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Commando

Play trailer Poster for Commando R 1985 1h 30m Action Play Trailer Watchlist
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68% Tomatometer 38 Reviews 68% Popcornmeter 100,000+ Ratings
Retired Special Forces soldier John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger) lives with daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano) in isolation, but his privacy is disturbed by former commander Franklin Kirby (James Olson), who warns him that his fellow soldiers are getting killed one by one. After Kirby leaves, Jenny is kidnapped by former Latin American dictator Arius (Dan Hedaya), who wants Matrix to restore him to power. Instead, Matrix sets out to take down the rogue leader and rescue his daughter.
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Commando

Commando

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Critics Consensus

The ultimate '80s Schwarzenegger movie, replete with a threadbare plot, outsized action, and endless one-liners.

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Critics Reviews

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Dave Kehr Chicago Reader Comic book stuff, helped out by the presence of Rae Dawn Chong as an airline stewardess whose sarcastic commentary adds some comic counterpoint to the deliberately overscaled action. Sep 18, 2007 Full Review Variety Staff Variety Chong lights up the film like a firefly, Schwarzenegger delivers a certain light touch of his own, [and] the result is palatable action comics. Sep 18, 2007 Full Review Trevor Johnston Time Out Lots of machine-gunfire, explosions and disposable khaki-clad extras, as you'd expect. Jun 24, 2006 Full Review Eddie Harrison film-authority.com ...there’s no real surprises as to how John Matrix’s mission goes in Commando, but there’s are high-points for sure...what’s notable here apart from the slick action is the comedy, which replaced the toughness in the star’s later vehicles... Rated: 4/5 Jun 9, 2025 Full Review Don Shanahan Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast Editing in action movies is underrated and this one is some of best and tightest you'll find. Nov 16, 2024 Full Review Yasser Medina Cinefilia As an action film, it decently collects a handful of clichés for Schwarzenegger to do his thing by arming himself with machine guns and one-liners, but somehow the adrenaline decreases with each body count. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 6/10 Jul 6, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Jerod S Schwarz is retired but as buff as ever. Horrible one liners and really bad explosions and gun scenes make one big 80s blast. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 09/20/25 Full Review Jonathan N Spoilers: go watch before you read this review. This movie is very cheesy. Even the dialogue and one-liners are eye-rollingly cheesy. I guess there is lots of "action" and if you like watching people really fakely getting shot en mass, then perhaps this is your jam. I generally found the pacing pretty good, but just the whole movie was not that entertaining to me. I guess you pretty well know what's going to happen at about the 10 minute mark. This movie does deliver exactly what you think is going to happen. I will file this under "mundane" and move on with my life. No, I don't recommend you waste your time watching this unless you like watching people get "shot" over and over again. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/11/25 Full Review Jason H It's cheesy, it knows it's cheesy, and it takes great pride in being cheesy. Arnold shoots, stabs, punches, scalps, blows up, and impales about 206 people in this movie. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/06/25 Full Review Stefano T In its own genre (ignorant action movie packed with violence and Hollywood one-line jokes) it's absolutely one of the best movies ever. Also, there is Schwarzenegger at his peak physique. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/03/25 Full Review David W This is so quintisentially eighties just watching it transports me back to those great days again. Utterly daft but ridiculously entertaining one man army nonsense of the highest order. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 08/09/25 Full Review Patrick C What a marvellous film. For those of my generation, you can forget THE Matrix and all that tosh. It will always be JOHN MATRIX for us. A heartwarming tale of the lengths a man will go to to protect his beloved daughter, lengths often involving violent cushion attack, dropping people off cliffs, impaling them, blowing them up with rocket launchers, peppering them with machine guns and finding novel ways to smoke a pipe. A tremendous climactic scene involving a tête-à-tête with a butch Australian with an iconic moustache, this is fun for all the family. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 07/24/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Commando

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Cast & Crew

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Mark L. Lester

Director

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Colonel John Matrix

Rae Dawn Chong

Cindy

Dan Hedaya

Arius

Vernon Wells

Bennett

David Patrick Kelly

Sully

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Commando

Arnold Schwarzenegger as John Matrix in Commando. Commando (1985) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Retired Special Forces soldier John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger) lives with daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano) in isolation, but his privacy is disturbed by former commander Franklin Kirby (James Olson), who warns him that his fellow soldiers are getting killed one by one. After Kirby leaves, Jenny is kidnapped by former Latin American dictator Arius (Dan Hedaya), who wants Matrix to restore him to power. Instead, Matrix sets out to take down the rogue leader and rescue his daughter.
Director
Mark L. Lester
Producer
Joel Silver
Screenwriter
Matthew Weisman, Jeph Loeb, Steven E. de Souza, Steven E. de Souza
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
Silver Pictures, SLM Production Group, Twentieth Century Fox
Rating
R
Genre
Action
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Oct 4, 1985, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 25, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$34.9M
Runtime
1h 30m
Sound Mix
Surround, Dolby A, Dolby SR, Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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