Commando Blu-ray offers solid video and great audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
John Matrix, ultimate soldier and one-man army. Matrix, the former leader of a special commando strike force
that always got the toughest jobs done, is forced back into action when his young daughter (Alyssa Milano) is
kidnapped. To find her, Matrix has to fight his way through an array of punks, killers, one of his former
commandos, and a fully equipped private army. With the help of a feisty stewardess (Rae Dawn Chong) and an
old friend, Matrix has only a few hours to overcome his greatest challenge: finding his daughter before she's
killed.
I eat green berets for breakfast, and right now I am very hungry.
What the 1950's were to science fiction (Forbidden Planet, The Day the Earth Stood
Still, The Thing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers--the list stretches toward
Infinity) is what the 1980's were to the action film--the zenith of
the
genre, offering up a venerable cornucopia of examples of this type of film, mostly characterized by
machismo, overly large men wielding humongous weapons, becoming a one-man army and
wreaking havoc on anything, everything, and anyone standing in their way. Chuck Norris, Dolph
Lundgren, Sylvester Stallone, and Arnold Schwarzenegger became icons known the world over,
not for their acting prowess but for their chest sizes, six-pack abs, and the mayhem they wrought
the world's most vile of on-screen villains. As a true-blue, red-blooded male action fan, I can
easily come up with a short list of contenders
for
title of "quintessential action film of the 1980s." First Blood, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Top
Gun, Predator,
Cobra, Tango & Cash, and Die Hard come to
mind
immediately as the best of the best. Films such as Invasion: USA, Missing In
Action, and American Ninja all vie for title of most vapid, though a bit of nonsense is
definitely
a prerequisite for earning the title of "quintessential action film of the 1980's."
Bad to the bone.
For my money, Arnold
Schwarzenegger's Commando is the easy, no doubt, runaway winner of the contest.
Released on October 4, 1985, smack-dab in the middle of the decade, it features Arnold
Schwarzenegger, the almost undisputed king of action in the
decade, of man of enormous stature, both in the literal and figurative sense. His bulging muscles
are nearly as big as the guns he wields in Commando. There's no doubt that the 1980s
was the decade of "peace through superior firepower," as the United States defeated the Soviet
Union
in good measure to superiority in the arms race. Commando features big, bulky rocket
launchers, an extra large in appearance Kalashnikov style rifle, and a sizable shotgun, just to
name a few. It's also completely over-the-top and dumb, and I call it that with all the respect
and
admiration I can muster. The movie strikes the perfect balance of over the top action, clever
dialogue that includes the best group of one-liners ever heard in a single film, and just enough
story and acting to make it work. All of it is brought to us with tongue planted firmly in cheek.
It's just
serious enough for us to care about the story, and just vacuous and loud enough for us to keep a
smile on our faces for ninety minutes. Without a doubt, this is it--the movie that defines the
1980's, and as a fan of the decade, the genre, and its star, Commando is
one of my all-time favorite movies.
Colonel John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger, The 6th Day) is a
former member of an elite special operations unit now living in near seclusion in the mountains
with
his daughter, Jenny (Alyssa Milano, TV's Charmed). Members of that unit, now also
retired, are being murdered one by one, and General Franklin Kirby (James Olson, Amityville
II: The Possession) flies in to inform Matrix of the situation, and leaves two armed guards to
protect him and his daughter. As soon as the chopper leaves, Matrix's home is attacked, his
daughter kidnapped, and Matrix captured. He's told he must assassinate a South American
president or else Jenny will be killed. Behind the plot is Matrix's former friend and teammate,
Bennett (Vernon Wells, The Road Warrior).
Frankly, none of this matters one bit. It only serves as a device to allow Matrix to go to work,
offing these slime balls one by one and wreak havoc on a military compound to save his
daughter. Along the way, Matrix will team up with a reluctant ally, Cindy (Rae Dawn Chong,
The Color Purple). As time ticks away, Matrix must find out where Jenny is being held
and mount a rescue operation, killing anyone and destroying anything in his way, because
somewhere, somehow, someone's going to pay.
As much as I like this movie, I'm the first to admit that it's one of the silliest big-budget
movies I've ever seen, but that is what makes it so great. Its mood is most serious, but the
filmmakers obviously knew that they weren't making an Oscar-caliber film, and they played up
the comedic bits and one-liners, and definitely created a movie tailor-made for action fans. The
plot is incredibly simple, so much so that, as I mentioned above, it really doesn't matter. Fans
don't watch Commando for plot intricacies or character development (although they
mange to far surpass many films in this area anyway, the film I last reviewed, Aliens vs. Predator
Requiem serving as a good example of superficial character development). Serious
Arnold fans watch this movie to see him shooting, slicing, stabbing, kicking, and punching his way
to his daughter, spouting
off some of the funniest one-liners I've ever heard, and waiting for some of the creepiest and
most sadistic villains ever, namely Bennett, to face off with Matrix. Still, the movie makes sure
nobody is left behind, and spells out the uncomplicated plot as plainly as possible. For example,
the
montage over the credits makes it very obvious that Matrix and his daughter love one another an
awful lot, as if they loved each other any less he wouldn't be as gung-ho about saving her.
