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Commando

  • 1985
  • R
  • 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
6.7/10
182K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
1,076
440
Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando (1985)
One-Person Army ActionActionAdventureThriller

A retired Special Forces colonel tries to save his daughter, who was abducted by his former subordinate.A retired Special Forces colonel tries to save his daughter, who was abducted by his former subordinate.A retired Special Forces colonel tries to save his daughter, who was abducted by his former subordinate.

  • Director
    • Mark L. Lester
  • Writers
    • Jeph Loeb
    • Matthew Weisman
    • Steven E. de Souza
  • Stars
    • Arnold Schwarzenegger
    • Rae Dawn Chong
    • Dan Hedaya
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.7/10
    182K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    1,076
    440
    • Director
      • Mark L. Lester
    • Writers
      • Jeph Loeb
      • Matthew Weisman
      • Steven E. de Souza
    • Stars
      • Arnold Schwarzenegger
      • Rae Dawn Chong
      • Dan Hedaya
    • 594User reviews
    • 108Critic reviews
    • 51Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 nominations total

    Videos1

    Commando
    Trailer 1:47
    Commando

    Photos375

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    Top cast47

    Edit
    Arnold Schwarzenegger
    Arnold Schwarzenegger
    • Matrix
    Rae Dawn Chong
    Rae Dawn Chong
    • Cindy
    Dan Hedaya
    Dan Hedaya
    • Arius
    Vernon Wells
    Vernon Wells
    • Bennett
    James Olson
    James Olson
    • Major General Franklin Kirby
    David Patrick Kelly
    David Patrick Kelly
    • Sully
    Alyssa Milano
    Alyssa Milano
    • Jenny
    Bill Duke
    Bill Duke
    • Cooke
    Drew Snyder
    Drew Snyder
    • Lawson
    Sharon Wyatt
    • Leslie
    Michael DeLano
    Michael DeLano
    • Forrestal
    Bob Minor
    Bob Minor
    • Jackson
    Michael Adams
    Michael Adams
    • Harris
    • (as Mike Adams)
    Gary Carlos Cervantes
    Gary Carlos Cervantes
    • Diaz
    • (as Carlos Cervantes)
    Lenny Juliano
    • Soldier
    Charles Meshack
    • Henriques
    Chelsea Field
    Chelsea Field
    • Vicky the Western Flight Attendant
    Julie Hayek
    • Susan the Western Flight Attendant
    • Director
      • Mark L. Lester
    • Writers
      • Jeph Loeb
      • Matthew Weisman
      • Steven E. de Souza
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews594

    6.7181.7K
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    Featured reviews

    8baumer

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

    When I was growing up, I had two heroes on the big screen. One was Rambo and the other was Indiana Jones. They were two relentless characters that would never stop, never give up and their tenacity was stuff that kids or teens would swear by. When we were playing adventure games those were the two characters that always got chosen to play first. But the same year that Rambo II came out, a new hero was born. We all knew who Arnold was, he was the Terminator. But when Commando was released, one of my best friends said to me, " Hey Dan, I think this guy could take Rambo." After all Matrix says to Cook, " I eat green berets for breakfast and right now I'm very hungry!" I would maybe have to concur. Matrix was the toughest man alive ( until MacGyver came out ). And Commando is one of the best memories that I have as a young man growing up in the 80's. Besides it being a damn fine, fun movie, it also has two other elements that began to teach me about film. First a young Bill Paxton was in it and secondly I began to notice the name Joel Silver. He is the producer extraordinaire that is the man behind hits like Die Hard, Predator, Weird Science and more recently The Matrix. Now I look for his name in the producers chair and when he is on that poster as producer, I'll run to that movie.

    Commando doesn't pretend to be something that it's not. The Rambo character was more into politics and it took itself a little more seriously than Commando did and that's fine. But this film is nothing but entertainment. It starts fast and violent and it ends hard and violent. You think Rambo kills a lot in Rambo, then count the bodies in this one. But it is so much fun because not only does Arnold have fun with it, but the script, as cheesy as it may seem is actually brilliant. Arnold's one liners are now a staple of his film persona and I think you can look at this film as the root of that persona. For example " Any carry on luggage? " the stewardess asks Arnold, " Just him," he replies pointing at the thug that is escorting him onto the plane. After he beats the hell out of Bill Duke he says, " We'll take Cooks car, he won't be needing it." And of course, to Bennett when they are about to fight mano a mano, "Come on Bennett, let's party!" Commando is littered with small moments like that you won't soon forget. It has stayed with me for 15 years and me and my friends rent it every now and again to laugh and cheer. If this a film that you haven't seen yet, then do so. If you haven't seen this film in quite a while, you should treat yourself to it. It is fun fun and more fun. And this is the first film that Arnold reprises his famous line " I'll be back!" So what's not to like about it?
    7cardsrock

