Commando (1985)

Director:

Mark L. Lester

Writers:

Jeph Loeb (story) &
Matthew Weisman (story) ...
(more)

Release Date:

4 October 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Comedy | Thriller

Tagline:

If there's a mission that no man could survive...then *he's* the man for the job.

Plot:

A retired elite commando has only a few hours to find and rescue his daughter from an exiled dictator.

Plot Keywords:

Airplane | General | Rescue | Commando | Assassination

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Arnold Schwarzenegger	...	John Matrix
Rae Dawn Chong	...	Cindy
Dan Hedaya	...	Arius
Vernon Wells	...	Bennett
James Olson	...	Major General Franklin Kirby
David Patrick Kelly	...	Sully
Alyssa Milano	...	Jenny Matrix
Bill Duke	...	Cooke
Drew Snyder	...	Lawson
Sharon Wyatt	...	Leslie
Michael Delano	...	Forrestal (as Michael DeLano)
Bob Minor	...	Jackson
Michael Adams	...	Harris (as Mike Adams)
Gary Cervantes	...	Diaz (as Carlos Cervantes)
Lenny Juliano	...	Soldier
Charles Meshack	...	Henriques
Chelsea Field	...	Western Flight Attendant
Julie Hayek	...	Western Flight Attendant
Hank Calia	...	Latin Man
Walter Scott	...	Cates
Greg Wayne Elam	...	Biggs (as Gregory W. Elam)
George Fisher	...	Mall Security Guard
Phil Adams	...	Officer in Galleria
Ava Cadell	...	Girl in Bed at Motel
Mikul Robins	...	Boy in Bed at Motel
Branscombe Richmond	...	Vega
Matt Landers	...	Fred
Peter DuPont	...	Daryl
Tom Simmons	...	Kirby's Driver
Bill Paxton	...	Intercept Officer
Richard Royce	...	Intercept Officer
John Reyes	...	Val Verde Heavy
Billy Cardenas	...	Val Verde Heavy
Edward Reyes	...	Val Verde Heavy
Vivian Daily	...	Woman Officer
Thomas Rosales Jr.	...	Young Guerrilla
Ronald C. McCarty	...	Guerrilla
Jim Painter	...	Police Officer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rick Sawaya	...	Island Guerrilla (uncredited)

Directed by
Mark L. Lester

Writing credits
Jeph Loeb		(story) (as Joseph Loeb III) &
Matthew Weisman		(story) and
Steven E. de Souza		(story)
Steven E. de Souza		(screenplay)

Produced by
Stephanie Brody	....	co-associate producer
Robert Kosberg	....	co-associate producer
Jeph Loeb	....	associate producer (as Joseph Loeb III)
Joel Silver	....	producer
Matthew Weisman	....	associate producer

Original Music by
James Horner

Cinematography by
Matthew F. Leonetti

Film Editing by
Glenn Farr
Mark Goldblatt
John F. Link

Casting by
Jackie Burch

Production Design by
John Vallone

Set Decoration by
Robert Gould

Makeup Department
Joe McKinney	....	makeup artist
William Turner	....	makeup artist
Joy Zapata	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Larry Kostroff	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
K.C. Colwell	....	second assistant director
Bennie E. Dobbins	....	second unit director
Karen Gaviola	....	dga trainee
Beau Marks	....	first assistant director (as Beau E.L. Marks)
Brad Yacobian	....	additional second assistant director

Art Department
Craig Baron	....	set dresser
William D. Derham	....	lead man
Bruce Di Valerio	....	propmaker foreman (as Bruce DiValerio)
Cal DiValerio	....	construction coordinator
Ron Esposito	....	construction painter
Douglas Forsmith	....	set dresser
Jaymes Hinkle	....	production painter
Nikita Knatz	....	production illustrator
Mark Lapotsky	....	greensman
Douglas E. Madison	....	property master (as Doug Madison)
Daniel Maltese	....	set designer (as Dan Maltese)
David Q. Quick	....	assistant property master (as David Quick)
John M. Schenk	....	assistant property master (as John Schenk)
Tom Shaw Jr.	....	assistant property master
William Boyd	....	construction foreman (uncredited)

