Commando (1985) User Reviews

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

[Hey_Sweden · 8/10 · 3 September 2012]

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.

Good action from Arnold right from the get-go

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 6 March 2014]

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.

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

[baumer · 8/10 · 21 September 1999]

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?

A classic guy flick with non-stop action and hilarious one-liners.

[Li-1 · 20 July 2003]

Rating: *** 1/2 out of ****

Every time I'm accused by friends of being too tough or too picky on action movies made for pure entertainment (i.e. the works of Jerry Bruckheimer), I point back and tell them to look no further than Mark L. Lester's Commando as the prime example of a pure macho classic and the standard by which all mindless action cinema should be judged.

In its own simplistic ways, Commando is actually the epitome of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Whenever we think of the Austrian muscle-bound star's films; gun battles, fist fights, deadpan one-liners, a total lack of plot, and a ridiculously high body count come to mind. Commando represents all this, directed with high energy flair and a great sense of fun.

Schwarzenegger stars as John Matrix, a former commando who lives in the mountains with his young daughter (Alyssa Milano). Matrix's former teammates are being knocked off one-by-one at the orders of a Latino dictator (Dan Hedaya) who wants Matrix to assassinate a popular South American leader so that he can be instilled back in power. As incentive, Matrix's daughter is kidnapped by renegade military, led by Bennett (Vernon Wells), who was once part of Matrix's team. As soon as Matrix boards his flight, he kills his escort, leaps off the plane, and begins his eleven-hour search for his daughter. Inexplicably joining his search is a flight attendant (Rae Dawn Chong) who gets mixed up in this whole mess.

Commando is one of those critically berated movies that only concerns itself with giving its target audience a good time. Running at a lightning fast ninety minutes, the film is packed to the gunnels with explosive action sequences and quotable one-liners. In fact, the lines are so fun, I have a hard time choosing my favorites. Here are a few examples: "I eat green berets for breakfast and I'm very hungry,""Remember when I said I'd kill you last? I lied," and "Let off some steam, Bennett!"

The script is mindless and idiotic, but serves its purpose by providing just enough plot and enormously entertaining one-liners to keep the momentum from ebbing. There are also plenty of noticeable continuity errors (ask yourself how a guy standing behind a railing atop a balcony could be hit with shotgun pellets without the railing taking the slightest bit of damage!), but that just adds to the movie's list of unique charms.

But you don't watch Commando for plot or technical brilliance, you watch it to see Arnold acting as a one-man army, mowing down scores of enemy thugs and soldiers. Whether it's through the movie's various shootouts, fistfights, or chases, the movie delivers thrilling action one scene after another. The climactic battle sequence, in which he single-handedly takes on at least a hundred men, will either make or break the film for you. Me, I had a blast watching Arnold inflict his brand of justice upon these nasty villains. Unless you don't like Arnold or over-the-top action films, it's unlikely you'll find Commando boring.

Schwarzenegger's charismatic and hugely likable screen presence is undeniable, and his delivery of those classic one-liners is perfect. Luckily, the movie has an equally strong villain in Vernon Wells, who delights in chewing the scenery and generally acting as insane as possible in any given situation. From his manic facial expressions to his questionable tastes in clothing, Wells makes Bennett one of the few villains that really stand out in an Arnold flick. You know the movie's going to boil down to a one-on-one fight between the two, and it's one of those fight scenes where each one takes his turn beating the crud out of the other without one ever truly having the upper hand until the very end (when, obviously, one of them's got to be dead).

For pure mindless mayhem, Commando is a perfect choice for Saturday night entertainment. I first saw the film on its network broadcast premiere, and distinctly remember that in the scene where Arnold hides in the garden house (which is the film's goriest part), the movie is edited in such a way that it appears only one man approaches the house instead of six!

Another Great Action Movie from the 80's

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 9 February 2015]

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")

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

[hitchcockthelegend · 7/10 · 28 March 2020]

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

This movie was touched by God!