Nevertheless, the movie never gets bogged down in too much nonsensical, worthless plot
development, just moving from one action scene and one-liner to another, and for my money,
Commando is perhaps the best ninety minutes any red-blooded action fan could hope to
spend in front of their television sets.
While this 1080p, 1.85:1 image found on Commando will never compare to the best
transfers I've seen, it nevertheless looks marvelous when taken by itself, compared only to the
previous VHS and DVD versions of the movie. Commando is like an old
friend, a broken-in baseball glove or a favorite recliner, something that I'm always more than
happy
to spend time with. It's safe to say that I know this movie fairly well, and the image presented
on
this Blu-ray is a revelation. I'm simply amazed by
how much this movie benefits from a high definition, 1080p transfer. Sure, there are some
problems, but Commando will never be five-star material on Blu-ray or any future format
for that matter. The source is over twenty years old but aging rather well, but not as
refined and polished as movies of more recent vintage. There are some minor speckles on the
print,
grain is almost always present and spikes in certain scenes, and the image appears a bit soft
every
now
and again, but for the most part, the positives far outweigh the negatives. Detail is much higher
than I expected it to be, as was clarity and definition. Colors are rich and clearly defined, though
somewhat pastel in appearance, but that's just the way movies looked in the late 1970s and
1980s (Dawn of the Dead
comes to mind as a movie with similar-in-appearance colors). Nighttime scenes sport surprisingly
good black levels. The 1080p transfer highlights a few blue screen effects as plainly obvious,
notably when Matrix and Cindy take off in the sea plane. My meager expectations for this disc
were far surpassed, and I'm simply impressed.
Fox's DTS-HD MA 5.1 track blew me away, and it was like hearing
Commando for the first time. Much like the video, this is a revelation, a completely
engaging,
powerful experience. Like the video, it doesn't live up to the extremely clean, immersive, and
realistic bars set by the best tracks I've heard, but this one makes for an absolutely perfect
compliment to the feel of the movie, and impressed me as much as any other track out there, all
things considered.
May of the "problems" are more a result of the source than the disc. Some of the sound effects
are pretty dated, like when Cooke drives the car through the showroom window at the beginning,
but it's a fun sounding effect anyway, just like the movie. We get the same experience, only
about 100x more powerful, when Matrix drives a dozer into the surplus store. James Horner's
score is iconic and fantastic, definitely product of the 1980s (a lot of saxophone and synthesizer
beats), and an overall entertaining listen. Surround channels work hard too, and there always
seems to be something happening, be it a fly-by of a helicopter early in the film, loud, heavy
gunfire, or the almost nonstop music. Arnold's punches and kicks pack quite a punch, resonating
with hard-hitting, authoritative goodness. It's a cacophony, but it woks very well anyway.
Gunshots
reverberate and punch you in the gut, rattling the subwoofer and emanating all around the
listening area. A scene in chapter 5, where Matrix is chained to a table, sounded a bit awkward,
as if a breeze was blowing by, sounded more like undefined noise than wind. A minor quibble,
and maybe
its there by design, but it sounded a bit awkward anyway. I was most entertained and impressed
by the mix, and like the video, the lossless
sound mix far, far surpasses the downscaled, very weak in comparison mixes of the VHS and
DVD versions I've heard countless times.
Commando, most unfortunately, arrives on Blu-ray with only a 1080p theatrical trailer for
the film, as well as 1080p trailers for Alien vs. Predator, Behind Enemy Lines, Phone Booth, Planet of the Apes, and The Transporter. The disc is also D-Box
equipped, a feature that, with a specially-equipped chair, viewers can "feel the movie" as it reacts to
the film.
While Commando may not be five-star movie material on the same level as The
Godfather Part II, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Empire Strikes Back, or
Lawrence of Arabia, it earns its stripes by epitomizing a generation when movie fans
craved big muscles and big guns laying waste to America's enemies, and who better to do it for us
than the "Austrian Oak," a man who will go down in the annals of
Hollywood as one of its biggest stars not because of his acting abilities but because of what
he represented at his peak, namely America itself. It proved to be the land of opportunity for
him,
working
hard overseas to build his body and eventually coming to the United States to live the American
dream, and eventually become one of the country's preeminent political leaders as Governor of
California. He was my childhood hero, and he remains to serve as an inspiration to me in a
number
of ways. Fox has delivered Commando to Blu-ray looking and sounding
better than I've ever experienced before. The video quality isn't really up to par with the latest
and greatest movies, but considering the source material and the age of the film, the result is is a
major improvement over the VHS and DVD versions. The audio is superb, very
engaging, and loud. I was tremendously disappointed by the lack of extra material, however, but
the movie and A/V quality more than make up for that. While Commando is not
Schwarzenegger's best movie, it's his most fun, a decade-defining film that will forever remind us
how the action genre should look on the big screen--larger than life. I hope we see this
smashing, killer style make a return to Hollywood someday soon. Highly recommended!
Fox Home Entertainment has announced that they will release the Arnold Schwarzenegger classics 'Predator' and 'Commando' to Blu-ray on April 15th. Both releases will be encoded in 1080p MPEG-2 and accompanied by DTS-HD MA audio. Full extras have yet to be officially ...
