"Commando" (1985) with Nicholas Pepin

Tim Williams: Take one retired elite special forces operative, kidnap his daughter to blackmail him into political assassination, and give him a few hours to comply. Big mistake. Because John Matrix doesn't negotiate, and he's bringing an entire military surplus store's worth of firepower to the party. In this eighties flick, the action is over the top, the one-liners are unforgettable, and letting off some steam has never looked so cool. So check your ammo, put on the tactical vest, and remember to not approach downwind as Nicholas Peppin and I discuss Commando from nineteen eighty-five on this episode of the 80s flick flashback podcast. Welcome to the show, everybody. I am your host, Tim Williams. ⁓ on this episode, we're locked and loaded for 1985's Commando. I brought a true movie mercenary back to talk about one of Arnold's cult classics. Please welcome back to the show from Pop Culture Roulette. It's Mr. Nicholas Peppen. How you doing, Nicholas?

Nicholas Pepin: Just here to let off some steam.

Tim Williams: I think that's ⁓ probably the most famous line ⁓ one liner that ⁓ ⁓ Schwarzenegger gives us. So but yeah. This is a fun one.

Nicholas Pepin: ⁓ yeah, yeah, no. I mean this is ⁓ I mean when you think quality you maybe don't think commando, but when you think when you think fun, this movie is this movie is there.

Tim Williams: No, ⁓ yeah. ⁓ yeah, for sure. quintessential eighties action flick like pure popcorn flick ⁓ movie. Don't think too hard, just just enjoy the ride.

Nicholas Pepin: Yes. No, no, if you think too hard you will hurt yourself and the the plot holes you could drive Arnold Schwarzenegger sized trucks through is but it's so much fun.

Tim Williams: Ha ha ha. Right, right, right. right, well let's jump right in. When did you see Commando for the very first time?

Nicholas Pepin: You know, ⁓ it was more recently than you would think. I'm s trying to remember, I think it was when I was down in Atlanta on doing the game show.

Tim Williams: ⁓ really?

Nicholas Pepin: Yeah, like I j I remember it was it was or it was around that time because I had watched it I don't remember why. I've w I think I I wanna say I watched it because you guys were talking about it or 'cause this is the first this is the first time you're doing this episode, right? Right, okay. So I I don't remember exactly why it was like, you know what, I'm finally gonna break the seal and watch Commando, but it it was it was only in the last like five years, like

Tim Williams: It's possible. Right. Yeah, yeah. That that gives that's gonna give a very interesting perspective. So go ahead, give me an initial thoughts. Like was it everything that it was hyped up to be? Was it

Nicholas Pepin: I mean, listen, I I feel like as as your listeners and I've I've been on enough episodes now where I think the people who remember me know like love eighties cheese. I love well I love nineties cheese. I just love cheese. ⁓ I I do. I I mean for for every time you wanna watch Shawshank Redemption, I'm gonna watch Commando like three or four times. Like Shawshank Redemption, one of the greatest movies of all time, but I could watch Commando

Tim Williams: Mm. Geez. do li you do live in Wisconsin, so you know. Right. Over and over and over again. Right.

Nicholas Pepin: Or or a movie like Commando over and over again because it's just it's you can turn your brain off and just have fun. And then you can do things like count how many times Arnold says one liners.

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Nicholas Pepin: Or you have a lot of questions you want to ask yourself as you're watching the movie. And we'll get there as we go along.

Tim Williams: ⁓ I'm sure. I'm sure. Yeah, this is one that I did see as a kid. I don't think I saw this one in the theater. I'm pretty sure this was a rental. Definitely a movie that me and my dad watched together. one, like after I saw it, we watched like me and my friends watched a million times. That opening scene with the trash the trash men, like ⁓ soon as that started, like it just flooded my memory. of like watching that scene over and over as a kid because, you know, back then like like that's how you started a movie, like you just n unassuming and then just, you know, gratuitous gratuitous violence right off right off the bat. And you knew exactly what c type of movie you were gonna watch.

Nicholas Pepin: I'm honestly surprised I didn't see it 'cause one of the first rated R movies I ever my my dad ever showed me was Running Man. Like he liked we liked watching Cheesy Arnold movies and it's not like this one had anything offensive other than just like thirty seven hundred guys getting shot. Yeah. ⁓ but yeah, no, I I'm kinda shocked I didn't watch it. But yeah, no, I mean ⁓ you know, I'm glad I watched it now.

