| | | | Commando
(1985) |
n 1985, fresh from his almost dialog-free adventures in "The Terminator" and a poorly judged return to swords and sorcery in "Red Sonja", Arnold Schwarzenegger was to take the part that would turn him from cult hero into probably the most bankable action star of the 80's...
Col. John Matrix is the first Schwarzenegger character to demonstrate fully Arnold's incredible talent for comedy.
Rather than a mute and brooding killing machine, the fully developed character of Matrix required Arnold to display the full Gamut of emotions and entirely carry the movie with his presence and comedy timing.
This was a bold step for Arnold (and, of course for the producers) but one that had to be made if he was ever going to be taken seriously.
Director Lester summed up the initial fear:
"It's easy to fall into a trap about Arnold's abilities when you consider his previous films and his physique, but he has this incredible sense of humor, and it goes all day long. So we bought that element, Arnold's natural humor, into the film."
Col. Matrix is retired from leading an 'elite commando unit' and living with his daughter, Jenny (Alyssa Milano), in a remote mountain retreat on Mount Baldy, California when his ex-boss, Gen. Franklin Kirby (James Olson) pays him a visit.
General Kirby warns Matrix that several of his retired ex-colleagues in the unit have been murdered and that, as Matrix had made many enemies round the world, he ought to be vigilant.
General Kirby leaves after posting some soldiers to protect him but, just a few minutes later, they are to prove inadequate as a team of renegade ex-special forces storm his home.
It transpires that they are being paid by the former despot dictator of the (fictional) small South American country of Val Verde whom Matrix helped to depose. The dictator has plans to return to power in Val Verde and has hired Matrix's old Rival Bennett (Vernon Wells) to 'pursuade' him to help. This pursuasion takes the form of the kidnap of his daughter, who will only be returned to him if he co-operates.
John Matrix knows that he will lose his daughter even of he complies, so after being put on an eleven hour flight to Val Verde, chooses the near impossible task of jumping from the plane on takeoff and rescuing his daughter from the dictator's island stronghold before the plane lands at Val Verde and they realise that he has not complied...
So starts a desperate race against time and impossible odds. During the race the bodycount rises almost as high as the 'one-liner' count and it is here, in the humor and machine guns and martial arts, that Arnold and the movie work best.
 Don't forget that Commando is now available to order on Widescreen DVD using our special 80s Retro Assistant...
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At the time, many comparisons were drawn against other 'high body count' movies of the era like "Rambo, First Blood Part II". The truth is that the movies are very different with "Commando" having a humor that is totally absent from the "Rambo" movies.
It didn't take long for the press to make comparisons that infuriated Schwarzenegger and were to cause a rift between him and Stallone that was to last until the end of the decade.
As Arnie said himself at the time of the movies' release:
"I've made a better film than Stallone's [Rambo], and I'm happy to wait for time to prove me right" --Which it did. In retrospect, Commando is a superior movie to Rambo, largely due to it's infinitely superior script and the fact that it doesn't take itself too seriously at all...
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The story of Commando starts with a treatment that had been doing the rounds in Hollywood for some time before successful producer Joel Silver aquired it for his newly formed Silver Pictures. The interesting thing about this particular treatment was that it was written by two students at Columbia University's film school, Joseph Loeb III and Matthew Weisman. The pair had long believed that they would be able to work a deal that enabled them to produce the film themselves. The pair also wrote another screenplay that got made, the Michael J. Fox vehicle "Teenwolf", and it was the success of this that brought them to Silver's attention. This early script was then re-written by fomer New York Times writer Steven DeSouza, who had previously worked with Silver on "48 hrs". 
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Towards the end of the movie, when Arnold is in the potting shed licking his wounds, shortly before killing a small team of soldiers with garden implements, it is said that in the original shot, when he chopped the guys arm off, he was supposed to beat him with it too. However, this was deemed to be too macabre and was subsequently cut from the final version. -Thanks to Jon Deal
Bob Minor who played one of the soldiers chosen to guard Matrix and Jenny towards the beginning of the film is a well-respected stunt coordinator, he also appears in the film "Action Jackson" (1988). -Thanks to James Froelich
Bill Paxton would go on to play a substantially bigger role with Arnie in "True Lies" (1994). -Thanks to Gunter
Vernon Wells had made his screen debut as a Mohawk in "The Road Warrior" opposite Mel Gibson. He had then almost reprised this role in a short appearance in "Weird Science".