[YugoNinja · 10/10 · 10 March 2007]

Did it ever happen in your life that you've seen such a beautiful movie, such a perfect piece of art, such an unbelievable example of man-made splendor, such a gorgeous masterpiece that it hurt your eyes? Well, I did. And it wasn't the Schindler's List or the Lord of the Rings. No, it was the BEST action movie ever made. The BEST interpretation of the Governator. The BEST explosions. The BEST one-liners. The BEST plot. And the BEST tag-line. This movie is like the Art of Japanese gardening. Simple and beautiful. Balanced. Proportioned. There's just the right amount of everything. And there is just about everything that should go into an action movie: car chases, explosions, drug-lords, sex, an invincible hero, sitting-duck-like enemies, humor, knife duels, fist fights, rocket launchers, blood, death, bullets, glass, pectorals, muscles, some more muscles, explosions and more explosions. You need more? It's got Arnold. Need more? It's got Arnold with a sense of humor. Still more? It's got Arnold with a sense of humor and a rocket launcher. Put these three elements together and try to guess what happens. Destruction. On a mass scale. I won't give away the plot, because it is too intricate and surprising. Basically it is Arnie on a mission to save his daughter. That's about it. But what is important is not the fact that Arnie will save his daughter, but HOW will he save his daughter. Oh, are you saying that The Matrix is the best action movie of all time? Does The Matrix have Arnold Schwarzenegger? NO. Does Commando have the Matrix? YES. JOHN MATRIX, in fact. Oh, so you are saying that Neo dodges bullets? John Matrix doesn't need to. He is bulletproof. He eats bullets for breakfast. Need more proof? I thought so... I gave this Caravaggio painted on celluloid a 10 only because IMDb doesn't go to 11. This movie is so eye-blindingly beautiful I can't find the words to properly end my commentary and render justice to this cinematic masterpiece. So I will just use the movie's tag-line: Somewhere... somehow... someone's going to pay!

80s action fun

[cardsrock · 7/10 · 7 July 2020]

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.

One of the best Action movies made in the 80's

[ivo-cobra8 · 10/10 · 15 October 2015]

Commando (1985) It is one of the best a American action thriller film out there made in the world. The film is Directed by Mark L. Lester, and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rae Dawn Chong.Released in 1985, 'Commando' starred action icon Arnold Schwarzenegger as a retired Delta Force operative who must rescue his daughter from the mercenaries who killed his entire team. Also starring a young Alyssa Milano and Rae Dawn Chong, 'Commando' was yet another hit for Schwarzenegger. It is been 30 years and it is still consider it as the one of most best Action war flicks in the world out there.

I eat green berets for breakfast, and right now I am very hungry.

Arnold Schwarzenegger played Colonel John Matrix, a previous Delta Force operative who must rescue his daughter from the mercenaries who killed the other members of his unit. Schwarzenegger previously rose to fame with roles in the 'Conan' films and 'The Terminator.'John Matrix, ultimate soldier and one-man 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 (Alyssa Milano) is kidnapped. To find her, Matrix has to fight his way through an array of punks, killers, one of his former commandos, and a fully equipped private army. With the help of a feisty stewardess (Rae Dawn Chong) and an old friend, Matrix has only a few hours to overcome his greatest challenge: finding his daughter before she's killed.

In the beginning, there was the masterpiece known as Commando. And the God of '80s Action Excess did look upon it and see that it was good. And all did Arnold Schwarzenegger massacre hundreds of mercenaries in displays of awesome ultra-violence, and Alyssa Milano did rejoice.

After the triple play of The Terminator and both Conan films, Arnold Schwarzenegger graduated to top billing with Commando; a classic '80s action movie which delivers tons of explosions, violence and guns, in addition to containing an assortment of evil villains, cheesy one-liners, big guns, bigger guns and enough dead bodies to keep a mortician's convention busy for days. It was produced by illustrious action super-producer Joel Silver and written by distinguished action writer Steven E. de Souza, not to mention that the primary star is none other than the iconic Arnie. On any level above that of red-faced guilty pleasure, there's simply no way to defend Commando. It's a gloriously primitive and action vehicle which makes absolutely no bones about its absurdity. It never pretends to be anything other than a simple-minded exercise in vicarious violence. Its heart and soul is best by a line of dialogue – a female character, while witnessing two macho behemoths engaged in mano-a-mano fisticuffs, exclaims "These guys eat too much red meat!"

Arnold Schwarzenegger is a delicate talent to work with. If a director tries to make the personality of a character he portrays too complex, the result will be confusion or, at best, unintended hilarity. Mr. Schwarzenegger first appears in ''Commando'' in parts - one huge bicep and then another; when the camera pulls back he is seen to be carrying an ax and the trunk of a large tree down a mountainside to his house. And the early scenes in which Mr. Schwarzenegger, as Col. John Matrix, a retired commando, is at home with his daughter (Alyssa Milano) have an underlying current of humor - it is clear the child would be as comfortable cuddling up to a polar bear.