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. Right. Right, right. Yeah. So have you watched it again since you watched it back then before watching it for the podcast?

Nicholas Pepin: I I think I've watched it at least one other time since then. But yeah, I definitely I I had to rent it ⁓ Saturday night 'cause for some reason it's not on a streamer anywhere.

Tim Williams: Okay. Okay. Yeah, like so I was thinking about when I watched it, it's been a while since I watched the version. I wanna say like w I wanna think think within the last year, w at least within the last two years, I think Prime had the director's cut. And so I was like, ⁓ I don't I don't I didn't know there was a director's cut, and so I watched that, which doesn't really ⁓ a whole lot. I think the I think they had to trim some of the violence down for the theatrical, so it's got A few extended scenes. I think it's maybe it maybe only be like three minutes longer than the theatrical cut. So no like huge deleted scenes that were there. But so I remember watching it then. So but before then it'd probably been a while since I'd watched it. And think it's pretty well known. Like I I don't not like Commando, but I love Predator and I love Running Man even more. So I tend to like if I'm picking an Arnold movie to watch, those are the two I'm typically going to first. But Commando is fun and even like I people give me griff grief all the time because I'm like Terminator is good, but I I don't I just I don't feel like that's a Schwarzenegger movie 'cause he I mean he's it's what made him a star, but he's not the star of it. He's the star of Terminator two and the ones that followed, but it's you know, it's very much a Michael Bean movie and a Linda Hamilton movie, like they're the main character. So

Nicholas Pepin: Yes.

Tim Williams: So yeah, Commando's one that I think I I have watched a lot. I watched it a a ton as a kid. But as I've gotten older, I tend to like it tends to go further down on my list of like, ⁓ I wanna watch an Artle movie. It's not the first one I usually reach for. So

Nicholas Pepin: trying to remember how far it made i in the Arnold bracket when we did that a couple of years ago, ⁓ over on on Pop Culture Roulette. it I feel like it won maybe the first round or two. It did it didn't go as far as I mean, like you said, Predator and Running Man, I've watched a whole lot more than I've yeah.

Tim Williams: ⁓ yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I mean, Arnold's got great movies. I mean, and once again, it's not bad. It's just not as good as ones. And also, it was one of his, you know, it was one of his first movies. I mean, of course, Conan, and then Terminator. I think this one, I think this one and Conan the Destroyer were about the same time in eighty five or around the same time. So he was definitely coming off of the juggernaut that was Terminator. but yeah. Alright, well it's that time where we play our little game. It's time to put our 80s flick behind the scenes knowledge to the ultimate test. It's time to play ⁓ quizness. So I've got statements about the story origin and pre-production of Commando, and you have to let me know if you think they are true or false. Listeners, feel free to pay along and see if ⁓ comes out on top. Because this time he's all by himself, no teammates to to ⁓ conspire with or or and discuss. So are you ready? All right, number one, true or false. The film screenwriter Jeff Loeb originally conceived the script as a gritty, realistic drama.

Nicholas Pepin: Cool. ⁓ let's do this.

Tim Williams: About a delusion mercenary before the studio aggressively rewrote it into a high octane action vehicle for Arnold Schwarzenegger. True or false?

Nicholas Pepin: Know that Jeff Loeb was one of the original screenwriters before he went over to comic books. Yeah true.

Tim Williams: That is true. He originally wrote the script with the intention of having Jean Simmons play Matrix, but Simmons passed on it early in development stage. Loeb then rewrote the script with Nick Nolte in mind as an out of condition former commando. The storyline concerned a special forces agent working in the Middle East who becomes sick of the continuous death and destruction. He leaves Israel, returns to the US, and retires, but he is then forced out of retirement after the kidnapping of his daughters.

Nicholas Pepin: ⁓ yeah.

Tim Williams: So that was the original script idea for commando.

Nicholas Pepin: I mean the Nick Nulty one at that time maybe could have worked. I mean it would have been a very different movie. But it could have worked. Gene Simmons, let's I think we should all be glad that never happened.

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. Right, right, right. all right. ⁓ two, true or false. Vern Lynch, the actor who played the sleazy motel manager in the film, was a real life stunt coordinator who refused to use a stunt devil during the scene where he gets thrown out of a second story window. True or false.