Benicio Del Toro shows up as an extra, playing one of the dictator's commandos in the scene where Matrix infiltrates their offices, immediately prior to stealing the plane. -Thanks to Max
When Matrix and Cindy crash their car into a telegraph pole while chasing Sully, two objects appear to fly out of the car on impact.
When the character Solly runs his car into Arnold in the mall parking garage, it looks like Arnold's wallet comes out of his pocket and lands on the ground , only to be seen later when Arnold takes out his wallet to show Rae Dawn Chong a picture of his daughter (Alyssa Milano). The truth is, he did not lose his wallet. When he was hit by the Porsche, he knocks off the side view mirror. -Thanks to Greg
"Commando" co-stars Bill Duke, Daniel Patrick Kelly, and Arnold Schwarzenegger have worked with Joel Silver on a few films. Duke would go on to co-star with Schwarzenegger in the Silver production "Predator" (1987) and "Action Jackson"(1989). Kelly co-starred in Silver's early producing effort "The Warriors"(1979), "48 HRS" (1982), and "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane" (1990). -Thanks to Robert Baum
This was the first major film for 12-year old Alyssa Milano. It came about one year after the first episode of "Who's the Boss?" You'll see her later in the 80s in "Dance 'til Dawn" -Thanks to Jonathan Lim
Alyssa Milano went on to star in the supernatural action/drama series, Charmed. In it she portrays 'Phoebe Halliwell', one of a trio of sisters who discover that they are, in fact, powerful witches. -Thanks to Phantom Planet
Look out for a small role played by Bill Paxton, his only words are "we lost him sir". This was not the first role he appeared alongside Arnie, as he is actually one of the punks that Arnold steals clothes from in the beginning of "The Terminator"... -Thanks to Dustin, Randy And Nelly
Arnie in the military factory - he pulls a chain apart on the gate to gain entrance - a solid steel chain!! then uses a stuntman to climb a little wall (look close) he enters a very busy warehouse full of badguys and just crawls along the floor under tanks, jeeps and such and NOBODY sees him even though it's obvious he's right there. The quy he knocks out before the map room is Bobby Sixkiller from the tv show Renegade 1990s-!!!! and boy does he have a mullet!
At the very end of the film when he carries Jennie to the plane- Jennie runs to Cindy (Arnies partner) and embraces her as though its her new mom or something. Wait a sec ,she's never even met her, doesn't know who she is, but they just hug each other. It's so stupid. But then, stupid is what makes this film good! -Thanks to Dara Molloy-Irish
In the trailer for Commando, Sully makes an entirely different scream from that in the movie. (In the shot when Matrix drops Sully off the cliff, as you see the dummy fall.) I guess the editors realized the original scream was a much too ridiculous "ooh-loo-low-low", so they dubbed over a much more appropriate "argh" for the trailer. Also, Sully has his own special gesture for waving. Sully, more than once in the film, will wave with his thumb closed against his index finger, but with the rest of the fingers apart, a rather unnatural position for waving. -Thanks to Patrick Todd
Val verde, the fictional locale where Schwarzenegger is dispatched to terminate it's leader, is a locale mentioned in another Silver production, "Die Hard II." In the 1990 release, a strongman from that country, a rather subtle reference to Manuel Noriega, named Ramon Espararanza (Franco Nero) is spirited away to the USA. -Thanks to Robert Baum
One of the flight attendants is portrayed by Chelsea Field, who would later have a more prominent role in another Silver actioner, "The Last Boy Scout" in 1991. -Thanks to Robert Baum
In the motel room fight scene, Arnold and the "green beret" crash through the motel wall and into the next room, where a couple is in bed. The buxom woman is none other than Ava Cadell - now Dr. Ava Cadell, renowned therapist and author of five books!! She has since made many appearances on talk shows and been in lots of low-budget films. -Thanks to Tim Briggs
At that time Commando was banned in Sweden. Later they released it with 15 minutes cut off. -Thanks to Patrik Ortner
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Find much more great trivia in the filmmaker's commentary on the Commando DVD.
Rediscover your favorites! If you like
Commando or 80's Action classics, then be sure to
check out this list: ..... Angel ..... Raiders of the Lost Ark ..... Beverly Hills Cop ..... Die Hard ..... Predator ..... Terminator ..... Black Rain ..... 48 HRS ..... Untouchables ..... Lethal Weapon ..... Rocky IV ..... Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior ..... Top Gun ..... Highlander ..... Streets Of Fire .....[More]
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Production started on April 22nd 1985 and principal photography wrapped on July 3rd 1985.
