Commando

19851985
RR
1h 30m

Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando (1985)

Action Adventure Thriller

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(story)
- Matthew Weisman(story)
- Steven E. de Souza(story)
Stars

See production, box office & company info

See production, box office & company info

See more at IMDbPro

Awards
- 2 nominations

Videos1

Commando

Alyssa Milano and Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando (1985)

Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando (1985)

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rae Dawn Chong in Commando (1985)

Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando (1985)

Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando (1985)

Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando (1985)

Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando (1985)

Photo Courtesy 20th Century Fox Home Video

Photo Courtesy 20th Century Fox Home Video

Photo Courtesy 20th Century Fox Home Video

Photo Courtesy 20th Century Fox Home Video

Photo Courtesy 20th Century Fox Home Video

Director
- Mark L. Lester
Writers
- Jeph Loeb(story)
- Matthew Weisman(story)
- Steven E. de Souza(story) (screenplay)
All cast & crew
See more cast details at IMDbPro

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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. —Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}

kidnapped daughter one man army jumping from an airplane female nudity rescue 436 more

Taglines
- If there's a mission that no man could survive...then *he's* the man for the job.
Genres
Certificate
- R
Parents guide

Trivia
According to Alyssa Milano, Arnold Schwarzenegger was very protective of her on set. "He even helped with my algebra 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 (Cindy isn't even in a seat!), and the crash was powerful enough to severely damage the front end.

Quotes
Sully: 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
Featured in At the Movies: Jagged Edge/Marie/Sweet Dreams/Invasion U.S.A. (1985)

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

Top review

7/10

Good action from Arnold right from the get-go

John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger) was an elite special op who is now retired living in his mountain home with his daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano). His men are getting killed one by one. One of his former group Bennett (Vernon Wells) joins warlord Arius (Dan Hedaya) to start a coup in his home country. They kidnap Jenny to force John Matrix to fly down to that country to assassinate the president. However he escapes from the flight to track down Jenny with the help of Cindy (Rae Dawn Chong) who he grabs at the airport.

The best thing about this movie is that it doesn't take its time to get started. The action gets going right away. The bad guy has barely gotten one line out about his kidnapped daughter before he gets a bullet in his head. It's all action from Schwarzenegger. There is no negotiations. He delivers some delicious one-liners. The most memorable is "Remember Sully when I promised to kill you last? I lied!!". And who could forget the Jamaican steel drum music. It's just a fun movie.

helpful•4

0

SnoopyStyle
Mar 6, 2014

Release date
- October 4, 1985 (United States)
Country of origin
- United States
Official site
- Official Facebook
Language
- English
Also known as
- Das Phantom Kommando
Filming locations
- Chapman Ranch - 1 Arrowrock Road, Mount Baldy, California, USA
Production companies
See more company credits at IMDbPro

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

Runtime
1 hour 30 minutes
Color
- Color
Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1

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