Commando
1985 · Directed by Mark L. Lester
Schwarzenegger gets his daughter kidnapped and works through a small army to get her back. Eleven minutes of mayhem at a strip mall. He carries a missile launcher and a tree.
Why It's Cult
Commando is the most concentrated dose of mid-eighties Schwarzenegger that exists. Mark Lester directs it like a sketch about action movies. The villain (Vernon Wells) wears a chainmail vest and has no exposed pecs at any point. The body count is absurd. The puns are worse. "Let off some steam, Bennett." This is the cult-action floor.
The Plot, Officially
A retired special agent named John Matrix led an elite unit and has left the armed forces to live in a secluded mountain home with his daughter Jenny. But now he is forced out of retirement when his daughter is kidnapped by a band of thugs intent on revenge! Unbeknownst to Matrix, the members of his former unit are being killed one by one. Even though Matrix' friend General Franklin Kirby gives Matrix armed guards, attackers manage to kidnap Matrix and Jenny. Matrix learns that Bennett, a former member of his Matrix' unit who was presumed dead has kidnapped him to try to force Matrix to do a political assassination for a man called Arius (who calls himself El Presidente), a warlord formerly bested by Matrix who wishes to lead a military coup in his home country. Since Arius will have Jenny killed if Matrix refuses, Matrix reluctantly accepts the demand.
Starring
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rae Dawn Chong, Dan Hedaya
Where to Watch
via JustWatch →