Nicholas Pepin: ⁓ those guys back then? ⁓ yeah, sure, true.

Tim Williams: That is false. Though the motel manager was played by David Patrick Kelly, famous for playing Luther and the Warriors. Wait a minute, that's not the that's not the Motel Manager. Hold on. That is wrong. So I'm gonna give you that one because it's telling me that it's false, but that's not who played the motel manager, so And he doesn't get thrown out of a second story window. Okay. Sorry folks. We'll let that one slide. So my bad. So all right, number three. True or false. The final warehouse battle features a massive continuity error where Arnold Schwarzenegger's ammunition belt changes configuration between shots due to the sheer volume of weapons he carries.

Nicholas Pepin: I mean continuity errors are like just the makeup of this movie in general, so that seems probably true.

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. That is true. Matrix carries an impossible, seemingly bottomless supply of weapons and ammo famously loading up on a rack of guns that shifts slightly between cuts. ⁓ Alright, true or false. Commando the feature film acting debut of Alyssa Milano who played Arnold's kidnapped daughter Jenny.

Nicholas Pepin: She had just finished season one of Who's the Boss? So yes, yes, this was her feature film debut.

Tim Williams: I'm sorry, that is false. While it was her breakout film role on the big screen, she had already made her feature film debut a year earlier in the drama Old English and had starred extensively on Broadway and television.

Nicholas Pepin: Sure, okay. So this is the first movie that anyone's actually heard of that she was in. Got it, okay, alright.

Tim Williams: Right, right, right. So a little tricky there for you. So all right. So we give we gave you two. So you got three true, I mean you got three right, one wrong so far. Bringing it bringing it on home for number five. Director Mark L. Lester encourage Arnold Schwarzenegger to perform almost all of his own hand to hat combat stunts in the climactic tool shed fight scene. That's not a tool shed. In the climactic fight scene against Vernon Wells. My where I pulled this from really got me this time. I'm kind of embarrassed. But anyway. But so basically the the question is ⁓ did director Mark Lester encourage Arnold to perform his own hand to hand combat stunts against Vernon Wells.

Nicholas Pepin: Hmm. That is tricky but based on the wording because I know that Arnold to perform most of his own stunts. so I'm gonna say I don't if the director and cur see, this is where you're gonna get me on a technicality. Cause I'm I'm gonna say yes, true.

Tim Williams: It is true. He did encourage them, but even though both Schwarzenegger and Vernon insisted on doing the vast majority of their brutal five final knife and pipe brawl themselves, leading to a few accidental bumps and bruises on set. So it was worded kind of tricky, but you got it right anyway. So so good job. You you got four out of five. You take he'll take those odds. All right, well let us know how you did if you played along at home.

Nicholas Pepin: Four out of five, alright.

Tim Williams: Send us a message on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, or send us an email or leave us a comment right here in the n ⁓ comment section on YouTube. So all right, let's jump into casting. We're not gonna talk much about Arnold Schwarzenegger because we've covered him in previous episodes, which I think you might have been in just about all of them. Predator, Conan the Barbarian, and the Running Man.

Nicholas Pepin: I was in at least one of them.

Tim Williams: Yeah. but ⁓ that this was a little fun fact though. Originally the studio executives didn't want Arnold Schwarzenegger to talk at all in the movie. Like it's hard to be the lead and not talk. I mean, it worked for Terminator because he was a ⁓ a cyborg, but yeah.

Nicholas Pepin: And it worked for Nick Cage in Willie's Wonderland. That movie is amazing. But you'll never cover it 'cause it came out in the two thousand like twenties.

Tim Williams: Okay. Yeah, yeah, they just came out like what, five years ago, maybe?

Nicholas Pepin: Yeah, within within the last ten years.

Tim Williams: Gotcha. But I think this was like a perfect ⁓ vehicle for Schwarzenegger, especially at this time. Like of course we all there's always that discussion like what movies would Stallone have been better in, but this was this was Schwarzenegger all day.

Nicholas Pepin: ⁓ yeah. Yeah. I mean it is the quintessential question of every Schwarzenegger movie or of almost every Schwarzenegger movie. Not all of them, but just like this one, Jingle All the Way, True Lies, like how does a guy who has that accent

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. ⁓

Nicholas Pepin: get taken for American Special Forces or just like an unassuming like this guy is a massive human being. Like he is gigantic and ripped. And like we're just supposed to buy that people in his town were like, Up, that's just a normal guy.

