#18 Commando

The pitch: "Come up with a prequel tv show to the 1985 Arnie-starring action classic Commando."

 

www.shoulderspod.com/commando

 

The original: Commando (1985)

Directed by: Mark L. Lester (Firestarter, Class of 1999, Pterodactyl) 

​Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Vernon Wells, Rae Dawn Chong, Dan Hedaya, Alyssa Milano, James Olson, Bill Duke, David Patrick Kelly, Michael Delano, Drew Snyder  

What's it about? When a retired Special Forces colonel has his ten-year-old daughter kidnapped by an angry ex, John Matrix (Schwarzenegger) must go ‘Full Commando’, gun-up, man-up and tear-up the list of those responsible, killing with quips of the very highest order and dispensing violence most bloody. 

What some consider the peak of Arnie’s 80’s Golden Era, Commando has it all. A tight plot, inventive deaths, a witty script and a leading man hitting a stride unparalleled in blockbusting action heroes before or since. 

Fun, fast and frantic, Commando solidified Arnie as more than a novelty, instead a juggernaut of both biceps and bravado. 

He’s been in better films, but perhaps none which take such delight in destruction, or mirth in mayhem. 

“Come on, Bennett, let’s party.”