Commando (1985)
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A retired Special Forces colonel must go on a desperate mission to rescue his kidnapped daughter from a former comrade and a ruthless dictator.
The story
In upstate California, retired United States Army Special Forces colonel John Matrix is informed that his former unit has been attacked by mercenaries. The assailants invade his secluded mountain home and kidnap his young daughter, Jenny. Matrix is captured by the mercenaries, led by an ex-member of his team who betrayed him. He is taken before the commander, a former South American dictator named Arius, who demands Matrix perform a political assassination in the country of Val Verde in exchange for his daughter's safety. Realizing the danger, Matrix begins a desperate journey to locate and rescue Jenny before the villains can act.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After being kidnapped by mercenaries led by the traitorous Bennett, Colonel John Matrix is forced by the dictator Ernesto Arius to perform a political assassination in Val Verde. Matrix escapes a plane and begins a hunt for Arius's associates, including Sully and Cooke. He teams up with a flight attendant, Cindy, to track down the location of his daughter. After a series of violent encounters and a chase through a shopping mall, Matrix discovers that Jenny is being held on San Nicolas Island. He and Cindy fly to the island, where Matrix infiltrates Arius's villa, defeats his forces, and kills Arius. In the final confrontation, Matrix faces off against Bennett, eventually impaling him with a steam pipe. The film ends with Matrix declining an offer to rejoin his old unit, choosing instead to leave the island with Jenny and Cindy.
- First release year
- 1985
- Runtime (minutes)
- 90
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English; Spanish
- Directors
- Mark L. Lester
- Writers
- Steven E. de Souza · screenplay; Jeph Loeb · story; Matthew Weisman · story; Steven E. de Souza · story
- Cast and characters
- Arnold Schwarzenegger · Colonel John Matrix; Rae Dawn Chong · Cindy; Alyssa Milano · Jenny Matrix; Dan Hedaya · General Arius; Vernon Wells · Captain Bennett; James Olson · Major General Franklin Kirby; David Patrick Kelly · Sully; Bill Duke · Cooke
- Genres
- action
- Themes
- father-daughter relationship; retribution
- Tone and mood
- action-packed; humorous
- Setting
- Upstate California and the fictional country of Val Verde.
- Premise and plot tags
- action; chase; military; kidnapping
- Reception
- The film was a commercial success at the box office and received praise for its action sequences and humor, though critical reviews were mixed regarding its script and execution.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 70% · scale: percentage · review count: 40 critics; Metacritic · score: 51 · scale: 100 · review count: 7 critics
- Awards and nominations
- Saturn Award · Best Special Effects · nomination
- Production trivia
- The original script was about an Israeli soldier who had renounced violence.; The film was originally set to cost $8 million but ended up costing $10 million.; The film inspired several other action films including Strike Commando and Commando Squad.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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