History Film / Commando1985

Not to be confused with the [[PrintLongRunners long-running]] British ComicBook ''ComicBook/{{Commando}}'', which is a little more sedate in its overall narrative. Does not involve GoingCommando, either.

* ExcusePlot: The whole 'to get your daughter back you must kill the Prime Minister / President / whatever' stuff is pretty much discarded fairly early on in favour of a much more entertaining 'Matrix going around killing the bad guys one by one' plot, with the result that all the scenes with Arius before the climax are basically him waiting for Matrix to show up and kill him [[GenreBlindness even if he doesn't realize it]].

* ExcusePlot: The whole 'to get your daughter back you must kill the Prime Minister / President / whatever' stuff is pretty much discarded fairly early on in favour of a much more entertaining 'Matrix going around killing the bad guys one by one' plot, with the result that all rhe scenes with Arius before the climax are basically him waiting for Matrix to show up and kill him [[GenreBlindness even if he doesn't realize it]].

* ShurFineGuns: When Cooke is knocked into the next room while fighting Matrix, he fires his last two rounds while he's tumbling backwards, resulting in the exchange in the {{Narm}} entry.

* ConservationOfNinjutsu: dozens, if not hundreds of soldiers, and not one of them can take a decent aimed shot against the guy standing in the middle of a wide open garden shooting at them with a machine gun that should be braced on its bipod in order to fire accurately - no problem for Matrix. The wussy boss bad guy takes several minutes of dodging and fire-trading before he makes the kill. TheDragon nearly kills Matrix himself. Oh, and by the end of the film, Matrix's apparently killed ''everybody on the island.''

* WhatMeasureIsAMook: Completely averted. Matrix has no problem killing someone, be it a random henchman or a main villain.

* WeHardlyKnewYe: A handsome Val Verdan in a fur-lined jacket with a GoateeOfEvil is introduced in a manner that indicates he's TheDragon, taking part in the opening assasinations and shooting one of Kirby's {{redshirt}}s. He stays behind to deliver the IHaveYourDaughter ultimatum... until Matrix blows him away with a shotgun.

* Redshirt: General Kirby leaves behind two soldiers to protect Matrix and his daughter, describing them as "real good, but not as good as you". Both men are killed as soon as he flies off.

* Redshirts: General Kirby leaves behind two soldiers to protect Matrix and his daughter, describing them as "real good, but not as good as you". Both men are killed as soon as he flies off.

* RedshirtArmy: General Kirby leaves behind two soldiers to protect Matrix and his daughter, describing them as "real good, but not as good as you". Both men are killed as soon as he flies off.

Possibly the most awesome film Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger ever made, and certainly the most [[HoYay homoerotic]]. ''Commando'' tells the story of John Matrix (Arnie), a retired special forces [[ColonelBadass colonel]] whose daughter is kidnapped. To get her back he must, like, kill a prime minister or something? But thankfully he decides to [[RashEquilibrium ignore these demands]] and just kills them all instead.

* RecklessGunUsage: After Matrix gets locked up in a police van, Rae Dawn Chong tries to free him with a quad-barreled missile launcher. Unfortunately she points the wrong end at the target and blows up the shops behind her.

* ShowSomeLeg: Matrix has Chong pretend to be a hooker in Sully's hotel room. Doesn't quite work as Cooke is still wary, but he still misses Matrix hiding behind the door until the HeyYouHaymaker.

* GroinAttack: A mook catches an axe between the legs in the toolshed scene.

Possibly the most [[SoBadItsGood awesome]] film Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger ever made, and certainly the most [[HoYay homoerotic]]. ''Commando'' tells the story of John Matrix (Arnie), a retired special forces [[ColonelBadass colonel]] whose daughter is kidnapped. To get her back he must, like, kill a prime minister or something? But thankfully he decides to [[RashEquilibrium ignore these demands]] and [[HilarityEnsues just kills them all instead.]]

* BadAss: John Matrix, to [[RuleOfCool absolutely ridiculous]] levels.

* BadAssBoast: From Cook to Matrix, answered with {{Narm}} and {{lampshaded}} by Cindy:
-->'''Cook''': This Green Beret's going to kick your big ass.
-->'''Matrix''': I eat Green Berets for breakfast! And right now I'm ''very'' hungry!
-->'''Cindy''': [[CrowningMomentOfFunny I can't believe this macho bullshit!]]

-->'''Arius''': Mr. Bennett, my soldiers are patriots.
-->'''Bennett''': [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy Your soldiers are nothing]]. [[{{Badass}} Matrix]] and I can [[OneManArmy kill every single]] [[{{Mooks}} one of them]] [[HilarityEnsues in the blink of an eye]]. [[{{Foreshadowing}} Remember]] [[{{Lampshading}} that]].

* BottomlessMagazines: The belt of ammo hanging from Matrix's M60 gets longer and longer with each cut.

** It may seem difficult to believe now, but in the far-ago world of 1985, those were both [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Airlines actual]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Air_Lines airlines]].

* CharlesAtlasSuperPower: Early on, Matrix is trying to chase some bad guys but the power to his truck is cut, so he ''pushes it and drives it down a hill''. Then there's the plane escape.
** Colonels must receive some special training if Matrix is any indication.
*** Ripping a car seat out of the car with his bare hands.
*** Killing two bad guys with one bullet. Wow.
*** A more subtle one: Matrix is impeded by a padlock and chains, so he just rips them off.

** Okay, in the soldiers' defense, Arnold Schwarzenegger is firing an extremely large gun into them wildly. You'd probably have a hard time keeping calm and taking a second to aim properly too.

