- Title: Commando
- IMDb: link
Throwback Tuesday takes us back 40 years to perhaps the most Schwarzenegger movie Arnold Schwarzenegger ever made. More than 20 years before Taken, Schwarzenegger stars as retired Special Forces Colonel John Matrix. After a precredit sequence showing several other former soldiers killed, and a goofy credit montage showing Matrix living it up in the woods as a stay-at-home dad, Matrix’s daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano) is kidnapped by an old enemy (Dan Hedaya) and an old friend (Vernon Wells) who plan to blackmail Matrix into committing an assassination. Matrix, however, has other ideas and begins killing his way back to his daughter.
Unable to ask anyone for help, Matrix is on his own follows, and kills, a couple of henchmen (Bill Duke and David Patrick Kelly) to make his way back to Jenny. Along the way he’ll also rob an Army Surplus, beat up a dozen or so mall cops, and steal a plane. His only help is a stewardess (Rae Dawn Chong) who gets pulled into the situation, makes it immediately worse, and then choses to stick around and help. The original script, which was heavily rewritten, was turned in by Jeph Loeb who would go on to make a name for himself as a comic book writer and as a writer and producer for TV series such as Heroes and Lost.
While receiving mixed reaction from critics, the film was a box office hit playing on its simple premise, heavy action, and a number of Schwarzenegger one-liners all leading to Matrix invading the island compound, killing the remaining baddies (racking up an estimated 81 kills before all is said and done), and rescuing his daughter. It unapologetically checks all the boxes for an 80s action movie.
Although a script was written for a sequel, Schwarzenegger declined leaving us bereft of any further adventures of John Matrix and family. We’ll just have to settle for this 80s action orgy, with minimal plot as to not get in the way of the next actions sequence, which still brings the fun even four decades later. It’s not Schwarzenegger’s best, but it’s a straightforward action flick with enough humor and explosions (even if some have aged better than others), while still providing a ticking clock element to create tension, that makes it one of his most rewatchable.
Watch the trailer
