Do we need to talk about Commando? There seems to be an issue with this Arnold Schwarzenegger action thriller; a big hit back when I was at school, it was one of the first X or 18 certificate films I ever saw, and watching it again, it’s pretty good. Predator gave birth to a unending series of sequels and reboots, franchise, Terminator did the same, Conan The Barbarian and Total Recall have been rebooted, so why should Commando be a derelict property since, from this distance, it looks like prime real estate?
Finding roles of a larger-than –life star back in the 80’s cannot have been easy; the original script for Commando was about a peace-loving Israeli, but Mark L Lester’s film is all about war, and war is just fantastic. Cars, boats and even people explode while John Matrix (Schwarzenegger) seeks out those who have kidnapped his daughter, namely Dan Hedeya and his side-kick Bennett (Vernon Wells). In his muscle vest and chains, Bennett cuts an incongruous figure here; to steal a line, ‘the gayest man on earth might think he was over the top.’ There’s no real surprises as to how Matrix’s mission goes, but there’s are high-points. A visit to LA’s Galleria shopping mall leads to an impressive stunt where the star swings from one side of the other before dropping down onto a moving elevator. Elsewhere, Matrix hangs onto the undercarriage of a plane as it takes off, before dropping down into presumably very soft marshland.
What’s notable here apart from the slick action is the comedy, which later replaced the toughness in the star’s vehicles. “I thought you said I’d be last to die,’ complains a henchman, dangled over a canyon by our hero. ‘I lied’ replies Matrix, before dropping his enemy to a certain death. ‘What happened?’ asks Cindy (Rae Dawn Chong) as Matrix returns to their car ‘I let him go,’ replies Matrix. This is something of a double-whammy when it comes to one-liners, tailored to the star’s lack of expressiveness, one following neatly on from another as Arnie methodically makes his way through the cast-list in typically violent style.
Oddly, the best moment in Commando involves Cindy using a rocket-launcher; being a woman, she’s not au fait with the tech, and accidentally explodes a vehicle behind her when she fires it. She gets the trick right later in the film, when it counts, and no spoilers are required to say that Matrix rescues his daughter and kills the baddies in short order. Even in 2020, Commando has obvious sequel/franchise potential; it’s a known, loved IP and the star would be great as an older, wiser Matrix, possibly helping his daughter escape his shadow. With Terminator and Rambo franchises running dry, surely Commando 2020 would be worth a shot?
I’d love to see a Commando continuation, maybe (big maybe) even a reboot. I’ve actually seen someone fire off a rocket launcher the wrong direction and after some laughter everyone in unison… “Commando!”
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Yay! First thing I’ve won in a while. I’m honored.
Let off some steam Bennett. This movie is the king of one liners.
I’m reassured that other people enjoy this movie too! Thanks!
Lots of comedy, and maybe parody as well. When Matrix attacks the base at the end how many thousands of rounds are fired at him without hitting him, even when he’s standing out in the open? Sure that’s a cliché, but in this movie it’s taken to an extreme. Then there’s the whole business where he gets Bennett to throw away his “chickenshit” gun at the end so that they can settle things mano-a-mano. “Let’s pah-ty.” I remember everyone laughing at that even back when it came out.
It’s a funny movie, to be sure, even the ‘I’ll be back’ catchphrase is here. And that sense of levity is in the action scenes for sure, the bad guys bullets literally seem to magically divert around our hero. It’s cheesy, and good fun, but somehow not quoted as much as the others. ‘ I eat Green Berets for breakfast’ always seemed like a good line to me…