Customer Reviews

Commando

5 star:		(122)
4 star:		(44)
3 star:		(32)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This is by far one of the greatest movies of the century. I can't believe what an awesome movie it is. It has no morals, no lessons to teach, no political statements, no coherence, and no sense whatsoever. When Schwarzenegger's beloved daughter is kidnapped by a psychotic dictator, he doesn't try to reason with the bad guys or take precautions like most action heroes would. He just goes bonkers and starts killing everyone in sight. The movie is packed with fantastic scenes such as Arnie crashing a car at about 80 mph, without a seatbelt, and being perfectly fine, Arnie tearing a phone booth out of a wall, Arnie punching a guy through a wall, etc. It's gloriously entertaining.

Also, despite his reputation for bad acting, he delivers all his lines with perfect comic timing ("Let off some steam, Bennett"). Bennett is also a great character, but no match for Arnold. You'd have to be completely devoid of personality to not find this at least slightly entertaining.

This is my favorite film of all time, hands down. Buy it, don't think about it. It will be the greatest investment you ever make for an action flick of the 80's.

10/10 stars. Seriously.

If you think you've seen Commando before on DVD then you're gonna pass on this one, right?

WRONG!

This guilty pleasure is one of my all-time favorite testosterone pumping 80's Ahnuld action flicks chock full of some of the most memorable and hilariously over-the-top one-liners ever assembled in a single Schwarzenneger film with an exhaustive body count tally of 81 confirmed kills. Now it's finally getting the UNRATED Director's Cut treatment it deserves so we can see even more of the Governator at his macho 80's Republican finest.

The Commando Director's Cut DVD features the original 90-minute theatrical film and restores 96 seconds of mostly graphic violent shots that were trimmed to garner the film an R rating in this never-before-seen unrated version as envisioned by director Mark L. Lester restored back into the film via seamless branching. Additional DVD special features include director audio commentary, 3 deleted scenes which have not been added back into the film, two behind-the-scenes featurettes, photo galleries and more.

Special Features:

Commando Director's Cut is presented in widescreen (1.85:1 aspect ratio) with English 5.1 Dolby Digital and Dolby Surround audio, Spanish Mono, French Stereo plus French and Spanish subtitles.
Bonus content includes:

* Seamlessly branched Director's Cut with never-before-seen footage
* Audio commentary by director Mark Lester (on theatrical version only)
* Deleted Scenes
* Pure Action featurette
* Let Off Some Steam featurette
* Photo galleries with over 150 images
- Creating Commando
- Domestic Bliss with John and Jenny
- Kill Arnold, Kill!
- Trashing the Galleria

Don't deprive yourself of some pleasure. Come on, Bennett... let's party!

Arnold Schwarzenegger is Col. John Matrix, recently retired from some sort of military special-ops career (in which he was, of course, the best there was), and now living in a cabin in the hills with his little girl (Alyssa Milano). She'll be crushed if he has to go back into action again, and he promises he won't. But somebody is killing the members of his old unit one by one, and they may be coming for him next.

Sure enough, not long into the film, his daughter has been kidnapped. And the bad guys explain that they'll return her if he'll just perform one teeny-tiny little assassination . . .

That's the setup; the rest of the plot consists primarily of Arnold kicking a$$. That's what you wanted to see, isn't it? If not, skip this film.

But if you like this sort of thing -- as, obviously, I do -- _Commando_ will be one of your favorites (if it isn't already). Would you like to see Arnold 'drive' a sabotaged pickup truck by shoving it down a mountain and hopping in? Disembark from a jet aircraft while it's taking off? Pick up a phone booth while it's got a bad guy in it? Deliver classic lines like 'I'll be back' and 'Trust me'? Do all of the foregoing while whomping the behinds of some unambiguously evil bad guys? This is your movie.

The major villain -- Bennett, played by Vernon Wells -- looks and sounds as though he'd accidentally wandered into the set still in costume from _The Road Warrior_ (in which he played Wez). But you weren't watching this for its gritty realism, were you?

