CS Weekly Archive > DVD > 09/28/07

First Action Hero

by dennis sampson

Screenplay by Steven E. de Souza

Commando ushered in a wave of action films in the 1980s that set a new precedent for the hero in movies.  The seminal film’s plot seems like it was pulled from the template section of a “how to write an action script” book: John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a retired Army colonel (read: complete and total badass) whose young and innocent daughter (Alyssa Milano) is kidnapped.  The baddies, led by our hero’s old war buddy, Bennett (Vernon Wells), tell Matrix he’s to assassinate a political figure he has a personal relationship with if he ever wants to see his daughter alive again.  But the folks who took his daughter soon find Matrix doesn’t respond well to ultimatums.  The film is over the top (Matrix carries a tree in his introduction and later flips a phone booth over his head), wildly violent (death scenes range from someone being dropped off a high cliff to another person getting the top of their head lopped off by a flying saw), and full of snappy Arnold one-liners (“Don’t disturb my friend, he’s dead tired,” and “Let off some steam,” are two of many).  In short, Commando is everything The Last Action Hero wanted to be without mugging to its audience.  It set a new standard for comic-book violence in action films and created a persona Schwarzenegger spent the next 10 years fostering and then the following 10 shaking so he could get elected governor of California.  Director Mark L. Lester’s commentary offers little insight into the screenplay, but a few sound bytes from the writers on the “Pure Action” featurette provide some details about the genesis of the writing process.

Commando (Director’s Cut)
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Rated R; 90 min.
$19.98

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Dennis Sampson is a commercial production coordinator and unproduced screenwriter. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his better half, Susan, and their dog Tripp.

Commando (Director's Cut) courtesy Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

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