Great and very intelligent review/retrospective of one of the most badass action movie classics of all times! I love this movie to death and i will always defend it from people who make fun of movies such as this one. I would personally prefer dozens of movies like Commando and Cobra rather than 90% of action movies today. Badassssssss Action flick, it fast Entertained , it has gore of action, tons of violence,The film is violent, and somewhat bloody. You'll see lots of heavy automatic and explosive weapons, and you'll see them used well. I grew up with this film and this film introduced me in to A Schwarzenegger films and a fan today.

10/10 Grade: A Studio: 20TH Century Fox, Silver Pictures Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong, Alyssa Milano, Bill Paxton Director: Mark L. Lester Producer: Joel Silver Screenplay: Steven E. De Souza Story: Steven E. De Souza, Joseph Loeb III, Matthew Weisman Rated: R Running Time: 1 Hr. 30 Mins. Budget: $10 Million Box Office: $220,532,327

Probably the best action film.

[quatermassandersen · 7/10 · 25 December 1999]

Commando is in my mind the best action film out there to date, this movie was made 14 years ago and no other film can push it out of first position.

The film got everything: a great looking Arnold, extremely fine music by James Horner and great settings for the action scenes. It`s a great ride of perfection when it comes to entertaining action fans. Rae Dawn Chong and Alyssa Milano gives fine performances as well.

Brainless fun, but the movie itself is pretty stupid

[Xophianic · 5/10 · 3 February 2000]

I like Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, especially Terminator, T2 and Eraser. I didn't see Comando until over a decade after it came out. I found the movie to be really really dumb. Realism did not exist in that movie. Arnold can just about take out an entire army, while they can only hit him once or twice. And this girl that Arnold didn't even know until he basically kidnapped her was anxious to help Arnold even though she was at great risk of dying.

But if your in the mood for a little brainless fun and just watching Arnold kick *** and kill people, this is the perfect movie for the occasion. It does have many witty lines, mostly from Arnold. The acting is, although not bad, nothing special. This movie really highlighted Arnold, who did fine for the part.

It only has two or three or four main bad guys and about 150 nameless bad guys, all of which are there for Arnold to take out in a cool way. So the characters are nothing big in this movie. Aside from Arnold, his daughter, his girlfriend and maybe two bad guys, all the characters are pretty boring. The storyline is just fodder for the fight scenes with Arnold.

I'd recommend you go rent this movie when you're in the mood for some action/violent fun. But if you want to watch a movie with good plot and a good story, pass this one by.

One of my all-time favorite movies

[Chromium_5 · 10/10 · 15 January 2005]

This is by far one of the greatest movies of the century. I can't believe what an awesome movie it is. It has no morals, no lessons to teach, no political statements, no coherence, and no sense whatsoever. When Schwarzeneggar's beloved daughter is kidnapped by a psychotic dictator, he doesn't try to reason with the bad guys or take precautions like most action heroes would. He just goes bonkers and starts killing everyone in sight. The movie is packed with fantastic scenes such as Arnie crashing a car at about 80 mph, without a seatbelt, and being perfectly fine, Arnie tearing a phone booth out of a wall, Arnie punching a guy through a wall, etc. It's gloriously entertaining.

Also, despite his reputation for bad acting, he delivers all his lines with perfect comic timing ("Let off some steam, Bennett"). Bennett is also a great character, but no match for Arnold. You'd have to be completely devoid of personality to not find this at least slightly entertaining.

10/10 stars. Seriously.

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

[paul_haakonsen · 7/10 · 9 June 2018]

This is one of those timeless classics from Arnold Schwarzenegger that you do not get tired of watching, despite knowing the storyline so well already.

The movie is from 1985 and is definitely one of the defining movies in the early stages of Schwarzenegger's action movie career.

"Commando" has a heap of action, and actually has a good story and of course it is crammed with one-liners.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rae Dawn Chong carry the movie quite nicely, while Vernon Wells in the role of the main bad guy was just laughable because of the way the character was written and the fact that he wore a chainmail shirt throughout the entire movie.

There are lots of mistakes in the movie, with the obvious ones being Sully's yellow Porsche that alternates between having a severely damaged chassis to being in mint condition and then going back to being severely damaged. But also the numerous scenes where it is painstakingly obvious that it is a stunt double for Schwarzenegger performing the action sequences.

But all in all, a very entertaining action movie filled with nostalgia.

Remember when I promised to kill you last?

