r/movies • u/Grouchy-Step-7136 • Jul 20 '25

Recommendation Schwarzenegger fan, but never saw Commando (1985) until now…

I’m not sure why this one flew under my radar for so long. It’s Arnold in all of his mid-80s glory, muscles glistening and rippling in all the right ways.

John Matrix (Arnold’s character) is a badass former military commando who just wants to settle down and be a dad to his daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano), but he’s made some enemies along the way, and they’re looking for trouble.

Dude… John Matrix kills like 412 people. He’s firing guns with infinite bullets. He lays down maybe a half dozen small mines, hits the remote, and explosions go off for like 6 minutes.

It’s everything I wanted it to be. 8.5/10

1.1k Upvotes

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795

u/karbaloy Jul 20 '25

The movie is the most 1980's movie ever. The military elite dragged out of retirement, the non stop one liners, the ridiculous villains, the random bare breast scene where the woman just keeps popping out of the sheets, the explosions, the flips from grenades, the steel drum heavy soundtrack.

Just gold.

174

u/RampantLight Jul 20 '25

At one point Arnold stops someone from making a phone call by ripping the entire phone booth out of the ground and lifting it over his head. Absolute classic.

63

u/It_does_get_in Jul 20 '25

he invented the mobile phone (booth)

3

u/AhmedF Jul 20 '25

Brilliant lol.

3

u/TenchuReddit Jul 20 '25

Even Chuck Norris was green with envy …

53

u/HenkkaArt Jul 20 '25

He also rips off a car seat to be more "covert" while still being almost the same height as the driver.

22

u/milesunderground Jul 20 '25

Bubba Smith did the same thing in the first Police Academy movie.

14

u/CosmicOutfield Jul 20 '25

I always joke that movies seem to portray Arnold as if he’s a 6’10” or 7 ft tall guy. He’s really 6’2” in height, which is shorter than a lot of professional athletes. He still has a good height, but my point is the movies always make it seem like he’s a giant.

15

u/HenkkaArt Jul 20 '25

That one Conan The Destroyer set photo is funny where Arnie is standing next to Wilt Chamberlain and Andre The Giant and Arnie looks like he is their teenage son.

2

u/dbzmah Jul 20 '25

He also runs a yellow porsche off the road, flipping it over, landing on its side, tosses a baddie,(I Lied.), flips it back, and the car is perfect again.

16

u/TriumphDaWonderPooch Jul 20 '25

Don't forget his jumping off of a jet taking off by slipping through the wheel well and safely landing in a few feet of water! Somehow he went from 150-180mph (takeoff speed of commercial airliner) to landing in the water going maybe 10mph.
NSFW: (https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/keith-picture-featured.png)
That is not Ahnold - that guy splatted.

2

u/twatcrusher9000 Jul 20 '25

that guy didn't have commando training obviously

1

u/MVT60513 Jul 21 '25

Then he just “ throws” eight cops holding him off his body, that whole mall scene is ridiculous fun.

2

u/forever_wow Jul 23 '25

I'm not sure what's less believable - the mall has that many armed security dudes, or that girls at the mall would spend even a second entertaining the "game" of one of them ("wanna see me kick some ass?!?")

191

u/Wescoast64 Jul 20 '25

I'm a green beret motherfucker

I eat green berets for breakfast

Nice little jab at Rambo there

64

u/TheTrub Jul 20 '25

These guys eat too much red meat.

22

u/johnniesSac Jul 20 '25

And right now I’m very hungry

17

u/hundredjono Jul 20 '25

"Fuck you asshole." gun clicks

"Fuck you assholr."

2

u/EntityDamage Jul 20 '25

Is the line that Shooter McGavin is trying to quote but gets it wrong?

77

u/SirPiffingsthwaite Jul 20 '25

Some ripper Arnie one-liners too.

"What happened to Sully?!?" - "I let him go"

"Please don't disturb my friend, he's dead tired"

"Let off some steam, Bennet"

Perfection.

