately gives chase in his truck, but finds the brakes have been tampered with and eventually loses control, crashing the vehicle. He is then cornered by a group of thugs who eventually overpower him, and he is shot with a tranquilizer gun by his former colleague Bennett, who was believed to have been assassinated as well.

It is revealed that Matrix is needed to carry out a political assassination for a South American dictator named Arius, who was previously overthrown by Matrix in a revolution staged by the United States. With an army of former U.S. soldiers and mercenaries under his command, including Bennett, Arius now wishes to lead a military coup in his home country of Val Verde, and reasons that Matrix’s familiarity with the country’s new U.S. puppet leader will aid in an assassination attempt. Arius threatens to kill Jenny if he refuses, and Matrix reluctantly accepts the demand. ^[2]

After boarding the plane to Val Verde, Matrix manages to kill his guard, Henriques, and vacates the plane just as it is taking off from the runway. With approximately 11 hours' time (the period of the flight), he sets out after another of Arius' men, Sully, who accompanied him to the airport with Henriques. He then enlists the aid of an off-duty flight attendant named Cindy, whom Sully is trying to seduce, and instructs her to follow Sully to a shopping mall. Frightened by Matrix, Cindy alerts a security guard, and a fight breaks out between Matrix and several guards, which Sully witnesses. Matrix foils Sully's attempt to inform Arius, but Sully escapes, leaving Matrix to contend with mall security. However, Matrix's desperation in trying to catch Sully finally convinces Cindy of his sincerity, and she decides to help him. After a lengthy car pursuit, Matrix catches up to Sully. After finding a motel key where Sully is to meet Cooke, another of Arius' henchmen, Matrix drops Sully off a cliff to his death.

Matrix and Cindy go to the motel and ambush Cooke, killing him. An invoice in Cooke’s car leads them to a warehouse filled with arms for Arius’ coup. Matrix infiltrates the warehouse and learns where Arius’ mansion is located (and where Jenny is presumably being held). He then breaks into a surplus store to equip himself with military weapons, but the police arrive and Matrix is arrested. Cindy helps him escape, and after commandeering a seaplane from a nearby marina run by Arius, Matrix and Cindy land the plane off the coast of Arius' island hideout. Matrix instructs Cindy to contact General Kirby and then proceeds to Arius’ villa, killing Arius’ entire private army on the way, and subsequently confronts and kills Arius in a gunfight.

Meanwhile, Jenny uses a door handle to pry away boards nailed to the window frame of her prison room, enabling her to escape, but Bennett notices and immediately gives chase. Matrix eventually locates Jenny in the basement, but he is shot in the arm by Bennett. Matrix then taunts Bennett into facing him in a knife fight, an invitation the sadistic Bennett cannot resist. After a fierce struggle, Matrix finally finishes Bennett by impaling him with a large metal steam pipe.

Kirby arrives with a military detachment and asks Matrix to rejoin the Special Forces Unit, but Matrix unceremoniously declines. He then boards the seaplane with Jenny and Cindy and they fly off into the sunset.

Cast[link]

Protagonists[link]

• Arnold Schwarzenegger as John Matrix, a former United States Army Colonel.
• Rae Dawn Chong as Cindy, Matrix's initially unwilling companion.
• Alyssa Milano as Jenny Matrix, John's daughter.
• James Olson as General Kirby, Matrix's former superior.

Antagonists[link]

• Dan Hedaya as Arius, the former Dictator of Val Verde until being overthrown by a new President. Despite being the primary villain of the film, he is the fourth and penultimate member of his own inner circle to die.
• Vernon Wells as Bennett, a former Captain in Matrix's special forces team, now allied with Arius. He is the film's final antagonist, and the last one of the mercenaries to die after a personal duel with Matrix.
• Bill Duke as Cooke, Arius's brutal hitman and a former Green Beret. The third member of Arius's group to die.
• David Patrick Kelly as Sully, a former Army soldier now working for Arius. The second one to be killed by Matrix.
• Charles Meshack as Henriques, a former Army soldier now working for Arius. He is the first of Arius's group killed by Matrix.

Reception[link]

Box office[link]

Commando was a huge commercial success. It was also the 7th top-grossing film of 1985 worldwide. It was outgrossed by The Color Purple, Out of Africa, Back to the Future, Sylvester Stallone's Rocky IV and Rambo: First Blood Part II.

Critical reception[link]

The film maintains a 69% on Rotten Tomatoes (based on 32 reviews), indicating generally positive reviews. Reviews from Kevin N. Laforest, Scott Weinberg, Dave Kehr and Luke Thomson acknowledge the film's tongue-in-cheek humor as well as its status as a cult classic.^[3], even though the Bennett character looks like an overweight member of the Village People.

Production[link]

Screenwriter Jeph Loeb states that the film was originally conceived as a vehicle for Gene Simmons (who passed on it), and later scripted with Nick Nolte in mind to play the lead as an out-of-condition former commando struggling with the demands of his mission. Walter Hill was originally involved in the development process.^[4]

The original concept was for an Israeli special forces–Mossad agent, who is sick of the continual death and destruction in the Middle East. So he quits Israel and emigrates to the United States, where he is forced out of his self-imposed retirement after the kidnapping of his daughter. This was modified and further adapted when Schwarzenegger was cast; some of the original dialogue can be viewed in the deleted scenes when Matrix says he regrets his past actions.