[Dr_Sagan · 21 December 2014]

It was like yesterday (well, sort of!) when I watched "Commando" at a movie theater! And that was 3 decades ago. I checked it again today because of some reason and I am amazed because of how less silly it looks to me now.

It's a classic. No doubt about that. And it's pure fun. Violent-ish of course but with great tongue-in-cheek humor delivered by one of the most charismatic actors ever.

If you have missed it before go watch it (with a pinch of salt

of course)! A fun way to pass one hour and a half!

• Remember when I promised to kill you last?

• I lied!

The Quintessential 80's Action Flick ....

[ElMaruecan82 · 7/10 · 10 September 2012]

Although it often flirts with the so-bad-it's-good cliché, as a typical 80's action flick, Mark L. Lester "Commando" delivers exactly what it's expected and sometimes more, and it's this 'more' that made all the difference and elevated to its fully deserved cult-status.

Let's face it, it's impossible to resist to Arnold Schwarzenegger, he might not possess the versatility of a method actor, the wide range of emotions of a Shakespearian comedian, but no one can deny that he was born for the big-screen. Seriously, cinema is not just about having message or displaying emotions, what grabbed people's interest the first time was action. There's no film without action and people would rather sit through an action-film with no substance than an static movie.

And Arnold Schwarzenegger, with his muscular physique, his incredible strength, and photogenic face is perfect for whatever Action-film requires: a charismatic hero. Even the Austrian accent that could have been a handicap becomes an unforgettable trademark, making the lines briefer but total dynamite humor-wise. How many times we hear Internet users complaining about an actor's British accent? But there's a general consensus that without his accent, Arnold is not Arnold, I mean Ah-Nuld.

And "Commando", directed right in the middle of the 80's, is simply the best exaltation of what makes Arnold an unavoidable figure of this flamboyant, where everything is over the top, from his strength to his name, John Matrix, hilariously absurd by today's standard. Of course, to those who doubted it, there is a heart beating behind this mountain of muscles and Matrix is also a caring and loving father, as the magnificent opening credits perfectly captures.

A cute and very convincing 13-year old Alyssa Milano plays Jenny Matrix and it's so obvious that Daddy loves his daughter that he'd terminate 300 men if it could save her life. "Commando" gets directly to the plot, starting with a series of mysterious killings, and leading us to Matrix' house, where his instructor leaves him his two best men to protect him, of course, they're the best but not as good as matrix, which explains why they got quickly perforated by the baddies when the instructor left, while Matrix had time to hide his daughter because he smelt them coming.

Yet they end up kidnapping Jenny. Matrix meets in her room a sneaky little villain sitting lecturing him about the necessity of cooperating. His "right?" is retorted by a "wrong" punctuated by a bullet through the head. Matrix takes no bullshit and is determined to save his daughter. Somewhat he gets arrested and meets the bad men, the mastermind is an ex-dictator (Dan Hedaya) who orders Matrix to kill his successor and the 'badder' bad guy is one of the film's most original creations; a Freddie Mercury look-alike, wearing black pants, sleeveless T-shirt and a chain-mail vest, talk about a match to macho Arnold.

And that's one of the irresistible charms of "Commando": it features great villains, and for each one, a memorable confrontation, needless to tell who always wins: in fact, there's one simple pattern that governs the plot, each bad guy gets his comeuppance and inspires at least two or three unforgettable one-liners. When the hostess asks Matrix if he has a carry-on luggage, he points his finger to the black guy who escorts him, I wouldn't mind having Arnold talking every five minutes if it's for comedic gold like this.

I won't spoil the script; most of those who read this are already associating images to the 'dead tired' passenger, or the unforgettable statement that follows 'you remember when I told you I'd kill you last'. The film is even aware of its own cleverness when it inserts the character of Rae-Dawn-Shong and her priceless reactions toward the mayhem Matrix causes in his way. She can't even believe the cheesy macho dialog between Arnold and Bill Duke. The film is so 80's, it has Rae-Dawn Shong and by the way whatever happened to her career these last 20 years is a total mystery.

"Commando" is entertaining because of this capability to be enjoyable, smart and not taking itself too seriously, and because of the villains. That might explain how the film kind of loses me in its most defining sequence, the 10-minute during which Matrix eliminates more than 100 soldiers. You know the Golden rule that when the enemy aim at the hero with 1000 bullets, they will miss him while the hero never misses, well, let's say that this device is overused in "Commando" more annoyingly than in any other "Star Wars" movies. John Matrix is a good guy but body count-wise, he's certainly the most violent character ever played by Arnold.