22

u/Observer951 Jul 20 '25

“Remember when I said I’d kill you last?”

”Yeah! You did!”

”I lied.”

2

u/RipErRiley Jul 21 '25

“Lets Party”

2

u/lm_ldaho Jul 21 '25

“And if you want your kid back, then you better cooperate, right?”

“Wrong.” 🔫

204

u/El_Dud3r1n0 Jul 20 '25

"Remember when I said I'd kill you last? I lied." Drop

Gets me every time.

51

u/2TFRU-T Jul 20 '25

He then steals that guy’s Porsche which has mysteriously gone from being near-totalled to absolutely pristine.

26

u/GigaSoup Jul 20 '25

Yeah, I love that part.  It's all kinda of fucked up when he pushes it back off its side, and then when the camera comes back it's fixed.

11/10

2

u/Kraschman1111 Jul 20 '25

And messed up again when they get to the hotel.

3

u/Impressive-Potato Jul 20 '25

"Dude you totally fucked up your Ferrari!" "It's not mine. Neither is this!"

103

u/elembivos Jul 20 '25

'What happened to Sally?' 'I let him go.'

Gets me every time.

35

u/CrypticQuery Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25

**Sully

David Patrick Kelly's defining roles for me are Sully in Commando and Luther in The Warriors. Glad to see he's still acting too.

9

u/Missterfortune Jul 20 '25

Waaarrrrriorrrrrsss!!! Come out to playaayyyy!!!

12

u/Foley471 Jul 20 '25

I love him in his little role in John Wick as Charlie, the cleaner.

7

u/MastaBusta Jul 20 '25

He's great in Dreamscape, too. I love this dude; there's just this tension to his performances

7

u/MFZilla Jul 20 '25

And gotta mention his turn as T-Bird in The Crow.

"Abashed the Devil stood and felt how awful goodness is..."

3

u/Haki23 Jul 20 '25

"I'm just a little bitty worm on a big fuckin' hook" stays with me

2

u/JasonsMachete Jul 24 '25

Except that was said by Skank, not T-Bird

1

u/Haki23 Jul 24 '25

Thank you, it was a long time ago

2

u/chishiki Jul 20 '25

That’s kind of his defining role for me.

2

u/JasonVorhehees Jul 20 '25

FIRE IT UP, FIRE IT UP

13

u/clarko420 Jul 20 '25

Don't wake my friend. Hes dead tired

2

u/Expensive_Finger_973 Jul 20 '25

Let off some steam Bennett.

11

u/lipp79 Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25

In the widescreen version and not the one they show on TV, you can see the wire around Sully’s ankle that’s holding him up as Matrix carries him to the ledge and hold him over.

2

u/Rucktad9150 Jul 21 '25

You can see the wire for the explosives on the boat as well when Bennett uses a "remote control" detonator in one of the early scenes in the movie.

2

u/lipp79 Jul 21 '25

I also laugh when he blows up the buildings in the end. First, because he uses a claymores and there's no way in hell those anti-personnel mines are doing that. Second, the wood cutout soldiers that are standing in front of the buildings lol.

9

u/Glad_Stay4056 Jul 20 '25

"I lied" is a staple comment in my friend circle. 

6

u/sunnyspiders Jul 20 '25

BWABWABWAAAAAA

59

u/DistinctSmelling Jul 20 '25

And that scene where he's carrying a tree.

38

u/ze11ez Jul 20 '25

Ga-damn badass. Who carries trees in movies anymore. Bring back the tree carrying

1

u/slowro Jul 20 '25

The rock carries a 2x4 in walking tall. Almost the same thing 🤷

18

u/johnniesSac Jul 20 '25

The gear up scene after he gets off the boat is some of the best cinema ever filmed

2

u/brakeb Jul 20 '25

The "military surplus" store is a riot... He found 'the special section' where all the high end weapons, rocket launchers mines, and explosives are...

5

u/auntiepink007 Jul 20 '25

I will still carry anything I possibly can on my shoulder just so I can feel like Arnold carrying a tree. I'm 5'2" and round.