Rae Dawn Chong is in it too, as the 'feisty stewardess' that appears in so many of these films (see Halle Berry in _Executive Decision_ for one of the more recent). She gets a few of the good lines, and she even gets to fire a rocket launcher.

But the show belongs to the Gubernator. This is classic Schwarzenegger.

EVERYONE loved COMMANDO. And what's not to love? Definitely dated, this still stands up as an exciting, entertaining film. Arnold Schwarzenegger, hot from his stint as Conan and fresh from his role as the Terminator one year before, cemented his status as THE action hero for the next decade, starring in such similar fare as RAW DEAL, PREDATOR, and RUNNING MAN, and ultimately parodying himself in 1993's LAST ACTION HERO. A non-stop, over-the-top, excessively violent film, COMMANDO also introduced the world, previously only graced with "I'll be back," to a whole slew of Arnie-isms, e.g., "Don't disturb my friend, he's dead tired" and "Let off some steam."

As Col. John Matrix, Arnold has retired from the hectic life of a military killing machine. Happy with his life in the wilderness, he spends his days cutting down trees and spending quality time with his daughter (dig the title sequence montage in which the gentle giant feeds a fawn by hand). Not even fifteen minutes into the film, however, paradise crumbles as Matrix's comrade-turned-enemy kills all of his former unit and kidnaps his daughter in an attempt to force Matrix to assassinate a third-world leader so that wannabe dictator General Arius (so hilariously poorly portrayed by Dan "Nick Tortelli" Hedaya) can take control. The fast pace never lets up - though Matrix has eleven hours to complete his assignment, we, thankfully, are privy to only 90 minutes of compressed chaos. And what a terrible, wonderful hour and a half it is.

Bad acting, bad wardrobe, and an absolutely unbelievable premise are all easily ignored as our eyes glaze over and we watch, delighted, the body count grow by the second. Arnold kills everyone to save his daughter. EVERYONE. Bad guys, policemen, mall security guards, EVERYONE. He shoots them, he snaps their necks, he runs them over with cars, he explodes them with a rocket launcher, he impales them on furniture and pitchforks, he drops them from cliffs, he dismembers them with machetes, axes and circular saw blades, cracking wise all the way while keeping a straight face. COMMANDO is the kind of fun film they simply do not make anymore. Excessive, but not grisly, and completely devoid of any overbearing social commentary, COMMANDO is simply pure entertainment. The DVD looks crisp and sounds magnificent - rich colors, deep, dark blacks, and many, many LOUD explosions. Order a pizza, buy a six-pack, turn off your brain, and turn up the volume.

Long before Vin Diesel started doing mainstream PG-13 crowd pleasers, Arnold Schwarzenegger did quite a number of films that were so laughably bad but you couldn't help but love them. Commando is one of them, and the premise is so godforsaken ridiculous you'll be laughing the whole time, but you can't help but love it. When Arnie's daughter (a very very young Alyssa Milano) is kidnapped by some of Arnie's ex military comrades, Arnie goes on a one man army killing spree to rescue her. We see Arnie take out the baddies (and a few cops and mall security guards) by shooting them, running them over, impaling them, slicing them up, and we can't forget the good 'ol rocket launcher now can we? A scene chewing Dan Hedya plays a chessily written villian whose intentions most viewers will ignore while watching all the over the top gratuitous violence that makes Commando such a great movie. XXX can't hold a candle to this or to any of Arnie's other greats (Running Man, Predator, and we can't forget Total Recall), and Commando is a popcorn movie all the way. So put your brain on hold, grab a sixer, and enjoy the gratuitous yet hilarious antics of one of the best action heroes of all time.

I am not judging the movie here. It is your typical action-Saturday-afternoon-cable-movie and its great at that. But the FIVE STARS are for the BLU RAY transfer. Unlike other BD transfers out there that are actually a rip off since those don't provide any DVD vs BLU RAY difference, the COMMANDO transfer is so good that you will feel you are watching a home made action film. Its like watching those stunt shows at Disney or Universal. This is the most closer to life you will experience Commando until a new superior format is available. It's a shame that the really great and award winning movies of the 80s have been object of such bad transfers.