Don't get me wrong, I know that the film had much credibility to rely on in the first place but still, the sequence gets quickly redundant and makes us wait for the ultimate confrontation between Freddie M… I mean, Bennett (whoever came with that name is another genius) and Matrix. Matrix vs. Bennett: let's party. And at the end, the film provides the right dose of action, one-liners, adrenalin and testosterone inducing scenes, the whole thing impeccably packaged with a catchy steel drums score. And with his large shoulders, Arnold carries the film as simply as if it was a gigantic tree log, proving again that he was one of the greatest action stars, before the public would ask for another kind of movie hero and allow a film like "Die Hard" to put a fresh air in the action/thriller genre.

Yet if actions film owe a lot to "Die Hard", "Die Hard" owe to films like "Commando" and to Schwarzenegger. I would even give to Arnold the same compliment I gave to Sidney Poitier or Humphrey Bogart, actors who were often playing the same kind of characters. Arnold might have the most limited range acting-wise, but within his own range, he's unbeatable.

Going Commando is Less Chafing Than I Thought

[gavin6942 · 7/10 · 4 September 2005]

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

Not long after the film gets going, Arnold picks up a stewardess (Rae Dawn Chong) and her sweet convertible along the way to flying to a remote island (apparently a few miles off the coast of California) for the sole purpose of making people do back flips and dance when shot or hit by grenades. The grenades never seem to kill anyone, but only make them spin in awkward aerial motions. This may be the only film that has more stunt men than actors.

The dark humor of this film is unmatched in an action film, and even Bill Paxton shows up for a while. Music by the critically acclaimed James Horner and 1980s super-group Power Station (Duran Duran with Robert Palmer) never hurts. The action itself has to be a bit of a joke, because it is more than a little over the top.

The romantic angle also seems a stretch, even by Hollywood standards... and the opening montage showing how much Arnold loves his daughter (and she loves him)? Ridiculous. And yet, this is all part of the film's charm and makes it arguably the best Arnold action film (though he has had many winners).

If you like action films starring guys who speak poor English -- highly recommended. Otherwise, rent "The Professional" for a similar theme of father-figure doting on his Lolita-esque daughter-figure, or "Taken" to see Liam Neeson kick terrorist butt to save his daughter.

Bad Plot, senseless killing, Arnold's at his worst: I like it!

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 10/10 · 15 August 2001]

Arnold, what can you say? He was so awful, yet so incredibly lovable in this terrific action film. Commando is a film I have watched since I was a little girl, it was actually released the year I was born, so I feel old now. :D But this film meant a lot to me because it was mine and my dad's film, of course, he covered my eyes during some certain unnecessary sex scenes, but we always got a kick out of the great screen play. The lines and action in Commando makes it a great and fun film to watch.

It's about a man, Matrix, played by Arnold, his daughter, played by a very young Alyssa Malono, is kidnapped by terrorists, in particular a dictator who Matrix managed to keep from destroying a country. They give Matrix a chance to save his daughter, by killing the leader of the country the dictator was trying to destroy, since Matrix was so trusted by their leader, it'll make it more controversial. But Matrix has other plans and escapes the airplane, he has 17 hours to save his daughter and kidnaps a sassy flight attendant. But she ends up wanting to help Matrix once she finds out that his daughter is kidnapped, together they work to get back to the dictator's house and save his daughter.

The great thing about this film is that Arnold goes though at least 60 extras who are all shooting at him, they miss him and he kills them all. But it's just fun to watch, as unrealistic as it is. My favorite line in Commando is when Matrix is about to throw Sully over a cliff and says "Remember Sully when I said I'd kill you last?" "That's right, Matrix! You did!" "I lied!" LOL! That was such a great scene. Commando is a great action film that anyone could at least get a good kick out of.

10/10

One-liner after One-liner

[MUFCOK · 7/10 · 26 September 2014]

This is a good fun action movie. It has everything an Arnie, 1980's action flick should have. Weapons, explosions, lots of bad guys and of course, memorable one-liners.

The story is of course a very simple one, Arnie's daughter gets kidnapped in order to blackmail Arnie into killing the president. Arnie takes it upon himself to disobey those orders and starts a one man war to kill everyone & anyone who gets in his way. There is no character development, no emotion, no sub plot, nothing realistic but it sure is entertaining. Now Arnie is in no way shape or form, a good actor but he does his job fantastically in this film. He is not cast to show off his acting skills, he is cast because he is a man-machine with presence and successfully brings a comical aspect to his movies with perfectly timed one-line quotes.