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Just carrying carrying a full tree trunk on her shoulder coming out of the woods. ⁓ that's that's normal. So yeah. Yeah, and it's funny too, 'cause you know, he he do I like that they at least they worked it into the dialogue like the first five minutes. You know, when I grew up in West Germany, like he, you know, trying to say, you know, I'm not I'm we all know I'm not American, wink wink, nod, nod. ⁓

Nicholas Pepin: Yeah. Yeah. Right.

Tim Williams: But he is such a huge presence. Like there's no no one I mean, ⁓ in the mall scene there's a little bit, you know, that where they recognize how big he is so they can believe ⁓ Ray Don Chong's ⁓ you know, accusations against him, but on the plane nobody th and no nobody thinks about it. Why did nobody wonder why he'd been in the bathroom the whole time in the plane?

Nicholas Pepin: There there was there was one of the questions I had about that was like and it was one of my favorite scenes. I guess it maybe even one of the iconic scenes is that he breaks the dude's neck and goes he's dead die and then like gets up and leaves and nobody goes, Hey, wait a minute, that guy didn't come back from the bathroom.

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. Right. Right, that's what I'm saying. Like it's a five hour flight he no the the stewardess never like did they knock on the door to check on him and see that like he had gotten he broke it broke something, like it's just you know, anyway, let's not think too hard about it. ⁓

Nicholas Pepin: And and Yeah, and also how long into the flight did they go, This guy might be dead?

Tim Williams: Right, right. And then I love the scene where like after he knocks him out, you see him like, you know, putting the pillow behind him and the blanket. But if you look at the two people sitting in front, like they're trying to look like they're half asleep. And I'm like, when he knocked that dude out, it shook the whole seat. Like they had to have known something happened behind.

Nicholas Pepin: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tim Williams: Ha ha ha.

Nicholas Pepin: Yeah.

Tim Williams: All right, before we get go down more a plot hole rabbit holes, ⁓ let's go back to the casting. So I mentioned already Ray Don Chong as Cindy. She made her big screen debut appearing in the 1978 musical drama film Stony Island the nineteen eighty-one science fantasy film Quest for Fire. ⁓ she later starred in films such as Beach Street in eighty-four, American Flyers in eighty-five, The Color Purple in eighty-five, Soul Man in eighty-six. Let's talk about that movie one day. ⁓ The Principal eighty seven, Tales from the Dark Side of the movie in nineteen ninety, through the nineties she had other movies as well. But she's the daughter of comedian and actor Tommy Chong from Cheechin Chong, if you did that.

Nicholas Pepin: Yeah. I was gonna say there's one thing about her that you're not mentioning

Tim Williams: ⁓ I gotta save it for the end. Can't give it away too early. So I thought she was good in this. I mean, this was probably the first movie that I no, I had seen Beat Street before this, but this was probably the movie that I most remember her from. So ⁓

Nicholas Pepin: Yeah, I mean it's it's such a weird character. I mean she's fine. I mean there's no problems with her. I mean she she she did the most with what she was given. But like there's so many questions about like she just accepted the what story that was given and just decided to go along with it and then

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. Exactly. Exactly. Ha ha ha. Mm-hmm. Yeah, she does take like a hard like she's totally against like he's kidnapping me, you've got to like, you know, get rid of him or whatever, and then all of a sudden she's like his greatest ally and confidant. And I'm like, I feel like there's some scenes that got cut here, which I did read that supposedly there was a love scene between the two of them that was supposed to be in the movie, but they didn't think it was convincing enough, so they took it out and I'm like Has any love scene with Arnold Schwarzenegger been convincing in any movie? Not that he's done a whole lot, but like

Nicholas Pepin: Yeah, I and I think honestly the movie is better for it. Like 'cause I mean the it the relationship was already pretty weird to begin with. Like all of a sudden having a random love scene in the middle of like I only have eleven hours.

Tim Williams: ⁓ for sure, for sure. Mm-hmm. right, right. We can take a few minutes, it'll be all right. So yeah. All right, moving right along. Alyssa Milano, as we mentioned earlier, was Jenny Matrix, his daughter, most well known for her roles as Samantha ⁓ Masselli on Who's the Boss from eighty four to ninety-two. ⁓ she was Jennifer Mancini in Melrose Place from ninety-seven-98. Phoebe Halliwell and Charn from ninety eight from 2000 from 98 to 2006, and Billy Cunningham in My Name is Earl from 2007 to 2008. So mainly on TV. She did do a couple of movies here and there. I think she was in Street Fighter like a, you know, ⁓ a huge movie star. She's ⁓ known more for her TV work. But I will say I did have a major crush on Alyssa Milano as a kid, so

Nicholas Pepin: I think most of us that are around the age that you and I are did.

