Released in 1985 and directed by Mark L. Lester, Commando has become one of the defining action movies of the decade, mostly because it embraces excess without hesitation. It is loud, ridiculous, and built almost entirely around Arnold Schwarzenegger mowing through an army of villains. That kind of unapologetic action has its charm, but it also means the film lacks the depth and polish of Arnold’s stronger work.
Arnold stars as Colonel John Matrix, a retired Special Forces soldier living quietly with his daughter Jenny until she is kidnapped by mercenaries. They want him to assassinate a foreign leader, and naturally Matrix decides instead to destroy everyone involved. The setup is simple, almost too simple, and while that keeps the pace moving, it also makes the story feel thin compared to films like Predator or The Terminator.
Schwarzenegger is still the main reason the movie works. His physical presence alone sells John Matrix as a one man army, and his confidence makes even the most ridiculous moments entertaining. He delivers the one liners exactly the way audiences wanted in the eighties, and that charisma carries scenes that otherwise would have very little weight.
The problem is that Matrix himself is not a particularly layered character. Unlike Dutch in Predator or even the machine like mystery of The Terminator, there is not much complexity here. He is basically a force of destruction with a daughter to rescue. That is enough for an action film, but it keeps Commando from reaching something greater.
Alyssa Milano plays Jenny, and while her role gives Matrix emotional motivation, she mostly exists as the plot device that keeps the movie moving. Rae Dawn Chong as Cindy adds some humor and energy, but again, the supporting characters are functional rather than memorable.
The villains are a mixed bag. Dan Hedaya as Arius is forgettable, but Vernon Wells as Bennett is impossible to ignore. Bennett is bizarre, over the top, and somehow both ridiculous and memorable at once. He feels like a comic book villain dropped into a military action movie, and while that makes him entertaining, it also adds to the film’s strange uneven tone.
Director Mark L. Lester keeps the pacing fast, which is probably the smartest choice. The movie barely stops to breathe, and if it did, the weaknesses in the writing would become even more obvious. Instead, it races from one action sequence to the next, relying on momentum to keep the audience engaged.
The final assault sequence is where the film fully becomes what people remember. Matrix storms an island compound and basically turns into a one man war machine. It is absurd, unrealistic, and undeniably fun, but it also crosses into cartoon territory. Whether that works depends entirely on what you want from an action movie.
Compared to Arnold’s best films, Commando feels more like a pure guilty pleasure than a true classic. Predator had tension and atmosphere. The Terminator had originality and menace. Total Recall had ambition and weirdness. Commando mostly has explosions and one liners.
That does not make it bad. In fact, it is very entertaining if you accept it for what it is. It understands that the audience came to watch Arnold break things and throw out memorable lines, and it delivers exactly that without apology.
The issue is that it rarely tries to be more than that. There is very little suspense because Matrix feels unstoppable from the beginning. There is little emotional depth because the relationships are mostly surface level. The film is fun, but it is never truly gripping.
Over time, Commando has earned cult status because it represents eighties action at its most exaggerated. It is a time capsule of that era, where bigger explosions and bigger muscles were often enough. That gives it nostalgic value, even if it does not make it great cinema.
In the end, Commando is definitely worth watching, especially for fans of Arnold and old school action movies. It is entertaining, fast, and full of memorable absurdity. But it sits well below Schwarzenegger’s best work because it never rises above its own simplicity.
It is a fun ride, not a masterpiece. Sometimes that is enough, but it is important to recognize the difference.