This movie is downright ridiculous. Arnie, jumps from a movie plane during take-off and lands in a knee deep swamp – unhurt. He crashes a car at high speed into a post, without a seatbelt – unhurt. He rips a phone booth out of a wall. He avoids every gunshot, even at close range, the list goes on. Does any of this matter? No! If you are looking for a realistic film then this certainly isn't for you.

The character 'Cindy' is by far the biggest negative in this film. She isn't needed what so ever, Arnie could quite easily have managed on his own. Her attempt at one-liners also go down like a led balloon. The kid is also irritating but thankfully she doesn't get too much screen time.

Brain-dead action movies are certainly not my favourite movie genre. I can however, appreciate that this is a good one! I thoroughly enjoyed watching it but I wouldn't give it a top end rating because of this.

Start the movie, sit back, and enjoy this movie for what it is.

7/10

Absolute Perfection

[partymachine221 · 10/10 · 4 February 2001]

"Commando" is undoubtedly Arnie's best. The movie begins with John Matrix's (schwarzenegger) daughter (alyssa milano) getting kidnapped. Basically Matrix has a little over 10 hours to save his daughter from an evil dictator, and in order to get her back, he has to take on a bunch of hoodlums, corrupt ex-Green Berets, and a small army.

The screenplay, by Steven E. deSouza, is a masterpiece. Granted, it's not brilliant along the lines of Shakespeare, but for an action movie, it's wonderful. Chock full of wit, deSouza never makes the mistake of having the movie take itself to seriously; he maintains an excellent balance of hardcore action while at the same time creating a lovely spoof of the action genre.

The acting is exactly how it should be for a movie of this genre. I'm a little bit tired of everyone saying "Arnie can't act" "he's such a bad actor" and so on. Obviously, actors such as Anthony Hopkins and Tom Hanks are better dramatic actors, but would any of us really want to see Sir Hopkins kicking the c**p out of almost one hundred people in a movie? i think not. Schwarzenegger plays Matrix wonderfully, delivering his lines with the right amount of wit and sarcasm, and delivering his punches fairly realistically.

See "Commando" if you like action movies. It won't fail to satisfy you. If, on the other hand, you are not a fan of action movies, don't expect this one to win you over.

Stallone never had to deal with this!

[Mr Yu · 7/10 · 2 July 2002]

Apparently, after a horrifying appointment with his hair stylist. Arnold attempts to quietly retire with his Supercuts settlement money , Alyssa Milano (too young) , and 4000 guns and weapons. Apparently a heavily steroid abusing Freddy Mercury wants revenge for either a lousy tip or being forced to use a lousy Aussie accent. This may lower your opinion of Freddy, but remember his absolute brilliant performance at Live Aid as a redeeming factor.

Anyways, Arnold's daughter (Alyssa) gets kidnapped by Freddy. This really ticks off Arnold. Future tip: If you are flying coach with Arnold, give up the window seat, as he hates the aisle. I MEAN HE REALLY HATES THE AISLE SEAT! You know how the beverage cart bangs you in the elbow and then the stewardess says, `Watch your elbow'? One to many times for Arnold and he snaps, if you get my meaning. Bad guy exiting gives Arnold 11 hours, pick up a date, kill a member of a '80's rock group, destroy a classic MG and keyboardist and a pair of undersized, discounted Speedos to go after his daughter. Arnold KILLS everyone! If you had a relative in California in the '80's, Arnold kills him or her in this movie. I lost count after the first 18 or 20 million. I mean he goes as far as killing one bad guy with an 8' Black & Decker fine tooth table saw blade. This blade was introduced in the late 70s's to cut laminates, wall board and minimum wage movie bad guys.

The BIG SHOWDOWN happens when Psychotic Freddy Mercury is interrupted from singing `We are the Champions' . Ginsu showdown ensues with improper a/c duct relocating applied and Freddy convinced that he should stay with Queen.. Of course I could say `Another bites the Dust' , but I wont.

The entire Hollywood Special Op's Forces show up EXACTLY 23 seconds too late. Rae Dawn Chong , Alyssa Milano , the Speedos and his Supercuts money safe AND a Porsche, to recover his daughter. At this point he deplanes, runs into `Quest for Fire's ` Rae Dawn Chong', seat aborts a really nice MG and chases down the lead singer of Wang Chung, totals MG and punishes Wang for violations against humanity.

