COMMANDO (1985)

MORGAN'S RATING

In this early action classic that features his unique blend of thrills and offbeat humor, Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Col. John Matrix, ultimate soldier and one-many army. Matrix, the former leader of a special commando strike force that always got the toughest jobs done, is forced back into action when his young daughter is kidnapped. To find her, Matrix has to fight his way through an array of punks, killers, one of his former commados, and a fully equipped private army. With the help of a fiesty stewardess and an old friend, Matrix has only a few hours to overcome his greatest challenge: finding his daughter before she is killed.

Arnold Schwarzenegger (Col. John Matrix), Rae Dawn Chong (Cindy), Dan Hedaya (Arius), Vernon Wells (Bennett), James Olson (Franklin Kirby), David Patrick Kelly (Sully), Alyssa Milano (Jenny Matrix), Bill Duke (Cooke), Drew Snyder (Lawson), Sharon Wyatt (Leslie), Michael Delano (Forrestal), Bob Minor (Jackson), Mike Adams (Harris), Carlos Cervantes (Diaz), Lenny Juliano (Soldier), Charles Meshack (Henriques), Bill Paxton (Intercept Officer).

SOMEWHERE...SOMEHOW...SOMEONE'S GOING TO PAY!

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

DIRECTOR: Mark L. Lester.

WRITERS: Joseph Loeb III, Matthew Weisman and Steven E. De Souza.

PRODUCER: Joel Silver.

ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: Joseph Loeb III and Matthew Weisman.

CO-ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: Stephanie Brody and Robert Kosberg.

ORIGINAL MUSIC: James Horner.

DISTRIBUTOR: 20th Century Fox

QUOTES

Arius: Your father appears to be cooperating. You will be back with him soon. Won't that be nice? Jenny: Not nearly as nice as watching him smash your face in!

FACTS

RELEASE DATE: October 4th, 1985 (USA)

BOX OFFICE OPENING: $7.7 million (USA) BOX OFFICE RESULT: $35.1 million (USA)

Matrix: Let off some steam, Bennett.

Sully: Here's twenty dollars to get some drinks at Val Verde. It'll give us all a little more time with your daughter. Henriques: Heh. Matrix: You're a funny man, Sully, I like you. That's why I'm going to kill you last.

- Proving himself the consummate action star, Schwarzenegger performed nearly all his own stunts, jumping through windows, doing all his fight scenes and even hanging onto a plane's landing gear as it traveled 65 miles per hour. The price? A dislocated shoulder and some stitches on his hand and elbow.

Matrix: Remember, Sully, when I promised to kill you last? Sully: That's right Matrix, you did! Matrix: I lied.

- During the scene in the shed, after Matrix cuts the soldier's arm off, he was originally supposed to hit the victim with it and tell him to shut up. This scene was edited out as being too macabre.

Matrix: I eat Green Berets for breakfast.

Matrix: I'll be back, Bennett!

Matrix: Don't break radio silence until they see me. Cindy: How will I know? Matrix: Because all fucking hell is going to break loose.

- Matrix kills approximately 88 people in the film (not counting the numerous soldiers).

Matrix: Don't disturb my friend, he's dead tired.

Soldier: Slitting a little girl's throat is like cutting warm butter. Bennett: Put the knife away and shut your mouth.

CRITICAL COMMENTS

"This is the one that launched Arnie's career and started a trend, over-the-top action movies that pound you until you can't take it anymore." -- Eric Pickup, Movie Thing. Com

"Commando has none of the unpleasant overtones of Rombo or the Chuck Norris movies. It's a guiltless shoot-em-up."   -- John Hartl, Film.com

"This inexplicably popular Schwarzenegger vehicle had weak camp potential, the king of film you laugh at rather than with, right up to the final act, where it loses all credibility with a drawn-out sequence of laughably gratuitous violence  -- Sam, Rinkworks.com.

"Exceptionally noisy comic-book yarn...film's sense of humor is largely obliterated by all the noise and mindless violence." -- Leonard Maltin