Movies - Commando

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	Movies - Commando

Commando (first released on October 4, 1985) is a Hollywood action movie starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. It is still enjoyed today on video for its camp value and humorously over-the-top violence.

The plot concerns Colonel John Matrix, an elite retired commando whose daughter, Jenny, has been kidnapped as a hostage to make him perform a political assassination for a dictator he deposed. He escapes in transit by killing his guard and jumping from an airliner, and then sets out to rescue his daughter within the timeframe allotted before she is to be killed.

In the time left to him, he performs all manner of derring-do, including kidnapping an off-duty air hostess, breaking into an arms warehouse, being arrested by police and escaping, stealing a seaplane and killing a small army of mercenaries.

The film also stars Alyssa Milano, Rae Dawn Chong, David Patrick Kelly, Vernon Wells and Dan Hedaya. It was directed by Mark L. Lester; the script was co-written by Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman.

Commando was produced by 20th Century Fox. It took in $7,700,000 during its opening weekend, playing on 1,495 screens in the United States. It went on to gross $35 million in the United States and $57 million worldwide.

This film is notable for being the first regular action film starring Schwarzenegger that featured his distinctive sense of humor. Indeed Commando is perhaps the most beloved cult film Schwarzenegger has ever made, and there remains a considerable fan base. In particular, cinéastes have labelled the "Sully sequence" (from when Matrix arrives at the airport with Sully until when he "lets him go") a masterpiece of sustained tension nonetheless leavened with humor.

Main cast

Arnold Schwarzenegger
as Colonel John Matrix
Vernon Wells
as Bennett
Rae Dawn Chong
as Cindy
Dan Hedaya
as Arius
David Patrick Kelly
as Sully
James Olson
as General Franklin Kirby
Alyssa Milano
as Jenny
Bill Duke
as Cooke
Gary Cervantes as Diaz
Charles Meshack as Henriques

Popularity

This film solidified Schwarzenegger's place as a box-office star. It is considered by most to be Schwarzenegger's purest action film. There is less character development than in later roles, and a greater emphasis is placed on action. The film had a huge impact on the genre and has remained Schwarzenegger's most beloved cult film.

Trivia

The song that plays at the end credits is "We Fight For Love" by Power Station.
During the scene in the shed, after Matrix cuts the soldier's arm off, he was originally supposed to hit the victim with it and tell him to shut up. This scene was edited out as being too macabre.
Matrix kills approximately 150 people in Commando.
Following his success in the Conan movies and The Terminator (1984), producers realized that Arnold Schwarzenegger was becoming a household name. This was the first film in which he got true "top" billing: the name Schwarzenegger was placed at the top of the poster, above the title of the film. Almost every film he has starred in since has done the same.
Bennet's chain mails spawned a short lived west coast fad of males wearing similiar shirts.
A sequel was considered, but never filmed; Arnold Schwarzenegger, by his own admission, was not interested. (The only sequels which he has done are the Conan and Terminator films.) Commando II was rewritten and would later become Die Hard (1988).
John McTiernan was offered the chance to direct this film, and turned it down. Later, while editing Nomads (1986), his feature debut, he was offered the chance to direct Arnold Schwarzenegger's second film for 20th Century Fox, Predator (1987) , which he accepted.
The shopping mall used is the same one that was used in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, also starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. It is the same shopping mall from Fast Times At Ridgemont High: The Sherman Oaks Galleria.
Freddie Mercury was slated to play Bennett, but test markets thought he was too "girly", So Vernon Wells was subsituted because of his likeness and mustache growing and chain mail wearing ability.
The mansion used in the final shoot out between Matrix and Arius is the same mansion in the final shoot out between Axel Foley and Victor Maitland in Beverly Hills Cop (1984).
Vernon Wells (Bennett) originally auditioned for the role of John Matrix.
This movie was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Special Effects, but lost to Back To The Future.
In the scene aboard the plane, one of the flight attendants is actress Chelsea Field; this film is one of her early movies.
Steve Perry was originally was considered for the role of Bennett, but he was wrapping up work on his solo project.

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Movies - Commando

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