    80s action fun

    I love Arnie and Commando sees him in top 80s action star form. He is made for these roles and really excels in them. Commando is full of classic one-liners, solid action, and a surprisingly great original score by the late James Horner. This film is tons of fun and a classic 80s action film.
    8Hey_Sweden

    I always laugh at this movie. If Matrix were here, he'd laugh too.

    Solidly entertaining, over the top, comic book style spectacle giving superstar Arnold Schwarzenegger the perfect opportunity to play action hero with more levity than usual. Screenwriter Steven E. de Souza injects lots of wit and memorable one liners into the mix while director Mark L. Lester serves up the assorted action scenes with great relish. Granted, it's absolutely pure nonsense, but irresistible on that level.

    Arnold plays John Matrix, retired soldier who's forced back into action when a vengeance minded former dictator (Dan Hedaya) wants him to murder a sitting president and kidnaps Matrix's daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano) in order to make him do it. Fortunately, Matrix manages to slip away from the bad guys, and acquires some unlikely help in the form of feisty stewardess Cindy (Rae Dawn Chong), while the clock is ticking the entire time.

    "Commando" is appreciably unpretentious stuff that knows what it has to do and does it in style. We get to see Arnold, among other things, rip a phone booth out of a wall, dangle a man over the edge of a cliff with one hand, swing from the roof of a mall using balloons, tear a seat out of a car, eat a Green Beret for breakfast (he's VERY hungry, don't you know?), go on an early morning shopping trip at the local surplus store, lug an enormous log around, get a face full of ice cream, drop from a plane into a swamp, and feed a deer. Now, who can read that and pass this up? "Commando" is tons of fun provided the prospective viewer is ready to suspend every bit of their disbelief. The movie just rockets forward with no filler to slow it down, taking place within a limited amount of time, and keeping up an amazing energy level.

    Arnold, for the first time here, got to show that he did indeed have a sense of humour about what he did, and is very easy to watch, with a great supporting cast - also including Vernon Wells, as one of the most priceless villains to ever grace the action genre, James Olson, David Patrick Kelly, and Bill Duke, with bit appearances by the likes of Bob Minor, Chelsea Field, Branscombe Richmond, and Bill Paxton. James Horner's music score is awfully familiar, but it does help drive the movie forward, and there are some beautiful moments of extreme violence - including scalping by saw blade and an arm chopped off - to give the presentation some real punch.

    Check your brain at the door and you can have a really good time with this one, or in other words, let off some steam.

    Eight out of 10.
    7claudio_carvalho

    Another Great Action Movie from the 80's

    The retired Special Forces Colonel John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger) lives a calm life with his beloved daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano) in an isolated house in the woods of a mountain. One day, his mentor Major General Franklin Kirby (James Olson) visits him and tells that the men he had trained for his unit are being killed and he leaves two soldiers to protect Matrix. However the helicopter of General Kirby has been followed by hit men that abduct Jenny and Matrix. Soon Matrix learns that Bennett (Vernon Wells) that belonged to his unit and was presumed dead is the responsible for attack to his house. Further, Bennett was hired by Arius (Dan Hedaya), a former president of a South American country that Matrix had overthrown. Now Arius wants Matrix to assassinate the president of his country in order to assume the position again otherwise he will kill Jenny. Matrix is forced to embark in a flight to the country with one of Bennett's thug while another one, Sully (David Patrick Kelly), will confirm that Matrix is in the flight. However Matrix manages to kill the thug and leave the plane and has eleven hours to save Jenny. He convinces the flight attendant Cindy (Rae Dawn Chong) to help him to save his daughter.

    "Commando" is another great action movie from the 80's, maybe the best decade in the cinema history for this genre. The screenplay has non-stop action and funny and unforgettable moments. My favorite is when John Matrix tells to Sully that he likes him and he will be the last one to die. Soon he corrects, saying "I lied". I did not recognized Alyssa Milano, from "Charmed", in her second role as Jenny. My vote is seven.