Nick Tortelli of `Cheers' seems to be the Madman behind the scene , having taken over the very strange and exotic province of `Santo DeCheesmo' a small , yet diminutive isle first settled by poor soles affilicated by a rare , yet fatal diseases : Bad Acting. His Supercuts stock being lowered by Arnold's settlement , he has Freddy kidnap Arnold's daughter and hires the entire Columbian , Nicaraguan , Costa Rican and Peruvian Marching Bands to guard her. Nick was never smart with his money nor his taste in music.

Hilarity ensues as Arnold mortgages EVERYTHING for his rubber dingy, some weapons, bad dialogue, dry ice, his kettledrum player

A film that's too silly & is filled with too much over the top garbage

[breakdownthatfilm-blogspot-com · 3/10 · 20 December 2012]

Arnold Schwarzenegger is known to make fun and exciting action films. The best example would be based off "The Terminator" movies, but what ever appealed to him here in this film I'll never know. Schwarzenegger is John Matrix, an ex-military man who is just trying to get away from his previous career and live with his daughter, Jenny (Alyssa Milano). However, Matrix's past creeps up on him and his daughter is kidnapped and from there he vows to find any possible way of getting her back.

Boy is Schwarzenegger one crazy hell of a father and this is where the movie goes downhill. To start off, it doesn't even make sense that John Matrix wants to live a normal life because if he did, he wouldn't be holding onto a shed full of machine guns. Yeah, he really let go of his career. Everything that Schwarzenegger does when it comes to action in this film is more berserk than constructed sequences. And just like some poorly made video game, Matrix is running around killing thousands of enemy soldiers all simultaneously shooting at him and he's never badly hit once.

Along his mad dash to find his kidnapped daughter, Matrix runs into an innocent bystander named Cindy (Rae Dawn Chong) whom he convinces about the situation that he was forced into. Unfortunately Chong really doesn't give a believable performance. Not to mention but her character did not even excel the picture. She was there more for laughs,...for example, she's always worried and asking a lot of questions. I'm sure if her character was left out of the script, John Matrix still could have rescued his daughter no problem.

The villain behind Jenny's kidnapping is Arius played by Dan Hedaya who also doesn't give a real compelling show. His tone of voice doesn't change once during the whole movie. Boring. Vernon Wells plays Bennett, an egotistical ex-militant who once fought along side Matrix but then had a change in heart. It's one thing to see the protagonist, who is usually smaller, fight the antagonist, who is usually bigger. An example like this would be Sylvester Stallone's Cobra (1986). But here you have Schwarzenegger (HUGE) and Vernon Wells (forget small, he's not even muscular) go head-to-head. Is there even a question to who will win?....No!

Let's not forget now about continuity, dialog and film music. The continuity in this film is horrendous. There are several scenes where it is blatantly obvious that in between different cuts, there are two of the same different objects. Could it be anymore obvious? And how about that dialog? Much of it was just unnecessary. All Schwarzenegger does is make statements that are already known or obviously true. He drops a man,...his description, "I let him go",....really? Like the audience doesn't know that?

Lastly, the most shocking part is the score composed by James Horner. Yes, the composer to Glory (1989), The Rocketeer (1991), The Mask of Zorro (1998), Bicentennial Man (1999), etc., which are all moving scores creates this synth type of music with steel drums that never end. It is more painful than screeching violins because it creates no tone for the scenes and there are times where there is no music at all where the points of conflict a rise the most. Truly disappointing experience from Horner.

Nothing works in this Schwarzenegger vehicle. The actors do not fit their characters, the music is poor and the action is brain-dead.

John Matrix

[dk777 · 7/10 · 19 March 2021]

As always, the action movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger is always at least entertaining. John Matrix is a former Special Forces colonel whose daughter is kidnapped by criminals who want to force him to commit political assassination. Of course, this is not going to go the way they envision, as the John Matrix moves into rescue and revenge. The film is full of brutal action, explosions, violence is bloody and explicit, just the way it should be. The film is entertaining, as are the characters who are hilarious, but in a good way. A fun, brutal film, with a lot of action and bloodshed with a dose of humor.

Easy to watch, but awfully dumb.

[barnabyrudge · 4/10 · 6 January 2005]

There's nothing wrong with escapism from time to time, but Commando probably goes a bit too far into fantasy for its own good. Granted, we all need to watch films sometimes purely for the sake of entertainment - not every film has to have the realism of Platoon, the moral dilemmas of Hamlet, or the meticulous accuracy of Gandhi. However, Commando is so uproariously far-fetched, and manoeuvres its hero into such wildly implausible situations, that it ultimately shoots itself in the foot. How can you get even slightly excited when from the very first scenes the good guy is shown to be indestructible?

