Released 30 years ago today, Commando often rates highly in Arnold Schwarzenegger's filmography.
It's easy to see why. It's the perfect blend of dumb action, outrageously nationalistic imagery, casual violence and a thumping soundtrack by the sadly departed James Horner. Although it's classified strictly as an action thriller, it is - in reality - a full-blown comedy. There's no way anyone could watch Commando with a straight face and think it's anything but.
Screenwriters Jeph Loeb and Matt Weisman, however, envisioned something much more different when they penned the first draft. Originally envisioned as a sort of spiritual successor to Rambo, Loeb and Weisman's script was much more grounded in reality. For one, the main character, Col. John Matrix, was a former Israeli soldier who turned his back on violence and was trying to live out a peaceful existence. As Loeb succinctly put it, "That's not the movie they made." Although this is touched upon in the hilarious opening sequence (Schwarzenneger's seen lifting a giant log), it's almost immediately dismissed.
Steven E. DeSouza was brought in by the studio to punch up the action and, for the most part, rewrite the script to fit Schwarzenegger. DeSouza was urged by studio executives to meet with Schwarzenegger to discuss the script and get a sense of the character he would be writing. DeSouza also knew that English wasn't Schwarzenegger's first language. "So when I worked with Arnold for the first time, I said: “If it’s OK with you, I’d like to work with you on your lines because I may have inadvertently given you a tongue-twister.”
"And he leapt on this and said, 'That’s a great idea Steven, because people don’t realise some words are hard for me to say.'"
DeSouza's history of improvising on the fly stood him in good stead, something he'd picked up from working as a writer / producer on Knight Rider. Next up was Vernon Wells, who played Bennett. The 6' foot, stocky Australian was hired at the last minute, with the costumes he'd been assigned almost too big for him. The tight-fitting clothes and the constant references in his dialogue to Matrix's balls has lead to speculation as to whether or not the character of Bennett was a homosexual. Castmembers, such as Rae Dawn Chong, have echoed this sentiment. "It's that really confusing sexuality comes through and manifests itself in violence." As Wells himself put it, he looked like "Freddie Mercury on steroids."
When you couple these factors with the insane bodycount - 88 people are killed on screen during the film's 90 minutes - it's clear that the film isn't so much making fun of itself as it's completely parodying both itself and action movies of its ilk. "I think it's why the film has held up far better than other action films because it's clear that the film knows it's over-the-top, that it's winking at the audience." The film is replete with one-liners from both Schwarzenegger and the cast itself. Almost every other line of dialogue is a zinger from DeSouza's on-set rewrites, with some being written on the spot to coincide with the practical effects on set.
David Patrick Kelly, who played Sully, was hired as a comedic foil. DeSouza said that Kelly was hired because he "can be funny, he's never supposed to be a physical threat, he's half Arnold's size!" Kelly had worked previously with DeSouza on 48 Hrs., the action comedy with Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy, and acted as the comedic foil for the film - even though the film has plenty of unintentional comedic moments all on its own.
There's literally hundreds of eminently quotable lines from Commando, from the 'Let off some steam!' line when Bennett meets his end, to Schwarzengger's straight-faced zingers throughout. It's not clear if Schwarzenegger fully understood what he was saying - as he was still learning English during the production. In a way, that almost fed into the comedy aspect; this muscle-bound super soldier reaming off these Connery-esque one-liners without a hint of irony. Of course, as we know, Schwarzenegger's comedic timing developed on from this. 30 years on, Commando still holds a place in action movie fans hearts and is still, for us, one of the funniest films of the '80s and the funniest film in Schwarzengger's career.