Because it was difficult to find a stunt double for Arnold, he did many of his own stunts, including jumping off the plane's landing gear for real on takeoff at over 70mph! During the making of the movie, he was injured a few times, but it never involved more than a few days to recuperate.
Vernon Wells was a last minute replacement for the character of Bennett and he was given the other actor's wardrobe which didn't fit him properly. Upon meeting one another, Arnie wasn't sure if Vernon was scary enough to play the villain and expressed his concerns to Joel Silver. Vernon learned of Arnie's reluctance, so in their first scene together Vernon surprised Arnie by lunging towards him with a knife towards his throat. It absolutely terrified Arnie and the take is used in the film. After the scene was shot, Arnie walked over to the producer and said, "Keep that crazy mother away from me!" -Thanks to Travis Milloy
In the final fight, Arnie stabs a pipe through Vernon's body. A special rig was built for Vernon to wear so steam could go through tubes around his body and out the end of the pipe. The rig was improperly placed and Vernon was severely burned during one of the takes. -Thanks to Travis Milloy
When the buildings blow up (and dummies on pegs) they are shown blowing up approx 12 times , but from different angles - in a sad attempt to make it look as though a dozen buildings are blowing up - they RE-EXPLODE!!
When John Matrix (Schwarzenegger) blows up the compound buildings, in one of the shots you can see the two enemy soldiers standing in front of one of the buildings are in fact cut-outs with wooden props holding them up!
After Matrix rips the passenger's seat out of Cindy's car, he appears very low in the car. In the next scene he is up high again, obviously sitting on a seat. -Thanks to Bennett
After Matrix rams Sully's yellow Porche, causing it to tilt, the side of the Porsche is dented. But when he sets the Porsche back down on it's wheels and drives away with it, the side is still intact. The side is dented once more when Matrix arrives at the Sunspot Motel. -Thanks to Jonathan Lim
When Arnold holds Sully over the cliff with one hand you can just see the rope holding Sully from the foot! -Thanks to Angela Germain
In the parking garage, after Arnold rips out the seat in Rae Dawn Chong's car, you can see the film crew's reflection in the paint of her car. Just look at the door and you will clearly see the camera man. -Thanks to Kita
When Jenny chisels at the door, the wood is thick and solid, but when Bennet breaks through it, it's about 2mm thick!
In Arnie and Sully's car chase - look closely at the speed of the cars - they're goin about 15mph!!
When Arnie is firing his M-60 machine gun at end of movie- the bullet-belt is sometimes 3ft long and sometimes its 6 inches. He uses the rosepath in the garden as though it's bulletproof- it's quite amazing to think that a row of roses can deflect bullets!
When Arnie is trying to make his way past the army, if you look closely, you see that he kills the same man about three times. -Thanks to Niall
After Arnold falls from the landing gear of the plane into a very wet marsh, (which is what breaks his fall, I guess), as he is walking out of it, he is completely dry. -Thanks to David
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|  |  |  | | Commando
Locations |
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 Featured Movie Location: General Arius's estate
Wanna see the real life filming location used for General Arius's estate in the movie? These scenes were actually shot at Greenacres - the former Harold Lloyd estate, located in Beverly Hills, S. California. [New! Show Google Map]
A modern Log cabin on Mt Baldy, California was used as Matrix's home.
The production then moved to LAX and then spent three weeks night shooting in San Pedro and Long Beach, followed by eight nights at the Sherman Oaks Galleria (The same mall as was used in T2 and Fast Times at Ridgemont High, now sadly demolished).
Other locations used included the coastline at Sam Simeon in Central California that stood in for the beaches of Val Verde.
Featured Link: Greenacres - The Harold Lloyd Estate
Can you help? Do you know any of the S. California (or any other) filming locations used for Commando? [Please send them in]
|  | | | | ![[16:9 -Widescreen Enhanced]](16_9.gif) | ![[5.1 CH SURROUND]](dd5.gif) | Trailer, Commentary, Featurette, OutTakes |
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The pumping militaristic soundtrack score was written by James Horner and was sadly never released on any format.
The closing credits is the song "We Fight For Love" by the 1980's supergroup "The Power Staton," - an offshot of the band Duran Duran with that group's John and Andy Taylor. This is the fist song recorded by the group with Michael DesBarres singing after Robert Palmer-in the middle of the tour-left for a solo career. For fans of the band this is interesting and the ONLY place the song can be found legitimately for the group disbanded that year, not releasing another album for 13 years with all new material and reuniting with Palmer. There are other songs, reportedly, that were were recorded with Des Barress, by the group that have yet to see the light of day. -Thanks to Cuddy
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