In the 1980s, Arnold Schwarzenegger was one of the biggest and most iconic action stars of the decade. His first claim to fame was as a bodybuilder in the 60s and 70s, becoming Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia. He first got into acting in the 1969 comedy Hercules in New York, where he was credited as “Arnold Strong.” Unfortunately, the film didn’t do much for his career, and he mostly took smaller roles in the 1970s. However, Arnold soon became a superstar with the release of the 1982 sword and sorcery epic, Conan the Barbarian. While the sequel Conan the Destroyer didn’t go over well, he rebounded with the more well-received The Terminator. Arnold was soon rising to superstardom, even being considered Sylvester Stallone’s rival throughout the rest of the 80s. Then in 1985, Arnold practically became an action movie icon with the release of the action extravaganza, Commando.
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The film opens on a montage where several guys are being killed off one-by-one by a group of mercenaries. We soon meet former Special Forces Colonel John Matrix (Schwarzenegger) living in the mountains with his daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano). He’s visited by his former superior, Major General Kirby (James Olson), who comes with some bad news. Turns out the men killed earlier were part of John’s former unit, and Kirby has soldiers placed around Matrix’s home. Unfortunately, things go south fast when the mercenaries storm the house, kidnap Jenny, and knock out John. John wakes up to the mercenaries’ leader Arius (Dan Hedaya) who wants him to kill the president of Val Verde. Realizing that they’ll kills Jenny no matter what, Matrix decides to go after Arius and his men. Along with flight attendant Cindy (Rae Dawn Chong), John fights his way through the mercenaries to rescue his daughter.
This movie is a blast to watch, so long as you don’t think too hard about the plot. It’s a full-on cavalcade of gunfights, explosions, slimy characters, iconic one-liners, and 80s machismo that just emanates from the screen. Arnold is practically an action movie god here, spouting off one-liners like nobody’s business and just mowing down bad guys. What separates Arnold from other action stars like Stallone and Norris is that he clearly is in on the joke. He knows the movie he’s in is ridiculous, and he’s just having a blast and making the most of it. The rest of the cast does an admirable job, Alyssa Milano and Rae Dawn Chong doing well despite their roles. In any another movie, they would come across as stereotypical and annoying, but here, they hold their own very well. Plus, be sure to look for a small appearance from Bill Paxton.
But what’s a great action movie without an awesome villain for the hero to go up against? Here, we have a great selection of some of the best working character actors for the villains. There’s Bill Duke, who Schwarzenegger would rejoin in Predator two years later as a member of his team of commandos. Then there’s David Patrick Kelly, who’s just as slimy and sleazy as usual, and gets a great death scene. Dan Hedaya does a decent job as the leader, but it’s really Vernon Wells as Bennet who steals the show. He absolutely dominates the film and his fight scene with Schwarzenegger towards the end is easily the highlight. As I mentioned before, the movie is pretty mindless, but it’s enjoyable mindless as opposed to being just stupidly mindless. In summation, Commando is the kind of action film that’ll put you in a good mood.