Sound Department
Don J. Bassman	....	sound re-recording mixer (as Don Bassman)
Gary Bolger	....	foley recordist
Fred J. Brown	....	special sound effects (as Frederick J. Brown)
Kevin E. Carpenter	....	adr mixer (as Kevin Carpenter)
Kevin F. Cleary	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mike O. Corrigan	....	sound editor (as Michael Corrigan)
Richard Corwin	....	sound editor
Evelyn Dutton	....	foley artist
Jim Fitzpatrick	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby
William Hartman	....	sound editor
Craig Heath	....	sound recordist
Pieter Hubbard	....	sound editor
David M. Ice	....	sound editor (as David Ice)
Brent Johnson	....	cable person
Donald F. Johnson	....	production sound mixer (as Don Johnson)
Margie O'Malley	....	foley artist (as Margie Denecke)
Richard Overton	....	sound re-recording mixer
Glad Pickering	....	adr editor
Michelle Pleis	....	assistant sound effects editor
Hank Salerno	....	supervising adr editor
Ronald Sinclair	....	adr editor (as Ron Sinclair)
Gail Steele	....	foley artist (as Gail Ganley Steele)
Jules Strasser	....	boom operator
Tim Webb	....	sound re-recordist
Vic Zaslav	....	adr recordist

Special Effects by
Doug Hubbard	....	special effects
Gary L. King	....	special effects (as Gary King)
Jay King	....	special effects
Roger Lifsey	....	special effects
Bill Mattox	....	special effects
Henry Millar	....	special effects coordinator
Mike Millar	....	special effects
John Peyser	....	special effects
Rick Thompson	....	special effects (as Richard Thompson)

Visual Effects by
Jim Danforth	....	matte artist (uncredited)
Jim Danforth	....	matte photographer (uncredited)
Alan G. Markowitz	....	visual effects supervisor (uncredited)

Stunts
Michael Adams	....	stunts
Bruce Paul Barbour	....	stunts
Simone Boisseree	....	stunts
May Boss	....	stunts (as May R. Boss)
Jophery C. Brown	....	stunts (as Jophery Brown)
Tony Brubaker	....	stunts
Jerry Brutsche	....	stunts
Richard E. Butler	....	stunts
Roger Callard	....	stunts
Carl Ciarfalio	....	stunts
Vince Deadrick Sr.	....	stunts
Leon Delaney	....	stunts
Justin De Rosa	....	stunts
Nick Dimitri	....	stunts
Bennie E. Dobbins	....	stunt coordinator
Bennie E. Dobbins	....	stunts
Richard L. Duran	....	stunts
Stephanie Epper	....	stunts
Diamond Farnsworth	....	stunts
George Fisher	....	stunts
Buddy Gilyard	....	stunts
Sandra Lee Gimpel	....	stunts (as Sandra Gimpel)
Bob Harris	....	stunts
Johnny Hock	....	stunts (as John Hock)
Larry Holt	....	stunts
Jeff Jensen	....	stunts
Mike Johnson	....	stunts (as John M. Johnson)
Harold Jones	....	stunts
Steve Kelso	....	stunts
Kimberly King	....	stunts
Joel Kramer	....	stunts
William T. Lane	....	stunts
Lane Leavitt	....	stunts
David LeBell	....	stunts
Gary McLarty	....	stunts
Tom Morga	....	stunts
Jeff O'Haco	....	stunts
Jeff Ramsey	....	stunts
Larry Randles	....	stunts
Mario Roberts	....	stunts
Ronnie Rondell Jr.	....	stunts (as Ronnie Rondell)
Thomas Rosales Jr.	....	stunts
Rick Sawaya	....	stunts (as Rick Sawya)
Ben Scott	....	stunts
John Sherrod	....	stunts
Tony Snegoff	....	stunts
Frank James Sparks	....	stunts (as Frank J. Sparks)
Ceci Vendrell	....	stunts
Michael M. Vendrell	....	stunts
Greg Walker	....	stunts
Rock A. Walker	....	stunts (as Rock Walker)
Dick Warlock	....	stunts (as Richard Warlock)
Jerry Wills	....	stunts
Bob Yerkes	....	stunts (as Brayton W. Yerkes)
Peter Kent	....	stunt double: Arnold Schwarzenegger (uncredited)
Spiro Razatos	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Mark Averill	....	dolly grip
Lloyd Barcroft	....	best boy
Douglas E. Beal	....	second assistant camera (as Doug Beal)
Pat Blymyer	....	best boy (as Patrick Blymyer)
John Donnelly	....	second company grip
Bob Ellis	....	best boy electric
Robert Fiore	....	lamp operator
John R. Leonetti	....	first assistant camera
John J. Linder	....	key grip (as John Linder)
Bruce McBroom	....	still photographer
Tony Rivetti	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Michael St. Hilaire	....	camera operator
Edward R. Thompson Jr.	....	best boy electric (as Ed Thompson)
Frank D. Tobin	....	lamp operator (as Frank Tobin)
Joseph F. Valentine	....	Steadicam operator (as Joe Valentine)
Joseph F. Valentine	....	camera operator: "b" camera (as Joe Valentine)
Dave Wachtman	....	dolly grip (as David Wachtman)

