Review of Commando (1985) by Sean G — 20 Oct 2009

Somewhere... somehow... someone's going to pay!

A 1980's Schwarzenegger blood-ballet.

John Matrix was once an elite spec-ops leader for the U.S. government. Now, he's retired and enjoying the peace of spending every day with his daughter Jenny. However, John has made enemies in all corners of the world and a South American dictator named Arius, has hired a man named Bennett from Matrix's former squad, to hunt him down. Matrix is warned by General Franklin Kirby that members of Matrix's squad are being targeted and killed. As soon as the General leaves Matrix's house, all hell breaks loose and the place is stormed by Venezuelan soldiers. Matrix's daughter is captured and in a matter of moments he is as well. Arius explains to John that he wishes to launch a coup in his home country of Val Verde. If Matrix is successful in completing an assassination for Arius, his daughter will be freed and not be killed. Matrix is forced onto a plane with some henchmen, but he quickly escapes. He has 11 hours before the plane reaches its destination. When it does, Arius will be alerted of Matrix not arriving and killing his henchmen, thus choosing to execute Jenny. John Matrix only has 11 hours of precious time to locate where his daughter is being held and to kill everybody responsible for pissing him the hell off. This commando is going to arm himself to the teeth with every weapon possible to execute his symphony of slaughter.

Commando is directed by Mark L. Lester and is considered to be his biggest hit as it was made on a budget of $10 million and made $57.49 million at the box office. What makes this movie work is Schwarzenegger as it has the funny one-liners (including "I'll be back"), over the top explosions, insane deaths, and a simple plot. They don't make action movies like this anymore and Lester gets the viewer to simply turn off their brain and let their eyes feast on the high octane action.

Schwarzenegger stars as the archetypal military strongman, John Matrix, a man who is out for revenge and to rescue his daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano). Arnie's kill total must stand somewhere near 100 or more. He takes a few scratches and survives being shot at by almost every gun used by the military at the time. The Running Man may be the stereotypical Arnie film for science fiction, but this film is the definitive Arnold flick for pure action. There are tons of great one liner's that'll make you piss your pants. For instance, he kills a guy by throwing a pipe threw his chest that is then spewing out steam. Arnie makes the guys death even more painful by saying, "Let off some steam..." And you can't forget the one where he kills a guy on a plane. He then tells the flight attendant to not wake up his friend during the flight because he is "Dead tired." I could go on and on, but it's better to just watch the movie and see it for yourself. Even though John Matrix is only a human in this story, there are times where he seems to be as strong as The Terminator. He can hold guys up in the air with one arm, rip phone booths out of the ground and throw them around like rag dolls, and flip cars over. When he finally suits up in military gear, is armed to the teeth with guns, and ripped to shreds, he looks awesome and I've never seen a commando in cinema who looked as decked out and cool as him.

The main villain is Arius (Dan Hedaya), the warlord who hopes to use Matrix to fasten his goals. Hedaya does a good job as the typical South American lord of war seeking power. Arius has a right hand man who is a former member of Matrix's squad and his name is Bennett, played by Vernon Wells. Bennett has been pissed at Matrix ever since he was kicked out his company and the guy is clearly unstable. He has the chance to shoot Matrix in the head and end their brawl quickly. Instead, Matrix lures him to do a simple knife fight, saying he doesn't need no chicken shit gun. Bennett gives in and this flabby, mustached bastard gives Ah-nuld a run for his money. He gets electrocuted and it only makes him stronger. To top it off, he has the ability to weaken the Austrian Oak by saying "You're getting old John...you're getting old." There is nothing bullshit about Bennett and he is a pretty bad character. Arnold's female he carries along for this action fiesta is Cindy played by Rae Dawn Chong. Cindy is pulled into this mess as John believes she can get him closer to Sully (David Patrick Kelly), one of Arius' goons. She tags along with Matrix throughout the film, helps him get his gear, and flies him to the island where his daughter is being kept. For those who have seen the Arnold movie Predator, Bill Duke who played Mac in that film, plays Cooke here. Cooke is a U.S. Green Beret and clearly evil. Even though he is an elite Green Beret, he is no match for John Matrix as the guy states he "eats Green Berets for breakfast." The acting by most of the cast is cheesy but fun. Bill Paxton even has a small role in this flick as an intercept officer. I wish he had more screen time and better lines to say.

The action in this is clearly work of the 1980's and is still fun to watch today. Arnold uses rocket launchers, shotguns, assault rifles, pistols, grenades, and even saw blades to wreak havoc on the pussy soldiers trying to take him down. The music is done by James Horner and is catchy and has a prominent use of steel drums. This recurring theme makes it feel tropical as commando John Matrix is situated in hot locals throughout the film. This film does not ask any questions, has themes, or brings to awareness problems in the world. All you got to do is sit down, turn the volume up, and be blown through the wall.

Commando is an action classic and a sequel was at one point considered. The "Commando 2" script was based on the book Nothing Lasts Forever (1979) by Roderick Thorp but Schwarzenegger was not interested in being in a sequel. Eventually the script was rewritten with a new character and played by Bruce Willis into the 1988 masterpiece, Die Hard. Arnold has been in a lot of good films and this is one of my favorites with him in it. It is definitely worth watching if you are an action or Arnold Schwarzenegger fan.

"Attention all units, emergency on theater level, suspect six foot two, brown hair. He is one gigantic motherfucker." - Security Guard Biggs [describing John Matrix].