Extra movie content...a couple of great featurettes (both informational and one is hilarious!)plus deleted scenes...and improved picture and sound...all at about $15..
YES YES YES...this is what Studios should be doing with their movies...
two thumbs up to this special edition. If you own the first edition, drop it off a cliff and buy the new version !

FIVE stars? YES. Because this is the one of the greatest "watch on a weekend afternoon" movies of all time. It's a film that, no matter what you're doing, causes you to stop and watch. It's tremendously entertaining, and it's lean - meaning there isn't a dull minute. If you're a fan of this, then it goes without saying: you must buy this. It has a good commentary (the director calls it his favorite movie he's made), the transfer is finally in anamorphic 16x9, the image quality is an improvement over the original dvd, and it comes with more extras. As for the director's cut, anyone who's well-versed in the theatrical version will pick up on extended bits of dialogue and gore. At long last, "Commando" gets the special treatment.

When we take a minute to reflect on great film-making we often think of men like Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather), Orson Welles (Citizen Kane), and Steven Speilberg (Saving Private Ryan). If we were to compare film-making to religion the previously mentioned men could be looked at as figures such as Jesus, Muhammed, and and even Buddah. Many would agree, but the question would still remain, Who is GOD himself? Well I have the answer, Mark L. Lester. Lester has earned the right to call himself a GOD, if not THE GOD of film-making, after his masterpiece Commando. The movie is hands down top 10 of all time. I will not go into a movie summary because to appreciate a masterpiece of this caliber you must view it for yourself without any expectation, hype, or bias. I have not looked at the world the same ever since the experence of Commando, it is truly a life changing, uplifting, inspiring story. Whenever I am feeling down I take a moment and think, What am I so down about? I could be trapped on a remote island with armed men numbering in the tens of thousands trying to kill me, a highly traind mercenary hunting me, a missing 10 year old daughter, no backup or help whatsoever, and all i have to defend myself is a few garden tools. I then take a deep breath, smile, and push on knowing that someday the world will appreciate Mark L. Lester for the Genius that he has created.

For sheer, mindless mayhem, it's tough to beat "Commando." Just how many people does Ahnuld blow away...60? 70? 80? I lost count at 50.

Schwarzenegger plays Matrix (gotta love the name), an ex-Special Forces guy with a soft touch for his cute little kid (Alyssa Milano, before she hit puberty) and a way with weapons. Any weapons. Whether it's a rifle, knife, grenade, steam pipe, or common household tool (circular saw blades!!!), Matrix uses it to fell entire legions of men singlehandedly.

Just don't tell the LAPD he's back in town. They might want to talk to him about a couple of murders (one of which was witnessed!), carjacking, kidnapping, breaking and entering (with a Caterpillar tractor!!!), grand theft auto, about 100 counts of reckless driving, and, oh yes...using a rocket launcher to blow up a paddy wagon.

There's also the federal beefs, such as jumping off an airborne jumbo jet with no parachute. And the State Department might want to ask him why he decided to singlehandedly decimate the standing army of a foreign country.

But I digress...

It's all here...the classic Ahnuld one-liners ("Blow off some steam" is my favorite), entire armies of men who shoot millions of rounds at him (and all miss), and scenes of gratuitious muscle-flexing (don't think that rowboat scene happened by accident, folks).

What's not here, of course, is the intelligence, visual flair, and eye-popping special effects that made subsequent Schwarzenegger films like "Predator," "Total Recall," "Terminator 2," and "True Lies" something more than a mindless (but fun) moviegoing exercise.

But in its own way, "Commando," with its cheesy production values and continuity brain farts (the Porsche that fixed itself after being rolled comes to mind), plays far better than any of the bloated, by-the-numbers movies made after "True Lies."

The reason, of course, is Schwarzenegger himself. He's no Robert De Niro-we're talking about an actor whose best role was playing a robot-but few stars have his charisma. That's what separates "Commando" from competitors of its day (Chuck Norris movies like "Delta Force" come to mind), and makes it a winner 17 years later.