Director: Mark L. Lester
Producer: Joel Silver
Writers: Jeph Loeb, Matthew Weisman, Steven E, De Souza
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong, Veernon Well, Dan Hedaya, James Olson, David Kelly, Alyssa Milano and Bill Duke
Released in late 1985 this hour and a half all action movie ... Read review
A massively underrated action thriller which kept Schwarzenegger occupied between ... more
blockbusters,Commandomay be one of the last shoot-out films ever to have real characters in it. Not, of course, that they're anything other than stereotypes, but they're ...
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In this early action classic that features his unique blend of thrills and offbeat humour, ... more
Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as retired Colonel John Matrix. The ex-head of a special commando strike team, he's forced back into action when his daughter (Alyssa...
A massively underrated action thriller which kept Schwarzenegger occupied between ... more
blockbusters,Commandomay be one of the last shoot-out films ever to have real characters in it. Not, of course, that they're anything other than stereotypes, but they're ...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
In this early action classic that features his unique blend of thrills and offbeat humor ... more
Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as retired Colonel John Matrix. The ex-head of a special commando strike team he's forced back into action when his daughter (Milano)...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Production Year: 1996 - Action/Adventure - Director: Tom Clegg - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Daragh O'Malley, Oliver Cotton, Jason Durr, Sean Bean, Allie Byrne
Production Year: 2003 - Action/Adventure - Director: Jonathon Mostow - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, Kristinna Loken, David Andrews
Production Year: 1964 - Action/Adventure - Director: Cyril Endfield - Original Language: English - Classification: Parental Guidance - Starring:Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, Ulla Jacobsson, James Booth, Michael Caine, Nigel Green
Production Year: 1995 - Action/Adventure - Director: Tom Clegg - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring:Sean Bean, Daragh O'Malley, Allie Byrne, Oliver Cotton, Emily Mortimer, Michael Cochrane
Advantages: action packed with a dollop of humour Disadvantages: dodgy Austrian accents...???
Director: Mark L. Lester
Producer: Joel Silver
Writers: Jeph Loeb, Matthew Weisman, Steven E, De Souza
Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong, Veernon Well, Dan Hedaya, James Olson, David Kelly, Alyssa Milano and Bill Duke
Released in late 1985 this hour and a half all action movie revolves around the personal life of an ex- American special forces soldier who simply wants an easy life… only certain people ... ...*BRIEF PLOT
Colonel John Matrix, (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger), is a retired special forces soldier who is living in the middle of no where with his daughter Jenny, (played by Alyssa Milano)
Unfortunately for Matrix his quiet little retirement is about to be shattered as his old unit are being eliminated by unknown forces… putting Matrix and his daughter in danger, involving a man named Bennett, an old friend from his past, ... more
Director: Mark L. Lester Producer: Joel Silver Writers: Jeph Loeb, Matthew Weisman, Steven E, De Souza Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong, Veernon Well, Dan Hedaya, James Olson, David Kelly, Alyssa Milano and Bill Duke
Released in late 1985 this hour and a half all action movie revolves around the personal life of an ex- American special forces soldier who simply wants an easy life… only certain people wont allow this.*BRIEF PLOT
Colonel John Matrix, (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger), is a retired special forces soldier who is living in the middle of no where with his daughter Jenny, (played by Alyssa Milano) Unfortunately for Matrix his quiet little retirement is about to be shattered as his old unit are being eliminated by unknown forces… putting Matrix and his daughter in danger, involving a man named Bennett, an old friend from his past, (played by Vernon Wells).
