Commando

"Somewhere, somehow, someone's going to pay."

1985 1h 30m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

🍅

70%

FRESH

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.7

IMDB

★6.8TMDB · 3,312🍅70%Rotten Tomatoes●51Metacritic★6.7IMDB · 185,993

ActionAdventureThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

John Matrix, the former leader of a special commando strike force that always got the toughest jobs done, is forced back into action when his young daughter is kidnapped. To find her, Matrix has to fight his way through an array of punks, killers, one of his former commandos, and a fully equipped private army. With the help of a feisty stewardess and an old friend, Matrix has only a few hours to overcome his greatest challenge: finding his daughter before she's killed.

“Somewhere, somehow, someone's going to pay.”

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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

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Mark L. Lester
Writers: Steven E. de Souza, Matthew Weisman, Jeph Loeb
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

90 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 5.8× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

41 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CAST

Did you know

250+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Mark L. Lester, shot by Matthew F. Leonetti. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by James Horner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor John F. Link shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rae Dawn Chong and Dan Hedaya carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Mark L. Lester directs. Matthew F. Leonetti behind the camera. James Horner scores. John F. Link cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

190 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Made its money back 5.8× over at the box office.
341 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4250+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
5Directed by Mark L. Lester, shot by Matthew F. Leonetti. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by James Horner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor John F. Link shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rae Dawn Chong and Dan Hedaya carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Somewhere, somehow, someone's going to pay.".
10IMDB entry: tt0088944 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 13 themes, including "daughter", "fight", "kidnapping", "mercenary".
12Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Matthew F. Leonetti
Original score: James Horner
Editing: John F. Link
Production design: John Vallone
Makeup / hair: Joe McKinney
VFX supervisor: Alan G. Markowitz
Sound: Kevin F. Cleary
Stunt coordinator: Bennie E. Dobbins
Runtime: 90 min · 1h 30m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $10,000,000
Box office: $57,500,000
Return: 575% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Commando (1985)
Rotten Tomatoes: 70% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 51/100
IMDB rating: 6.7/10 · 185,993 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

2 nominations total

Also by

Mark L. Lester

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Gimly2018-03-19
★ 6/10
Let the story, acting, stunt-work, script, cinematography, production value, and just about everything else all dribble away while you sit back and enjoy watching Arnie kill more than 80 antagonists in about 80 minutes. Final rating:★★★ - I liked it. Would personally recommend you give it a go.
John Chard2020-03-28
★ 7/10
I eat Green Berets for breakfast. And right now, I'm very hungry! Commando is directed by Mark L. Lester and written by Jeph Loeb, Matthew Weisman and Steven E. de Souza. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong, Dan Hedaya, Vernon Wells, James Olson, David Patrick Kelly, Alyssa Milano and Bill Duke. Music is by James Horner and cinematography by Matthew F. Leonetti. John Matrix (Schwarzenegger) is the former leader of a special commando strike force that always got the toughest jobs done. He is forced back into action when his young daughter (Milano) is kidnapped by kingpin criminal Arius (Hedaya) and his gang of thugs. They want Matrix to carry out an assassination, but all Matrix has on his mind is to save his daughter - he has half a day to do so before the thugs will kill her - so it's now a private war... After playing "Conan" and "The Terminator", Schwarzenegger slipped into a role that would prove to carry all the hallmarks of the big man's action movie career. Commando is awash with outrageous action, pure carnage and gruesome deaths, plenty of quippy one liners, and of course over the top villains. Clocking in at just 90 minutes in length, it's the perfect "leave the brain at the door" popcorn crowd pleaser. Chong gets a well written lead lady part, giving us a spunky heroine who evolves as the plot grows ever more chaotic, and young Milano gets to play a resourceful child character. High art it is not, but who cares if you want to just watch Arnie waylay a whole army on his own. Great fun. 7/10