    Title (Brazil): "Comando Para Matar" ("Commando to Kill")
    7hitchcockthelegend

    I eat Green Berets for breakfast. And right now, I'm very hungry!

    Commando is directed by Mark L. Lester and written by Jeph Loeb, Matthew Weisman and Steven E. de Souza. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong, Dan Hedaya, Vernon Wells, James Olson, David Patrick Kelly, Alyssa Milano and Bill Duke. Music is by James Horner and cinematography by Matthew F. Leonetti.

    John Matrix (Schwarzenegger) is the former leader of a special commando strike force that always got the toughest jobs done. He is forced back into action when his young daughter (Milano) is kidnapped by kingpin criminal Arius (Hedaya) and his gang of thugs. They want Matrix to carry out an assassination, but all Matrix has on his mind is to save his daughter - he has half a day to do so before the thugs will kill her - so it's now a private war...

    After playing "Conan" and "The Terminator", Schwarzenegger slipped into a role that would prove to carry all the hallmarks of the big man's action movie career. Commando is awash with outrageous action, pure carnage and gruesome deaths, plenty of quippy one liners, and of course over the top villains.

    Clocking in at just 90 minutes in length, it's the perfect "leave the brain at the door" popcorn crowd pleaser. Chong gets a well written lead lady part, giving us a spunky heroine who evolves as the plot grows ever more chaotic, and young Milano gets to play a resourceful child character.

    High art it is not, but who cares if you want to just watch Arnie waylay a whole army on his own. Great fun. 7/10

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      According to Alyssa Milano, Arnold Schwarzenegger was very protective of her on set. He also helped her with her homework.
    • Goofs
      When Matrix crashes his car while chasing Sully, neither Matrix nor Cindy are affected by the crash even though neither are wearing seat belts and the crash was powerful enough to severely damage the front end.
    • Quotes

      Sully: [20:34] Here, have some beers in Val Verde, Matrix. It'll give everyone a little more time with your daughter.

      [Henriques laughs]

      John Matrix: You're a funny guy Sully, I like you. That's why I'm going to kill you last.

    • Alternate versions
      The original UK cinema and video versions were censored by around 15 seconds, and removed the shots where Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger) slices off the soldier's arm with the machete as well as Bennett's death to remove a shot of the pipe in his chest and the tracking shot of it sticking from his body. The 2001 UK DVD release retained these cuts and also added a further 44 seconds of distributor cuts; this was because the DVD master used for the UK release was a censored German/Scandinavian version. All cuts were fully waived in 2007 by the BBFC (although it was not released until 2015). The heavily edited 2001 UK DVD version, with a total of 56 seconds removed, was also used as the master for the initial Australian DVD release. In this version additional edits include, but are not limited to:
      • In the opening scene, after Cooke (Bill Duke) has initially shot the man in the robe, he walks over to the body and shoots him again. These second hits have been removed.
      • When Matrix breaks Henriques' (Charles Meshack) neck on the plane, he simply elbows him, and in the next shot, Henrqiues is already dead. The shot of Matrix snapping Henriques neck is gone.
      • The shot of the piece of wood sticking through Cooke's stomach is absent.
      • All close ups of the pole in Bennett's (Vernon Wells) stomach are gone.
    • Connections
      Edited into Commando: Deleted Scenes (2007)
    • 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

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    FAQ34

    • How long is Commando?Powered by Alexa
    • How famous was Arnold when this movie first came out? Was he already considered a "box office draw?"
    • Did Arnold improvise some of his most famous one-liners while filming this movie?
    • During the final big action scene Arnold paints black stripes on his body; what tactical advantage does it have or is it just to make him look cool?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 4, 1985 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Facebook
    • Languages
      • English
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
      • Comando
    • Filming locations
      • Chapman Ranch - 1 Arrowrock Road, Mount Baldy, California, USA(John & Jenny Matrix' cabin 34°14'17.58"N 117°38'49.66"W)
    • Production companies
      • SLM Production Group
      • Silver Pictures
      • Twentieth Century Fox
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $10,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $35,100,000
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $7,700,015
      • Oct 6, 1985
    • Gross worldwide
      • $57,491,000
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 30 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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