Jenny is kidnapped on the orders of a strange warlord, (played by Dan Hedava), who calls himself 'El Presidente'…so that Matrix will comply to the kidnappers demands, it is up to Matrix to find her and bring her back to safety… before the kidnappers realise what he is up to…? So with the help of a woman named Cindy, (played by Rae Dawn Chong), his new found friend, he sets about finding his daughter…
* IN CONCLUSION *
It is your typical Schwarzenegger muscle bound movie with many stunts and a lot of action…but only as the big man can do it… and get away with it of course. This was made a few years after his rather 'iffy' attempts at acting in the Conan farces and this one seamed to give him a leg up on his career as a competent actor…( of sorts), leading to many better quality movies such as Raw Deal(1986), the Running Man(1987), Total recall(1990) and the brilliant sequels to his 1984 movie, Terminator. (but there are some other not so good movie he has his name attached to as well). Schwarzenegger does tend to be in a class of his own with his rather unintentionally comical speaking and his very dodgy catchphrases which have made him a household name, (of sorts)…
Although it is a lot like many other action movies on the market, both then and now, it is well worth watching, if only for the slightly dodgy acting from the man with the long name… his wooden acting and rather strange accent really does make him one of a kind in his field… The story line is your basic 'ex-special forces soldier comes to the rescue of someone he knows', but it is told well enough, with many action packed scenes and some rather nasty looking villains indeed, creating some funny fight sequences throughout the movie. The all round action is good enough to keep the audience happy and the stunts are well choreographed, to a certain extent, making the movie run at a good enough pace to not become too boring.
In all it is what you expect from the ex Mr Universe come actor, having his unique stamp embedded throughout the entire movie… (but if you don't like him as an actor then that's down to you really… but I'd give this one a miss if that's the case).
* Would I recommend this..?
Yes I sure would. It is action packed, more or less from the start, although some may think the story takes some time to unfold, showing Schwarzenegger's muscles and power for the first few opening scenes… I mean, how many people do you know can carry a tree on there shoulders whilst whistling the stars and stripes to perfection…? Not many I guess… I know I'd struggle whistling the tune to start with…
Anyway, it is worth watching, if only for the comedy alone, (although it is not meant to be comical), and is well worth the fiver it cost from Amazon.co.uk…
Commando was first released in the UK in 1986, and was directed by Mark L Lester, and written by Jeph Loeb & Matthew Weisman. Commando is an action / thriller movie, and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead role. Among the other stars in the movie are a young Alyssa Milano, and also Rae Dawn Chong. The movie has a 18 certificate rating.
Colonel John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a retired special forces commando, living peacefully with his ... ...Californian mountains. Matrixs' tranquile life is turned upside down however, when his daughter is kidnapped and held captive by a former special forces colleague, who is now working for an exiled Latin American dictator named Arius (Dan Hedaya). In order to save his daughter's life, Matrix must assassinate the leader of the Arius's home country, so that he can reinstate himself as the country's new leader.
Matrix evades his captors, and manages ...
danmclovin 20.08.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Commando (DVD)
Advantages: Arnie, the cast, the action, the dialogue, the one liners, the plot.. Disadvantages: Arnie, the cast, the action, the dialogue, the one liners, the plot..
...The 'special' features offered with Commando ( the trailer and, erm that it) add to the final paradox of this movie. Pay £5 for something that's cheap and tacky but so incredibly entertaining.. if its you're kind of thing of course…
Otherwise steer clear of it like the plague.. ...
runningman77 11.08.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Commando (DVD)
Advantages: Arnie, voilence, guns, explosions etc. etc. etc. Disadvantages: Vernon Wells, Rae Dawn Chong.
...Let's cut to the chase. Commando is not a high brow movie by any stretch of the imagination. Schwarzenegger only shines during the action sequences when he's mowing down legions of punks and scumbags. The main villain, Bennett, is the campest hard man villain I've ever seen in an action movie (the leather trousers and Village People 'tache don't help), but like a lot of Schwarzenegger's films from the 80s, that's part of the enjoyment.
As Arnie's ... ...enjoys complicated plot twists, weird camera angles, foreign language/subtitled films or maybe even some "worthy" storyline then Commando is not for you. If you like the idea of an ex-bodybuilder actor with a crap accent blowing the bejesus out of all and sundry, then Commando is most definitely for you. ...
TheDuke 30.03.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Commando (DVD)
Advantages: Arnie, oh yeah, and the rest of the film Disadvantages: Very simple, although this is not necessarily bad
...was Red Sonja to make Commando in the same year, 1985. This time, the actor has a bit more of a speaking part, and we actually find out the big man can speak the language, quite well in fact, even enough to add a little humour into the proceedings. Commando was the first of Arnie's roles to combine a bit of humour with all out action, and was to become a trademark of many of his films.