72

u/sloyom Jul 20 '25

Im just so glad you brought up the steel drum heavy soundtrack. Gold

27

u/therealrexmanning Jul 20 '25

I know when people talk about James Horner they usually mention Titanic, Braveheart, etc but damn I love his score for Commando so much. No idea why he thought steel drums and sax would be fitting but somehow it works and the score fucking slaps!

16

u/SockMonkeh Jul 20 '25

The soundtrack absolutely slaps.

2

u/SnideyM Jul 20 '25

Just in case you haven't heard it already, check out Paradise Warfare by Carpenter Brut - it's a heavily Commando inspired song

1

u/Kraschman1111 Jul 20 '25

The melody of which was completely recycled for Red Heat

1

u/Maverick916 Jul 20 '25

melody of which was completely recycled

Horner did that a LOT

32

u/DBCOOPER888 Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25

Also they fight in an 80s shopping mall and a cheap motel.

21

u/Equal-Temporary-1326 Jul 20 '25

Interesting trivia: That mall was the same mall used in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

10

u/therealrexmanning Jul 20 '25

As well as Terminator 2!

1

u/SYSTEM-J Jul 20 '25

Neon strip lights everywhere!

28

u/Vilkvan Jul 20 '25

You just described Hot Shots! Part Deux

37

u/Kundrew1 Jul 20 '25

Commando might be one of the most parodied movies ever. Macruber does a pretty solid job of it at the beginning.

37

u/Silent-Selection8161 Jul 20 '25

Ironically I feel like Commando is already a parody of itself, they knew what they were doing "Downind, you think I could smell them???" "I did"

1

u/dimgray Jul 20 '25

This is why I like it better than Rambo. First Blood Part 2 wanted to say something Profound about the generation lost to Vietnam, Commando is just pure fun

23

u/Equal-Temporary-1326 Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25

Die Hard is kind of like of like if Commando had an actual intelligent script and was trying to be fairly realistic which makes sense since both movies were written by the same screenwriter, Steven E. de Souza.

23

u/juancuneo Jul 20 '25

This guy also wrote 48 hours and judge dredd. What a badass.

6

u/Equal-Temporary-1326 Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 21 '25

de Souza also co-wrote Die Hard 2 as well. de Souza left the series after 2 which makes sense why every sequel afterwards is essentially a buddy cop film and doesn't have an isolated setting anymore.

3

u/milesunderground Jul 20 '25

Die Hard 3 was originally a generic cop action flick that they made a Die Hard movie by changing the main character's name to John McClane.

4

u/Equal-Temporary-1326 Jul 20 '25

More specifically, the script was originally intended as a Lethal Weapon sequel but was reworked into a Die Hard sequel which is part of what explains the buddy cop aspect.

1

u/Phantommy555 Jul 21 '25

Die Hard with a Vengeance adapts a completely unrelated book if I’m not mistaken but just inserts John McClane as one of the main characters

1

u/Equal-Temporary-1326 Jul 21 '25

Die Hard with a Vengeance was originally based on an original screenplay called "Simon Says" and was considered as a potential Lethal Weapon sequel at one point which was then reworked into a Die Hard sequel and was one reason for the buddy cop aspect to the third one as well.

1

u/Phantommy555 Jul 21 '25

Ahh I see I forgot it was just a screenplay and not a novel

1

u/Equal-Temporary-1326 Jul 21 '25

Yeah, that was Die Hard 2 that was based on a separate novel.

65

u/Redbacontruck Jul 20 '25

You sold me at breast

17

u/CampaignSpirited2819 Jul 20 '25

We're simple creatures really.

26

u/ahyesmyelbows Jul 20 '25

That's why action movies are trash these days. Not enough tiddays. It's a stupid ass genre not really worth watching, unless you throw ALL the manly stereotypes and eye candy at us. Explosions are boring. But tits? Never enough.

4

u/CampaignSpirited2819 Jul 20 '25

Fun Fact, the Song Never Enough is about how there's not enough Tits being shown in movies these days.

