Trivia / Commando (1985)

• Creator Backlash: David Patrick Kelly referred to the film as "lousy."
• Creator's Favorite Episode: Mark L Lester’s favorite film that he's directed.
• Deleted Scene: Arnold Schwarzenegger & Rae Dawn Chong shot a love scene, but this was so unconvincing it was dropped from the movie.
• Dueling Movies: Relased in the same year of similar One-Man Army movie Rambo: First Blood Part II. Though making less money, it was also a massive success and a successful vehicle to market Arnie as an Action Hero after his Star-Making Role as a villain in The Terminator.
• Dyeing for Your Art: Vernon Wells shaved his head and shaved off his beard to play Bennett.
• Fake Nationality: Matrix tells Jenny early on that he was East German by birth and upbringing, making this and Junior the only of Arnold's movies to attempt to justify his accent.
• Hey, It's That Place!:
  • The mansion where the final shootout between Matrix and Arius took place is the same mansion where the final shootout between Axel Foley and Victor Maitland took place in Beverly Hills Cop. It was also Jack Woltz's house in The Godfather.
  • The mall scenes were filmed in the same mall as the one where Chopping Mall was filmed.
• The Other Marty: Vernon Wells originally lost the role of Bennett to Wings Hauser. On the first day of filming, Hauser was fired and Wells was cast. This is the reason that Bennett's clothes seem so tight, because Wells was bigger than Hauser, and the production didn't have time to make a new costume. Over the years, a rumor has developed that Wells originally auditioned for the part of Matrix, but this is false.
• Referenced by...: While reviewing Cyber City Oedo 808, Bennett the Sage mocks a character's Bond One-Liner, then plays a clip of Matrix killing The Dragon, whom Bennett shares his name with, complete with Matrix saying "Let off some steam, Bennett." Sage then states he is and chides himself for waiting 180 episodes to make that joke.
• Similarly Named Works: Commando is also the name of a long running British Comic Book series set in World War II.
• Stillborn Franchise: In 1986, a sequel was written by Steven E. de Souza, and revised by Frank Darabont, with an eye to having John McTiernan direct. It's widely rumoured to have been converted into Die Hard, although de Souza has denied this and the leaked script doesn't resemble Die Hard at all. The actual Commando II script features a serious Ass Pull near the end, as Kirby pulls a Face–Heel Turn and becomes the film's Big Bad.
• Technology Marches On: The villains kidnap John Matrix's daughter and try to use her as leverage to get him to do an assassination for them. He rebels (of course) and begins trying to get her back by tracking down the members of the group and getting them to reveal where she is. One of the first such members, Sully, frantically tries to get to a phone booth to inform his superiors about what's going on and in one case is in the middle of dialing when Matrix destroys the phone booth to stop the call from going through. Starting about 10-12 years later, Sully would almost certainly have had a cell phone and could have placed the call within seconds of seeing Matrix.
• Throw It In!: Rae Dawn Chong's reactions to the motel fight were filmed separately and were completely ad-libbed.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Jeph Loeb originally wrote the script with the intention of having Gene Simmons play Matrix, but Simmons passed on it early in the developmental stage. Loeb then rewrote the script with Nick Nolte in mind as an out-of-condition former Commando. The storyline was to concern a special forces agent working in the Middle East who becomes sick of the continuous death and destruction. He leaves Israel, returns to the United States and retires, but he is then forced out of retirement after the kidnapping of his daughter.
  • The final fight between Matrix and Bennett was supposed to take place on an island that was in the middle of a naval exercise between the USMC and the USN (actually referenced by the radio chatter when Matrix steals the seaplane). Unfortunately, the film used up its special effects budget killing hundreds of mooks.
  • This was originally offered to John McTiernan of Predator and Die Hard fame.
  • Mark L. Lester initially wanted Raúl Juliá for Arius, but producer Joel Silver insisted on casting Dan Hedaya.
  • Arnold once stated on Reddit that he wanted a scene where he would cut off a man's arm and then kill him with it. Unfortunately, studio head Larry Gordon thought it was too much.
  • Brigitte Nielsen and Sharon Stone auditioned for the role of Cindy. Ultimately, Rae Dawn Chong was cast.
  • Patricia Arquette, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Shannen Doherty, Winona Ryder and Elisabeth Shue auditioned for Jenny before the casting of Alyssa Milano.
• Written-In Infirmity: The cut on Arnold Schwarzenegger's forehead in the beginning of the movie was real.

---