Commando (1985)

A retired elite Black Ops Commando launches a one man war against a group of South American criminals who have kidnapped his daughter to blackmail him into starting a revolution and getting an exiled dictator back into power.

Director:

Mark L. Lester

Writers:

Jeph Loeb (story), Matthew Weisman (story),

Stars:

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong, Dan Hedaya

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	John Matrix
Rae Dawn Chong	...	Cindy
Dan Hedaya	...	Arius
Vernon Wells	...	Bennett
James Olson	...	Major General Franklin Kirby
David Patrick Kelly	...	Sully
Alyssa Milano	...	Jenny Matrix
Bill Duke	...	Cooke
Drew Snyder	...	Lawson
Sharon Wyatt	...	Leslie
Michael Delano	...	Forrestal (as Michael DeLano)
Bob Minor	...	Jackson
Michael Adams	...	Harris (as Mike Adams)
Gary Carlos Cervantes	...	Diaz (as Carlos Cervantes)
Lenny Juliano	...	Soldier

Storyline

A retired special agent named John Matrix led an elite unit and has left the armed forces to live in a secluded mountain home with his daughter Jenny. But now he is forced out of retirement when his daughter is kidnapped by a band of thugs intent on revenge! Unbeknownst to Matrix, the members of his former unit are being killed one by one. Even though Matrix' friend General Franklin Kirby gives Matrix armed guards, attackers manage to kidnap Matrix and Jenny. Matrix learns that Bennett, a former member of his Matrix' unit who was presumed dead has kidnapped him to try to force Matrix to do a political assassination for a man called Arius (who calls himself El Presidente), a warlord formerly bested by Matrix who wishes to lead a military coup in his home country. Since Arius will have Jenny killed if Matrix refuses, Matrix reluctantly accepts the demand.

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Plot Keywords:

dictator | airplane | general | rescue | commando | 

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Taglines:

If there's a mission that no man could survive...then *he's* the man for the job.

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Genres:

Action | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 October 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Comando

Filming Locations:

Griffith Park, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

SLM Production Group, Silver Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min 92 min (director's cut) 75 min (video)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The introduction to Matrix as he comes out of the forest, with close ups on his boots, chest, biceps etc was shot and edited in a similar fashion as Leni Riefenstahl's Nazi propaganda movies. According to director Mark L. Lester this was done to represent the notion of the invincible man of the earth emerging from the forest.

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Goofs

After Matrix tears the passenger seat out of Cindy's car and gets inside, the car door window is clearly visible, but in the following shot where Cindy pulls out of the parking space, the window is down.

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Quotes

Bennett: John, I'm not going to shoot you between the eyes. I'm going to shoot you between the balls.

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Connections

Referenced in Die Hard 2 (1990)

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Soundtracks

"WE FIGHT FOR LOVE"
Music by Andy Taylor
Lyrics by Michael Des Barres
Performed by Power Station
Produced by Bernard Edwards and Andy Taylor
Courtesy of Capitol-EMI Records

User Reviews

Best One-Liners Ever...........and I mean ever

Commando is the ultimate in cheesy one-liners. Throughout this whole movie Schwarzenegger is at his utmost best. The movie brings action at you thru the whole damn thing. Bennett is the silliest bad guy to ever grace the big screen, not only is he small in stature, but he is the least intimidating bad guy ever. Still he makes up for it, as you might guess, in his one-liners. If you want mindless action and unintentionally laughable humor, watch Commando and I GUARANTEE you will enjoy it. A 5.5 on the votes is ludicrous, 8.8. NO LESS