Casting Department
David Gonzales	....	casting associate
Jim Green	....	extras casting
Carl Joy	....	extras casting
Billy DaMota	....	casting assistant (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Kathie Gale	....	costumer: women
Enid Harris	....	costumer
Robert B. Harris	....	costume supervisor (as Bob Harris)
Louis Infante	....	costumer: men (as Lou Infante)

Editorial Department
Paul Anderson	....	assistant film editor
Carrie Ellison	....	assistant film editor
Joseph Guresky	....	assistant film editor
Jack Hooper	....	negative cutter
David Jansen	....	apprentice film editor

Music Department
Thomas A. Carlson	....	assistant music editor (as Tom Carlson)
Raechel Donahue	....	vocal effects advisor
Danny Goldberg	....	special music consultant
Jay Gruska	....	music producer
James Horner	....	music producer
Greig McRitchie	....	orchestrator
Ken Runyon	....	music editor
Dan Wallin	....	music scoring mixer

Transportation Department
Whitey Ellison	....	transportation coordinator
Wayne Morris	....	transportation captain
James Nordberg	....	transportation (uncredited)

Other crew
Anthony Blake Brand	....	production assistant
Dennis Chase	....	craft service
Robert C. Decker	....	location manager (as Robert Decker)
John Gamble	....	helicopter pilot
Debbie Gaudio	....	assistant auditor
Larry Hand	....	production accountant
Paul Hibler	....	caterer
Fred Inman	....	police coordinator
Herb Johnson	....	pilot: Grumman Goose
Howard Keys	....	first aid
Anita Lerner	....	assistant: Arnold Schwarzenegger
Richard Liebegott	....	production coordinator
Andrew Lipschultz	....	publicity coordinator
Peter McKernan	....	helicopter pilot (as Peter McKernan Jr.)
Peter McKernan Sr.	....	helicopter pilot
Steve McNichols	....	production assistant
Lisa Meechan	....	production secretary
John Panzarella	....	location manager
Leslie Paonessa	....	assistant: Mark Lester
George Parra	....	apprentice location manager
Ross Reynolds	....	helicopter pilot
Ron Rotholz	....	assistant: Joel Silver
Jim Schurmann	....	head timer
Arlene Singer	....	teacher
Charles A. Tamburro	....	helicopter pilot (as Charles A. Tamburo)
Michael Tamburro	....	helicopter pilot (as Michael E. Tamburo)
Cliff Taylor	....	apprentice location manager
Mary Thomas	....	assistant: Joel Silver (as Mary C. Thomas)
Elaine K. Thompson	....	production associate
Marion Tumen	....	script supervisor
Michael M. Vendrell	....	martial arts specialist
Al Cerullo	....	helicopter pilot (uncredited)
Jack Crain	....	knife design/manufacturer (uncredited)
Charles A. Tamburro	....	aerial coordinator (uncredited)