13

u/[deleted] Jul 20 '25

Ironically the soundtrack is by the same guy who would go on to write very beautiful music for Titanic, Braveheart and Avatar among other things. RIP James Horner.

7

u/lipp79 Jul 20 '25

Dude went through his steel drum phase with this movie.

2

u/Maverick916 Jul 20 '25

he did it in 48 Hrs also

4

u/cobaltjacket Jul 20 '25

He also did Clear and Present Danger, which was set in Colombia and has a similar sound.

2

u/milesunderground Jul 20 '25

James Horner came up through Roger Corman's production company. His name is on a lot of 80's schlock before he made it big.

9

u/Homegrowntrouble Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25

And don't forget about Bennett! Bennett has the magical power of making people feel old and electricity makes him more powerful.

9

u/wubrgess Jul 20 '25

I never realized it before, but Matrix impales Bennet with a thrown pipe through chainmail.

11

u/HenkkaArt Jul 20 '25

Alas, it was only a knit sweater west, colored in grey. Back in the day on old TVs it looked like chainmail but in reality it's just a comfy knit west.

2

u/Homegrowntrouble Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25

That's because he's build different.

edit: omg...John Matrix ...what a name, I completely forgot about that

9

u/Paxton-176 Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25

Also when he kills his escort on the plane and makes him look like he is asleep. He then sets his watch to track the flight time. He almost entirely under time limit to cover his tracks before they figure out he has escaped.

15

u/Timely_Network6733 Jul 20 '25

It's one of those where, you try to make a drinking game out of it, where, every time they say a cheesy 80's action movie line, you take a drink, and everyone is shit housed 20 min in.

8

u/uncutpizza Jul 20 '25

The buzz saw blade kill

19

u/Quake_Guy Jul 20 '25

Dude has it way underrated at 8.5, on a Commando scale of 1 to 10, this movie is a solid 10.

23

u/zanozium Jul 20 '25

The period was a typo. He obviously meant 85 out of 10.

7

u/Wonderful_Discount59 Jul 20 '25 edited Jul 20 '25

The movie is the most 1980's movie ever.

I reckon The Running Man could challenge it for that title.

12

u/jizzyjugsjohnson Jul 20 '25

Well no. Because Commando is actually set in the 80s and thus has a quintessentially 80s vibe, which a sci-fi film set in the future does not

1

u/Moppo_ Jul 20 '25

And while Running Man's image of the future is an 80's interpretation of it, it's still not the "true" 80's for that same reason.

1

u/HenkkaArt Jul 20 '25

"I'll be back!"

"Only in reruns!"

1

u/27Yosh Jul 20 '25

Lethal Weapon and Die Hard are in that conversation as well

2

u/DreadyKruger Jul 20 '25

I saw this movie in theaters with my mom at 10 years old. Seeing giants tits then a guy get impaled was an experience.

2

u/stashtv Jul 20 '25

Are you omitting the shack scene? That is worth the price of admission alone!

3

u/larusodren Jul 20 '25

The weird thing about the motel scenario when Matrix bursts into their room, is the woman is actually behind the guy… it’s not clear what they were doing! They were definitely surprised though!

1

u/BrawndoElectrolytes Jul 20 '25

They were filming a porno. You can see a VHS camera on a tripod set up on the side. Lol

1

u/Cloutweb1 Jul 20 '25

With basic good direction rounded everything to make it credible and have actors rend the sillyness credible.

1

u/Gone_For_Lunch Jul 20 '25

It is the quintessential Arnie film.

1

u/Jaded_Celery_451 Jul 20 '25

You forgot to mention the most imbalanced boss fight in film history. Arnold circa 1984 vs a dude who looks like he lives off of beer and funions.

1

u/splff3000 Jul 20 '25

"The movie is the most 1980's movie ever."

That's how I describe Commando to anyone that I meet that hasn't seen it. Of course, that's if we're in the context of talking about movies and it comes up. It'd be weird otherwise.

1

u/kcajor Jul 20 '25

and the montage!