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It's a Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad Movie

Reader Review


Commando

Posted by: Andy Jackson
Date Submitted: Monday, April 5, 1999 at 18:37:57
Date Posted: Tuesday, April 6, 1999 at 08:19:16

This movie hearkens back to days when Ahnold Schwarzenlager movies were nothing but rippling muscle and bad puns. This movie has lots of both, and many, many, many continuity errors to boot.

Plot time: Ahnold's daughter is kidnapped. He kills a bunch of people in an effort to get her back. He shoots a lot of people, he grapples physically with a lot of people then kills them, and has a "climactic" showdown with a guy who's approximately 65.

The only reasons I continue to watch this movie are for two scenes. The first is an example of the worst continuity film has ever seen. There's a car chase involving a yellow sports car. It gets sideswiped many times, and as you'd expect, the side gets banged up. But wait, in the next shot, it's fixed! Then dented, then fixed, then dented, then fixed, etc. This goes on for about 5 minutes. Fixed, dented, fixed, dented. The worst (or alternately, the best) part about this is that the chase ends with the sports car sliding on its side. When Ahnold later tips it back on its wheels, it's *gasp* FIXED!

Here's the second. The leadup to the final scene involves Ahnold shooting 4 million henchmen at the Bad Guy's country villa. As is standard movie physics, when they get shot, they go flying through the air. All well and good until one guy goes flying and the special effects springboard that launched him gets in the shot and stays there for a few seconds.

3 turkeys, fun to watch in a group, semi-fun to watch by yourself.

Scene to watch for: The self-fixing car.

Best line: "I let him go" (or as Ahnold says it, "Ah laght hgeem gho")

Things that make you go "Huh?": The military villa.

Response From RinkWorks:

One of my favorite parts: Arnold crashes into a telephone pole at what appears to be 185 MPH -- they aren't wearing seatbelts, but the only impact they feel is a little bump that makes them lean forward in their seats for a second. -- Sam.

Back in the days when I liked every movie I saw regardless of quality, I loved this movie. Of course, I wised up, but even today I find much to like about it -- of course, I like it for its badness now. For me, this movie is at least tolerable as a "good" movie up to the point where Arnold attacks the armed villa. Then you *have* to switch to "bad movie mode," or you'll go insane. Although it is not a rare sight in his early movies, Arnold mowing down an entire army all by himself is still cause for gales of laughter -- and this movie contains possibly the best example of this type of scene. -- Dave


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