Production Companies

• SLM Production Group
• Silver Pictures
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1985) (USA) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox (1986) (UK) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox of Germany (1986) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1988) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• Fox Film (1985) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (????) (USA) (laserdisc)
• 20th Century Fox (2007) (UK) (DVD) (The Definitive Edition)
• CBS/Fox Home Video (????) (New Zealand) (VHS) (original video release)
• CBS/Fox Video (1986) (Belgium) (video)
• CBS/Fox (USA) (laserdisc)
• Media Transfer International (1988) (Sweden) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (19??) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2003) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-Ray Disc)

Special Effects

• L.A. Effects Group (special visual effects)

Other Companies

• Central Casting  extras casting
• Cinema Catering  catering
• DeLuxe Laboratories  color
• L.A. Effects Group  live action inserts
• Pacific Title  opticals
• R/Greenberg Associates  titles
• Varèse Sarabande  score album released by

Runtime:

90 min | 92 min (director's cut) | Sweden:75 min (video version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Germany:18 (re-release) (2001) (JK/SPIO) (uncut) | West Germany:18 (video premiere) (cut) | Italy:T (re-rating) | Italy:VM14 (orginal rating) | USA:R (certificate #27763) | Finland:K-15 (TV rating) (uncut) | Finland:K-16 (cut) (1992) | Finland:K-18 (cut) (1985) | Australia:MA (Definitive Edition DVD) | France:-12 | Finland:K-18 (DVD rating) (cut) | Sweden:15 (video rating) | Sweden:(Banned) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:R (Manitoba) | New Zealand:R (re rating) (2009) | Australia:R | Finland:K-18 | Ireland:18 (cut UK version) | Netherlands:16 | New Zealand:M | Singapore:M18 | UK:18 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Norway:18 (video premiere) (1987) (cut) | Norway:(Banned) (1985-2003) (cinema release) | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

SLM Production Group

Trivia:

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.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Matrix swings across the mall, his face is obscured by his arms. However you briefly see the stuntman's face as he lands, before the camera cuts to show Matrix preparing to jump from the top of the elevator.

Quotes:

Matrix: Bennett! I thought you were...
Bennett: Dead? You thought wrong. Ever since you had me thrown out of your unit, I've waited to pay you back.
Bennett: Do you know what today is Matrix?... Pay day!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Still Standing: Still Reading (#1.2)" (2002)

Soundtrack:

WE FIGHT FOR LOVE

Absolute Perfection

"Commando" is undoubtedly Arnie's best. The movie begins with John Matrix's (schwarzenegger) daughter (alyssa milano) getting kidnapped. Basically Matrix has a little over 10 hours to save his daughter from an evil dictator, and in order to get her back, he has to take on a bunch of hoodlums, corrupt ex-Green Berets, and a small army.

The screenplay, by Steven E. deSouza, is a masterpiece. Granted, it's not brilliant along the lines of Shakespeare, but for an action movie, it's wonderful. Chock full of wit, deSouza never makes the mistake of having the movie take itself to seriously; he maintains an excellent balance of hardcore action while at the same time creating a lovely spoof of the action genre.

The acting is exactly how it should be for a movie of this genre. I'm a little bit tired of everyone saying "Arnie can't act" "he's such a bad actor" and so on. Obviously, actors such as Anthony Hopkins and Tom Hanks are better dramatic actors, but would any of us really want to see Sir Hopkins kicking the c**p out of almost one hundred people in a movie? i think not. Schwarzenegger plays Matrix wonderfully, delivering his lines with the right amount of wit and sarcasm, and delivering his punches fairly realistically.

See "Commando" if you like action movies. It won't fail to satisfy you. If, on the other hand, you are not a fan of action movies, don't expect this one to win you over.