Commando (1985 film)

Commando is a 1985 American action film directed by Mark L. Lester and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong, Alyssa Milano, Vernon Wells, Bill Duke and Dan Hedaya. The film was released in the United States on October 4, 1985.

Commando
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMark L. Lester
Produced byJoel Silver
Screenplay bySteven E. de Souza
Story by
Starring
Music byJames Horner
CinematographyMatthew F. Leonetti
Edited by
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • October 4, 1985 (1985-10-04)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$9 million[1]
Box office$57.5 million[2]

The film was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Special Effects but lost to Back to the Future. The film's score was provided by James Horner. A commercial success, Commando was the 7th highest-grossing R-rated movie of 1985 worldwide, and the 25th highest-grossing overall.[2]

Plot

Retired United States Army Special Forces Colonel John Matrix is informed by his former superior Major General Franklin Kirby that all the other members of his former unit have been killed by unknown mercenaries. The mercenaries, among them Bennett, an Australian ex-member of Matrix's team discharged for excessive violence, attack Matrix's secluded mountain home and kidnap Matrix's young daughter Jenny. While trying to intercept them, Matrix is also overpowered and abducted by the mercenaries. He is taken before their commander, Arius, a South American former dictator who blackmails Matrix into carrying out a political assassination in his home country of Val Verde, where Arius wishes to lead a military coup. (Matrix previously led a United States-backed revolution that deposed Arius, who has chosen Matrix to assassinate the new president of Val Verde, for he trusts Matrix implicitly) With Jenny's life on the line, Matrix reluctantly accepts the demand, but not before killing Diaz while refusing to cooperate with "his men".

After boarding a plane to Val Verde, Matrix manages to kill his guard, Henriques - by snapping his neck - and jumps from the plane just as it is taking off. With approximately 11 hours before the plane is scheduled to land, he sets out after another of Arius' men, Sully. He enlists the aid of an off-duty flight attendant, Cindy, and instructs her to follow Sully to a shopping mall. Cindy first assumes that Matrix is a madman, but after she sees Sully pull a gun on Matrix in the ensuing fight, she decides to assist him in his endeavor. After a lengthy car chase, Matrix catches up with Sully and drops him off a cliff to his death. Taking a motel key from Sully's jacket, Matrix tracks down and confronts Cooke, a former Green Beret in Arius' employ. He impales Cooke on a table leg after a lengthy fight and learns where Jenny is being held.

Matrix breaks into a surplus store to equip himself with military weaponry, but is immediately arrested by the police. Cindy helps him escape by using a rocket launcher on the police car and, after commandeering a seaplane from a nearby marina controlled by Arius, Matrix and Cindy land the plane off the coast of Arius' island hideout. Matrix instructs Cindy to contact General Kirby and then proceeds to Arius' villa, killing Arius and his army. Jenny escapes to the villa's basement, but is captured by Bennett. Matrix tracks them, and after a lengthy fight, finally kills Bennett by impaling him with a steam pipe. Kirby arrives with a military detachment and asks Matrix to rejoin the Special Forces Unit, but Matrix declines and departs the island aboard the seaplane with Jenny and Cindy.

Cast

Production

Development

Writer Jeff Loeb said his original script was about an Israeli soldier who had renounced violence. Steven de Souza rewrote the script, tailoring it to Schwarzenegger.[3]

Filming

Principal photography commenced on April 22, 1985 and lasted for 45 days.[4] The film was shot on location in California. San Nicolas Island off the coast of Santa Barbara, to which Matrix flies to rescue his daughter, was filmed on the Pacific coast at San Simeon. The barracks that are "attacked" are actually beach properties belonging to the Hearst Castle Estate. The house that Matrix storms at the film's climax was actually the former main residence of the Harold Lloyd Estate in the Benedict Canyon district of Beverly Hills. The car chase scene between Sully and Matrix starts on Ventura Blvd and moves into the hills on Benedict Canyon. The Sherman Oaks Galleria, in Sherman Oaks, CA, served as the film’s shopping mall location, and was used for six days after 9pm, after stores closed. The film was originally set to cost $8 million, but ended up costing $9 million once principal photography ended.[5]

Music

Soundtrack
Commando
Soundtrack album by
James Horner
ReleasedDecember, 2003
GenreSoundtrack
Length43:21
LabelVarèse Sarabande
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic link

A soundtrack album was released by Varèse Sarabande on December 2, 2003 as part of the label's CD Club and was limited to 3000 copies.[6] The score, composed by James Horner, is notable for its prominent use of steel drums and for reusing motifs from Horner's soundtrack for 48 Hours.

Track listing
  1. "Prologue/Main Title" – 3:58
  2. "Ambush and Kidnapping" – 2:35
  3. "Captured" – 2:14
  4. "Surprise" – 8:19
  5. "Sully Runs" – 4:34
  6. "Moving Jenny" – 3:44
  7. "Matrix Breaks In" – 3:30
  8. "Infiltration, Showdown and Finale" – 14:32
Commando
Soundtrack album by
James Horner
ReleasedAugust, 2011
GenreSoundtrack
Length61:48
LabelLa-La Land Records

La-La Land Records released a limited edition of James Horner's score in August 2011. The release features approximately 62 minutes of music across 24 tracks and includes "We Fight for Love" by The Power Station.