The Plot
Retired Special Forces Colonel John Matrix has left ... ...with his daughter Jenny. Not so muc luck. Members of Matrix's former unit are being killed off, and one of them, Bennett, is responsible in part. Working for a man named Arius, a military rebel leading a coup in his own country, Bennett kidnaps Jenny and threatens to kill her unless Matrix performs an assassination for Arius. Matrix agrees, getting on a plane with one of Bennett's men to go do the job. He escapes, killing his guard and jumping out, ...
pmcds 10.06.2008
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Commando (DVD)
Advantages: Ah-nuld laying waste to armies, without incurring serious injury Disadvantages: One of the most camp villians ever...or is that an advantage?
...demise of the heroes enemies. Commando needs a plot like a firecracker needs to be silent to work but I'll explain it nonetheless.
John Matrix ( Schwarzenegger ) a retired super soldier, who's seemingly put his days of mass slaughter for his countries freedom behind him, lives in peace with his young daughter Jenny. Unfortuntely a patriots job is never done when scum lurks at every corner. A bunch of villians capture the one thing keeping him from ... ...some sort of dark magic, commando manages to remain a classic for its action scenes and our memories forgive every sin it commits even relishing them. Once Matrix starts the pain, it never stops. Eventually an entire army of nameless foes fall prey to thousands of rounds of ammunition. Does "Ah-nuld" get a scratch, does he hell. Everything around him gets blown to hell, including countless innocent flower pots and vases. Its wrong to love such things ...
num13er 18.12.2005 (19.12.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Commando (DVD)
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Advantages: 3 good films in 1 Disadvantages: -----
Having seen all these films i think that a combination of 3 of the best schwarzenegger films is a great gift for ay occasion. In the terminator ( the 1st of the so far trilogy) schwarzenegger is the bad guy ( a robotic man) who is out to kill the mother of the yet to be born hero.
In predator, a team of army personels go throught the jungle after some people who were mystiriously killed. when in the jungle an out of the world creater attacks them.
In commando, schwarzenegger's family have been kidnapped and he has to go in and save them. He did not want to go in though because he used to be in the army but quit to look after his family instead. ...
Advantages: Lots Of Shooting, Good Special Effects and passable acting Disadvantages: Awful song at the end
. The descision is made for them by Silvera however as he shoots down the plane in order to discredit Carasco. Losing support Carasco with the help of a Priest has one last attempt to bring about the fall of the President. Together the Carasco and the Priest infiltrate an oil refinery and destroy it(3rd SFX shot). In return for his assistance Carasco aggreed to help the Priest get his Villagers accross the border. This leads to the final battle with Silvera and a hilarious end where Silvera single handidly manages to kill more of the resistance in 5 minutes than the whole army did through out the movie.
In short Commando Leopard is a reasonable action movie that could pass a rainy afternoon. The acting from Collins and Kinski is at there usual high standard with good support from John Steiner. The rest of the foreign cast however dont match up to ...
Advantages: A worthy sequel to a great original movie. Disadvantages: How can the same s**t happen to the same guy ??
by Renny Harlin, after John McTiernan had to pull out due to prior commitments. Prior to this movie, Harlin had little experience as director, with "A Nightmare On Elm Street 4" his biggest movie. Fortunately, this film allowed him to show what he was capable of acheiving, and proved a huge success. Following this movie, he then went on to direct hits such as "The Long Kiss Goodnight", "Deep Blue Sea" and "Cliffhanger".
The movie was based upon a book called "58 Miuntes", by Walter Wager. Originally, it is rumored that this screenplay was to be a sequel to "Commando", starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. This is backed up by the fact that General Esperanza came from Valverde - a fictious Latin-American country used in Commando.
The DVD:
This DVD is presented in a cardboard outer sleeve, and contains two discs. The outer package is well ...
Interactive Menus, Scene Access, Original Theatrical Trailer
Aspect Ratio
16:9 Wide Screen
Sound
Dolby Digital 2.0
Dubbing Sound
Dolby Digital 2.0 English
Professional reviews
Review
"...Chong lights up the film like a firefly, Schwarzenegger delivers a certain light touch of his own..." (Variety, 09/10/1985)
DVD Description
After his daughter (Alyssa Milano) is kidnapped by a South American dictator, retired Army Colonel John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger), once the leader of a special commando strike force, swings into violent action.
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