Commando: The Greatest Movie of All Time.

I was always under the impression that Predator was the greatest movie ever made, but it seems like I just wasn't realizing all the thought that went in to the making of the Swarzenegger opus,"Commando". Screen Junkies has a very persuasive argument, written by the director, Mark L. Lester. It's a three part essay, which is kind of lengthy, so here are some things that you may not have considered when picking YOUR Greatest Movie of All Time (I was going to put GOAT Movie, as in Greatest of All Time, but then I'd get a bunch of weirdos searching for Goat Movies finding their way here from Google):


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"The sequence that follows – with wonderful flute and string accompaniment, I might add – puts any expository opening credits to shame. We see how much Matrix cares about Jenny because he lets her smash ice cream into his face. While developing the backstory for Matrix, Arnold and I decided that in his past, Matrix once was the victim of ice cream to the face by a Russian spy, and carved out his trangressor’s heart with a hunting knife. So, it takes an immense amount of love for Matrix to not do the same to Jenny, even though she’s only playing. That’s character development."


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"In this brief clip, we see that John Matrix is able to leap from a commercial jet during takeoff and not only survive, but defy physics on his way down. When Matrix jumps, you’ll notice that the plane is doing a solid 220 mph. But then when we cut to the shot of Matrix falling, he does so in more of a straight drop. Some detractors will say that this is a flaw in the film, but I’d like to set the record straight. During the filming, we made the conscious decision to represent Matrix in this way, in order to show how perseverance overcomes even Newton’s laws. Also, Matrix is represented by a mannequin. This showcases his ability to go completely limp in freefall, which is the safest way to freefall – just ask any stunt person or mannequin.

Matrix then lands on his feet – a completely real reaction given his years of military weight training and Plyometrics to strengthen joints – and wades out of the two-foot deep swamp to check his watch and get a move on. Matrix looking at his watch tells the audience that there’s no time to dillydally. The “clock” is “ticking!”"


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"The major turning point in the film comes down to the fact that Matrix knows Bennett’s fatal flaw is pride– like so many villains before him. Matrix plays such a wonderfully complex mind game with his nemesis in this scene; it’s like solving a Rubik’s cube. When Matrix says, “Let’s party,” Bennett knows that he doesn’t mean the kind of party with hats and cake, or the other kind of partying that was done a lot in the 80s up people’s noses. No, this is a party of two, and the party is over when the other person dies.

Of course, that person is Bennett, who gets a lead pipe thrown through his chest, giving way to Arnold’s delivery of one of the most crisply written one-liners in cinema history. It just perfectly captured what Bennett was in need of – letting off some steam! He was so tense before that, don’t you think? But Bennett isn’t the type to relax with a massage or bath beads. He needs to get rough and tumble with other men. This addiction ended up killing him, which is tragic, but it’s life. Some of the crew cried when we wrapped shooting Bennett’s death scene, because they knew that a great character of the silver screen was lost that day."

Hope you all learned something today. I know I did.