Release

Marketing

Diamond Toymakers released a line of action figures in 1986 in an attempt to cash in on the success of G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero. Matrix now leads an elite special forces unit (which replaced his old deceased unit from the original film) called C-Team, made up of Spex, Blaster, and Chopper, against the forces of F.E.A.R., led by Psycho (who is based on the character of Bennett) and consisting of Lead-Head, Stalker, and Sawbones. There was an assortment of 4" figures, containing all of the above, a series of 8" figures, consisting of Matrix, Spex, Blaster, Psycho, Lead-Head, and Stalker. Chopper and Sawbones are absent. Finally, there was an 18" John Matrix that came with a pistol, an M16, and a grenade.

Home media

The first DVD of Commando was released in region 1 in the United States on May 25, 1999. Common with early DVD releases, the disc featured a non-anamorphic video transfer, a basic 2.0 surround track, and only the US theatrical trailer as an extra. DVDs released in other regions soon followed, some with anamorphic transfers, but the 2001 United Kingdom region 2 DVD was censored by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), with 12 seconds of cuts to an arm severing and closeups of the impaled Bennett. These cuts were brought over from the 1985 original theatrical release. However, a German master was used for the UK DVD, meaning the film was cut even more than it should have been, leading to 56 seconds of cuts instead of the BBFC's 12 seconds. If the film had been resubmitted to the BBFC, it would be passed uncut under the BBFC's new, more liberal rules. This has proven to be the case as the BBFC's website indicates that both versions of the film (the U.S. theatrical cut and the unrated edition) for the DVD were passed on June 11, 2007. With the unrated edition released, the film is available in its entirety, a first for the UK.

On June 5, 2007, 20th Century Fox officially announced that a completely unedited and unrated director's cut of the film would be released on region 1 DVD on September 18, 2007. Through seamless branching, this disc not only features an unrated cut (which was claimed to run at 95 minutes, but is only 91 minutes, with 92 seconds of extra footage), but as a bonus, also contains the original 90-minute, R-rated US theatrical version. Aside from this, the DVD is a special edition, featuring an audio commentary from director Mark L. Lester (only on the theatrical cut), additional deleted scenes, a Pure Action featurette, a Let Off Some Steam featurette, and four photo galleries with over 150 photos. The transfer is anamorphically enhanced and features a 5.1 audio mix.

In April 2008, the 90-minute theatrical version of the film was released to consumers on the high definition Blu-ray disc format.

On May 5, 2015, as part of the film's 30th anniversary, the director's cut of Commando was released on Blu-ray Disc in a limited edition, collectible metalpak as a Best Buy exclusive. It contains all of the special features that were included in the 2007 DVD release, including the 90-minute theatrical version of the film.

Reception

Box office

Commando was a box office success grossing over $57.5 million against a $9 million budget. The film debuted at number one on the weekend of October 4–6, 1985 in the United States and spent three consecutive weeks at the top position.[7]

Critical response

Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 70% based on reviews from 33 critics, with an average rating of 6.05/10.[8] The website's critical consensus reads, "The ultimate '80s Schwarzenegger movie, replete with a threadbare plot, outsized action, and endless one-liners."[8] On Metacritic, the film has a rating of 51 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[9]

D. J. R. Bruckner of The New York Times wrote that "two-thirds of this 90-minute film is mayhem unrelieved by humor and untouched by humanity," and suggested that if future sequels were to be made, "more clever writers and subtler directors will have to be found. Even a cinematic comic book needs more artful care than this one was given."[10] Variety wrote, "While it's not in the class of Schwarzenegger's last hit ('The Terminator'), 'Commando' is actually superior to 'Rambo: First Blood Part II' because of its deft mixture of humor and action (with most of the action brushed with humor) and its deliberate evasion of any political message."[11] Patrick Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times wrote, "Full of spectacular stunts and shootouts, it's a gory crowd-pleaser, directed with jolting efficiency by low-budget veteran Mark L. Lester. If his scenarists had only given Lester a finale with as much explosive punch as his opening scenes, the film could have been a real treat instead of a glorified fireworks display."[12] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 2 stars out of 4 and wrote that "Schwarzenegger plays his action scenes both with vengeance and a comic-book laugh, but the mix never gells," adding, "The concluding battle scenes are wimpy by comparison with the action in 'Rambo.' All we see is a half-dozen barracks blown up, shot from four different angles. Wow, look at all of the splintered wood."[13] Paul Attanasio of The Washington Post wrote that the film "starts out fun and ends up dreary—how long can you watch this stony Austrian take target practice?"[14]

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See also

References
  1. Commando at the American Film Institute Catalog
  2. "Commando (1985)". boxofficemojo.com.
  3. Semlyen, Nick de. "Commando: The Complete History". Empire. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  4. Variety magazine. April 18, 1985.
  5. "AFI Catalog". American Film Institute. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  6. "Varèse Sarabande Product Details". Archived from the original on 28 September 2010. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
  7. "Commando Summary". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  8. "Commando (1985)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  9. Commando at Metacritic
  10. Bruckner, D.J.R. (October 4, 1985). "Film: Schwarzenegger, 'Commando'". The New York Times. C13.
  11. "Film Reviews: Commando". Variety. October 9, 1985. 23.
  12. Goldstein, Patrick (October 4, 1985). "'Commando' a Gory Crowd-Pleaser". Los Angeles Times. Part VI, p. 8.
  13. Siskel, Gene (October 7, 1985). "Commando". Chicago Tribune. Section 5, p. 3.
  14. Attanasio, Paul (October 4, 1985). "Beef Encounter: Schwarzenegger's Brutal 'Commando'". The Washington Post. E3.
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