Ex green-beret John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger) lives in an isolated mountain lodge with his daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano). Some years earlier, he was the leader of a crack army unit sent on only the most dangerous of assignments. He is visited by an old pal, Maj. Gen Franklin Kirby (James Olson), who warns him to be on guard as members of his former unit have recently been murdered. Soon, Matrix too finds himself targeted, but the bad guys don't want him dead. Instead, they kidnap his daughter and tell him that in order to get her back he must pull off an assassination for them.

The film basically shows how Matrix single-handedly rescues his daughter from a guerrilla army. We are treated to various stunts and scenes of destruction as he races against time to get her back. He leaps from a plane and free-falls hundreds of feet into a swamp; he raids a weapons store and steals an arsenal of weaponry to help him in his quest; he escapes with nary a scratch from an armoured police van which is blown up by a rocket launcher. In an outrageous finale, he wipes out thousands of soldiers who are guarding his daughter's prison. It's all very easy to watch, and since it was never intended to be realistic it feels churlish to knock the film for its low credibility. But even mindless action films have to generate excitement, at least on their own terms. And this one is awfully dumb. The excitement is non-existent, because Arnie is so preposterously invulnerable that even a thousand-man army can't slow him down. Commando is simply empty, mindless spectacle which scores highly on destruction but offers precious little else.

Dumb, but oh so good.

[Maxta · 7/10 · 28 April 2001]

As you'll read in so many other reviews here, this movie is fantastic. Not for the plot (quite thin), not for the realism (Arnie vs Army) but for the sheer fun of it all. If you're in the least bit cynical you may not like this movie unless you can watch it through the eyes of a 14 yr old boy. The action is non-stop and the one-liners hilarious, one of Arnies best stupid films. Leave your brain at the door and enjoy it again and again and again.

For action fans, for Arnie fans, for one-liner fans, you won't be disappointed.

If you like cheese, this is the movie equivalent of a fondue

[OttoVonB · 6/10 · 27 February 2012]

Arnold Schwarzenegger is the embodiment of 80s-90s muscle-man action cinema, an era we can now look back on with nostalgia, mostly for its unabashed mixture of macho ultra violence and out-of-control kitsch. It's interesting to note that the Austrian Titan's first great commercial disappointment - Last Action Hero - was a parody of the genre he dominated. How do you parody parody itself? The man's best films, the first two Terminator films and Predator, rise above that, but most of his work is inches from being one big spoof.

While you can't parody the genre outright, you can take it to its extreme, and I'm not sure what Commando is or who it was meant for, but that's what it does. Schwarzenegger's John Matrix (a typical Austrian name, that) lives a life of mono parental bliss with daughter Jennie (or, as he calls Alyssa Milano, "Tchainee") until she is kidnapped and he is forced to throw all his retired killing machine skills into saving her.

We can run through the ingredients, it's actually worth it for once: - Body fascination. The film never hesitates to glory on Schwarzenegger's body, and while he isn't showing off with impossible feats (carrying a tree or busy phone booth) he just sits there, bare-chested, for the camera. - Homo-erotic subtext. If it's that in-your-face, it can't really be subtext. Beside the fact that this is probably an affront to gays everywhere, the tension between Ahnuld and main villain Bennett would be interesting if it weren't for... well... Bennett himself. I'd describe the world's most ill-conceived blockbuster villain for you, but I'd rather not ruin the surprise. Just youtube "Last Fight Scene - Matrix vs Bennett". - Gratuitous violence. Not much blood here, but every bullet that grazes the floor creates its own explosion. And the stunt-work reaches miraculous levels of retardation. - "Clever" One-liners. If that's your thing, you're in for a real treat. - Outrageous music: oh boy, you can't imagine... - Sexy but severely underused damsel in distress. Underused? We wish. Sexy, not quite.

It's hard to even rate this film. It makes for a delirious group viewing experience, but then again, nobody could ever honestly call it a good a film. And unlike True Lies, another very silly film, this hasn't aged gracefully at all, hence much of its "charm" is down to nostalgia. It's the only way to forgive the film's confounding technical ineptitude (the number of goofs and continuity disasters sets a record).

You have to see it to believe it. Then again, maybe not. Just check out the wildest bits and watch Predator instead.

Thank you YouTube!