** DragonAscendant / DragonInChief: As quoted above, Bennett claims (correctly) that he's a bigger threat to John than Arius' and his army.

* HeroicNeutral: Matrix just wants to be left alone with his daughter, and turns down the Army's offer at the end of the film to do just that.
** He kept his word too: There never was a sequel.

** This one is actually a lot more cold-blooded. While Sully made it perfectly clear that he would be willing to talk, Matrix had already found the necessary PlotCoupon in his coat pocket before holding him over the cliff's edge. He just brought him there solely to [[PostMortemOneLiner let him go]].
*** Maybe Matrix '''[[OverprotectiveDad really hated]]''' that "more time with your daughter" crack Sully made at the airport?

* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[YouHaveBeenWarned spoilers]].

* JugglingLoadedGuns / HadTheSillyThingInReverse: After Matrix gets locked up in a police van, Cindy tries to free him with a quad-barrelled missile launcher. Unfortunately she points the wrong end at the target and blows up the shops behind her. Remember to read which end is the front when handling heavy weapons such as missile launchers.
* KillYouLast: "You're a funny guy, Sully. I like you. That's why I'm going to kill you last."
** He lied.
* LockAndLoadMontage: Complete with enough weaponry to kill a small army. [[HilarityEnsues And I'm not talking hypothetically here.]]
** Interestingly, Matrix puts all the equipment on, including his vest and then puts camo paint on his arms and face. Later, he loses the vest and now he has camo paint on his manly chest. Which means, after the [[LockAndLoadMontage lock and load montage]], he must have taken all the equipment '''off''' again to paint it on, as he was obviously ''planning'' to lose his shirt later.

* OnlyAFleshWound: Subverted. When Matrix is shot in the shoulder by Bennett, his right arm is ''mostly'' out of the fight, he even comments on it and can't use it for much aside for holding impromptu shields and weapons, seen [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gL5diYxDmP8#t=4m here from 4:10 to 6:43.]] It seems fine by the end though.

* ShurFineGuns: When Cook is knocked into the next room while fighting Matrix, he fires his last two rounds while he's tumbling backwards, resulting in the exchange in the {{Narm}} entry.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: This was originally offered to John [=McTiernan=] of ''Film/{{Predator}}'' and ''Film/DieHard'' fame. Now watch the first half hour of ''Predator'' and ask... [[SincerityMode which is more awesome]]?
** ''Film/DieHard'' was originally intended to be a sequel to ''Commando''.
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotAwesome: EVERYTHING, from walking through a mall to getting into an airplane.
** And getting off of one.

** DragonInChief: As quoted above, Bennett claims (correctly) that he's a bigger threat to John than Arius' and his army.

* BeyondTheImpossible: Early on, Matrix is trying to chase some bad guys but the power to his truck is cut, so he ''pushes it and drives it down a hill''. Then there's the plane escape.
** CharlesAtlasSuperPower: Colonels must receive some special training if Matrix is any indication.
*** Ripping a car seat out of the car with his bare hands.
*** Killing two bad guys with one bullet. Wow.
*** A more subtle one: Matrix is impeded by a padlock and chains, so he just rips them off.
*** Killing a group of heavily armed soldiers with spare gardening and hardware tools found in a shed.

->'''Cindy''': [[HeroStoleMyBike You steal my car]], [[SuperStrength you rip the seat out]], you kidnap me, you ask me [[IHaveYourWife to help you find your daughter]], [[BlatantLies which I very kindly do]], and then you get me involved in a [[MoreDakka shoot]] [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy out]] where [[{{Mooks}} people]] are dying and there's [[LudicrousGibs blood spurting all over the place]], and then I watch you [[CrazyAwesome rip a phone booth out of a wall]], [[BuildingSwing swing from the ceiling like]] {{Tarzan}}, and then there's [[PoliceAreUseless a cop that's going to shoot you]] and I save you and they start chasing me! [[{{Expospeak}} Are you going to tell me what's going on or what?!]]

Possibly the most [[SoBadItsGood awesome]] film ArnoldSchwarzenegger ever made, and certainly the most [[HoYay homoerotic]]. ''Commando'' tells the story of John Matrix (Arnie), a retired special forces [[ColonelBadass colonel]] whose daughter is kidnapped. To get her back he must, like, kill a prime minister or something? But thankfully he decides to [[RashEquilibrium ignore these demands]] and [[HilarityEnsues just kills them all instead.]]

Not to be confused with the [[PrintLongRunners long-running]] British ComicBook ''{{ComicBook/Commando}}'', which is a little more sedate in its overall narrative. Does not involve GoingCommando, either.

** Also:

** CharlesAtlasSuperPower: Colonels must receive some special training if Matrix is any indication.

** And, technically pre-mortem: "You know I said I would {{kill you last}}? {{I lied}}."

* IHaveYourDaughter: Subverted in that when the bad guys kidnap Matrix's daughter to blackmail him into working for them, he doesn't even pretend to play along; he ignores their demands and just kills them all.

* TropeCodifier: This is ''the'' ArnoldSchwarzenegger movie.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: This was originally offered to John [=McTiernan=] of ''{{Predator}}'' and ''Film/DieHard'' fame. Now watch the first half hour of ''Predator'' and ask... [[SincerityMode which is more awesome]]?

* {{Expy}}: General Kirby is basically [[{{Rambo}} Colonel Trautman]]. Matrix himself is basically a tongue-in-cheek version of Rambo.

* JugglingLoadedGuns: After Matrix gets locked up in a police van, Cindy tries to free him with a quad-barrelled missile launcher. Unfortunately she points the wrong end at the target and blows up the shops behind her. Remember to read which end is the front when handling heavy weapons such as missile launchers.