Filming commenced on April 22, 1985 and lasted for 45 days.^[5]

Locations[link]

The film was shot on location in California. The unnamed island off the coast of Santa Barbara, to which Matrix flies to rescue his daughter, was filmed on the Pacific coast at San Simeon. The barracks that are "attacked" are actually beach properties belonging to the Hearst Castle Estate. The house that Matrix storms at the film's climax was actually the former main residence of the Harold Lloyd Estate in the Benedict Canyon district of Beverly Hills. The car chase scene between Sully and Matrix starts on Ventura Blvd and moves into the hills on Benedict Canyon.

Sequel[link]

A sequel was written by De Souza and Frank Darabont, based on the 1979 book Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp (which is, itself, a sequel to his 1966 novel The Detective, made into a film of the same name in 1968 featuring Frank Sinatra and Lee Remick), but Schwarzenegger was not interested in making a sequel as his previous sequel (Conan the Destroyer) was less successful critically and did not do as well domestically at the box office. The script was reworked with a new central character, eventually played by Bruce Willis, and was retitled Die Hard.^[6] The fictitious country of Val Verde is later nodded to in the sequel to Die Hard. Schwarzenegger would eventually make a sequel to one of his films, when in 1990, he signed on for Terminator 2: Judgement Day which became the highest grossing film of 1991.

Remake[link]

In 2008, a Russian remake (День Д)^[7] was made. It was produced and directed by Mikhail Porechenkov (who stars as John Matrix's equivalent) and also features Barbara Porechenkova, Mikhail Trukhin, Alexandra Ursulyak, and Bob Schrijber.^[8]

In 2010, it was announced that Fox would begin filming a remake of the film with David Ayer in negotiations to direct.^[9] Sam Worthington is attached to play the new lead role, which will reportedly have a more realistic approach.^[10]

DVD releases[link]

The first DVD of Commando was released in region 1 in the U.S. on May 25, 1999. Common with early DVD releases, the disc featured a non-anamorphic video transfer,^{[disambiguation needed ]} a basic 2.0 surround track, and only the US theatrical trailer as an extra. DVDs released in other regions soon followed, some with anamorphic transfers, but the 2001 UK region 2 DVD was censored by the BBFC (approximately 12 seconds of cuts) due to violence. These cuts were brought over from the 1985 original theatrical release. However, a German master was used for the UK DVD, meaning the film was cut even more than it should have been, leading to 56 seconds of cuts instead of the BBFC's 12 seconds. If the film had been resubmitted to the BBFC, it would be passed uncut under the BBFC's new, more liberal rules. This has proven to be the case as the BBFC's website indicates that both versions of the film (the U.S. theatrical cut and the unrated edition) for the DVD were passed on June 11, 2007. With the unrated edition released, the film is in its entirety, a first for the UK.

On June 5, 2007, 20th Century Fox officially announced that a completely unedited and unrated director's cut of the film would be released on region 1 DVD on September 18, 2007. Through seamless branching, this disc not only features an unrated cut (which was claimed to run at 95 minutes, but is only 91 minutes, with 92 seconds of extra footage), but as a bonus, also contains the original 90 minute, R-rated US theatrical version. Aside from this, the DVD is a special edition, featuring an audio commentary from director Mark L. Lester (only on the theatrical cut), additional deleted scenes, a Pure Action featurette, a Let Off Some Steam featurette, and four photo galleries with over 150 photos. The transfer is anamorphically enhanced and features a 5.1 audio mix.

In April 2008, the 90-minute theatrical version of the film was released to consumers on the high definition Blu-ray Disc format.

Toy line[link]

Diamond Toymakers released a line of action figures in 1986 in an attempt to cash in on the success of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. Matrix now leads an elite special forces unit (which replaced his old deceased unit from the original film) called C-Team, made up of Spex, Blaster, and Chopper, against the forces of F.E.A.R., led by Psycho (who is based on the character of Bennett) and consisting of Lead-Head, Stalker, and Sawbones. There was an assortment of 4" figures, containing all of the above, a series of 8" figures, consisting of Matrix, Spex, Blaster, Psycho, Lead-Head, and Stalker. Chopper and Sawbones are absent. Finally, there was an 18" John Matrix that came with a pistol, an M16, and a grenade.

Soundtrack[link]

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	link

A soundtrack album was released by Varèse Sarabande on December 2, 2003 as part of the label's CD Club and was limited to 3000 copies.^[11] The score, composed by James Horner, is notable for its prominent use of steel drums.

A song titled "We Fight for Love", featured in the film and recorded by the Power Station, wasn't included in the official soundtrack. The song featured late founder Robert Palmer's replacement, Michael Des Barres, and was the only song with Des Barres singing lead. It would appear on the 2006 remaster of The Power Station.

Track listing[link]

1. "Prologue/Main Title" – 3:58
2. "Ambush and Kidnapping" – 2:35
3. "Captured" – 2:14
4. "Surprise" – 8:19
5. "Sully Runs" – 4:34
6. "Moving Jenny" – 3:44
7. "Matrix Breaks In" – 3:30
8. "Infiltration, Showdown and Finale" – 14:32

La-La Land Records released a limited edition of James Horner's score in August 2011. The release features approximately 62 minutes of music across 24 tracks.

References[link]

External links[link]

film portal

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Commando

• Commando at the Internet Movie Database
• Commando at Box Office Mojo
• Commando at AllRovi
• Commando at Rotten Tomatoes
• Commando at the Internet Movie Firearm Database