Commando | Rotten Tomatoes (2025)

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Where to Watch Commando What to Know Critics Reviews Audience Reviews My Rating Cast & Crew More Like This Related Movie News Photos Commando References

67%

Tomatometer

36 Reviews

68%

Popcornmeter

100,000+ Ratings

Retired Special Forces soldier John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger) lives with daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano) in isolation, but his privacy is disturbed by former commander Franklin Kirby (James Olson), who warns him that his fellow soldiers are getting killed one by one. After Kirby leaves, Jenny is kidnapped by former Latin American dictator Arius (Dan Hedaya), who wants Matrix to restore him to power. Instead, Matrix sets out to take down the rogue leader and rescue his daughter.

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Commando

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Critics Consensus

The ultimate '80s Schwarzenegger movie, replete with a threadbare plot, outsized action, and endless one-liners.

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Critics Reviews

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Comic book stuff, helped out by the presence of Rae Dawn Chong as an airline stewardess whose sarcastic commentary adds some comic counterpoint to the deliberately overscaled action.

Sep 18, 2007

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Variety Staff

Variety

Chong lights up the film like a firefly, Schwarzenegger delivers a certain light touch of his own, [and] the result is palatable action comics.

Sep 18, 2007

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Trevor Johnston

Time Out

Lots of machine-gunfire, explosions and disposable khaki-clad extras, as you'd expect.

Jun 24, 2006

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Yasser Medina

Cinefilia

As an action film, it decently collects a handful of clichés for Schwarzenegger to do his thing by arming himself with machine guns and one-liners, but somehow the adrenaline decreases with each body count. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 6/10

Jul 6, 2022

Full Review

Grant Watson

Fiction Machine

Commando is full of action but is conflict-free.

Rated: 3/10

Jul 18, 2021

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

The finale is quite notable, as it boasts an enormous body count and countless expended ammunition; this too is almost hilarious thanks to the chaotic extravagance.

Rated: 6/10

Aug 31, 2020

Full Review

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Audience Reviews

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Alex F With plenty of action and cheesy one liners. Commando succeeds in every way to keep audiences entertained. Rated 5/5 Stars • Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/10/24 Full Review Benjamin H Hollow and predictable, Commando is a solid, fast paced and to the point movie packed with great action, nifty one-liners and an unstoppable performance by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sure it is over-the top, but in all the right ways. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 10/08/24 Full Review Shane O It’s one of those movies that is good for how bad it is . There are just so many classic moments in this movie that have shaped modern action movies . It’s a great watch Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 09/25/24 Full Review Tam W Classic, totally over the top 80's Arnie action movie. Everything is pretty far fetched, but you'd struggle to fit any more action in it. If you like explosions, guns and people getting shot this is for you. Rated 3.5/5 Stars • Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 09/15/24 Full Review conan t It’s no Predator, and is definitely a bit thin plot-wise, however, if you’re in the mood for some great Arnold action with gratuitous shooting scenes, and minimal intellectual exercise, this is the movie for you. Entertaining bad guy elimination with shocking minimal effort spent on depth. Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/07/24 Full Review Crom M John, I've got your daughter John, I've got this chain mail shirt and a Freddy Mercury mustache John Rated 4/5 Stars • Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/08/24 Full Review Read all reviews

Commando

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Cast & Crew

Mark L. Lester Director Arnold Schwarzenegger Colonel John Matrix Rae Dawn Chong Cindy Dan Hedaya Arius Vernon Wells Bennett David Patrick Kelly Sully

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Commando

Arnold Schwarzenegger as John Matrix in Commando.

Commando (1985)

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Synopsis Retired Special Forces soldier John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger) lives with daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano) in isolation, but his privacy is disturbed by former commander Franklin Kirby (James Olson), who warns him that his fellow soldiers are getting killed one by one. After Kirby leaves, Jenny is kidnapped by former Latin American dictator Arius (Dan Hedaya), who wants Matrix to restore him to power. Instead, Matrix sets out to take down the rogue leader and rescue his daughter.

Director: Mark L. Lester
Producer: Joel Silver
Screenwriter: Matthew Weisman, Jeph Loeb, Steven E. de Souza, Steven E. de Souza
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Production Co: Twentieth Century Fox, SLM Production Group, Silver Pictures
Rating: R
Genre: Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 4, 1985, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 25, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $34.9M
Runtime: 1h 30m
Sound Mix: Surround, Dolby A, Dolby SR, Dolby Stereo
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

References

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1004567-commando