Commando has a place in every Arnold fan’s heart, as it was the first vehicle specifically tailored to highlight Schwarzenegger’s physical presence and his natural charisma. Rest assured that Commando was as cheesy and silly in 1985 as you would likely find it to be now. Arnold is John Matrix, a former Special Forces colonel forced out of retirement when mercenaries kidnap his young daughter Jenny from their secluded mountain home. Poor Jenny’s life is on the line as they demand that Matrix perform a political assassination in South America to get her back. However, Matrix has a better plan: become a one-man army and kill everyone standing between him and his daughter. No one upstages the Governator here, not even Vernon Wells (aka Wez from The Road Warrior) as the homoerotic main villain or Bill Duke himself. Alpha male Arnold repeatedly proves who is more macho, dispatching many of his foes with a nicely timed one-liner. Commando is where you will find the roots of Schwarzenegger’s film persona; this is where it really all began.