Tim Williams: Yep, yep. So hurt as a kid that she was in this movie and enjoyed all the scenes that she was in. So ⁓ so yeah. It's just funny to see her like ⁓ young because like even most of my memories of like who's the boss, she's like a full like more of a teenager like, you know, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen here, she's gotta be like twelve or thirteen, so still much like a kid. but the most t you know, ⁓ I well I know I'm trying not I'm trying to stay on task, but we gotta talk about it because we're in there. The whole opening credit scene Excuse The whole opening credit scene, like I just wanted to put like the full house ⁓ theme behind it, you know. Or you or it it looked like the drug ads we have today, like all of the side effects would be announced while they're He's throwing around in the pool or like he's showing her the the fighting moves or they're having ice cream, like he's the best dad in the world. And like if you had Arnold Schwarzenegger as a dad, like is that really, you know, how you would act all the time? And it was just I mean, it it's there to show that they're close and they're you know, he loves his daughter. But even as a kid, I was like, This just seems weird. You know, I don't see Schwarzenegger as like the doting dad. It just, you know.

Nicholas Pepin: Well, and and like you you pointed out, like one of the one of the scenes that I have written down was just him coming out of the woods with an entire tree on his shoulder and a chainsaw. Like, come on. Like what the Yeah, you're right. It does seem like it's like that that that eighties sitcom opening where they got the theme song of, you know, Gimme a Break or, you know, any n and and like, you know, he's yeah.

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Family matters, yeah.

Nicholas Pepin: Yeah, he's he he turns around, he's got the tree on his on his shoulder and he does does like the thumb thumb ⁓ thumbs up or it's got that that soft wipe, you know.

Tim Williams: Yeah little thumbs up. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And I if I this memory every time I see that opening, this pops in my mind. of my friends, I don't remember who said it, but we were watching it one time and we were all like, ⁓ man, look how strong he is he's carrying that log. And he's like, No, you can see where they you can see the end where they cut a hole in it and it's hollow, so he's not even carrying the the tree's not full. And I'm like, So now every time I watched I'm I'm still trying to see the hole that the the guy was talking about, which I don't see anywhere, but I don't doubt that it was probably an arbitrap. I'm sure Schwarzenegger wasn't carrying a real full sized tree log. So

Nicholas Pepin: Although at this time that was when he was every movie had his like full weight. had his full weight bar set. So like he was, you know, he like you know, he was making you sh you know, do full racks of weights. So I mean he w he was squatting like four fifty or some ridiculous amount. So I could see them being like, I'm gonna carry a real tree regardless like they're like, no, we got this foam one. He's like, Nope, I'm picking up this real one.

Tim Williams: Yeah. True. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Right, right. man. Yeah. I mean, I couldn't find any I couldn't find any, you know, trivia about it or any behind the scenes, but maybe one day I'll find out if it was true or not. So not that this kid that lived in the suburbs of Atlanta knew that that was true or not. Just, you know, some older kid trying to s prove he was smart. So moving along. ⁓ then we got Our big bad Dan Hadea as General Arius, prolific actor for TV shows such as Cheers, Family Ties, and Mommy Vice. He was also prolific in movies like Buckaroo Bonsai, Running Scared, Clueless, Daylight, and A Night at the Roxbury. I mean, huge filmography for Dan Hadea. It was hard for me to see him as like the villain, though, like the serious role, because I remembered him more from comedies, even back then. So

Nicholas Pepin: Yes. Yeah.

Tim Williams: I still think of him as a comedic actor for sure.

Nicholas Pepin: Yeah, you don't tend to see him in serious movies very often.

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm.

Nicholas Pepin: so ⁓ yeah, I'm so used him being in comedies that seeing him in ⁓ in a I mean, I guess for lack of a better word, a drama. Like, you know, as a s as a serious villain, not the ham fisted villain that you know 'cause he can you know, he can be the like the bad guy kind of character, but you know like I mean I'm thinking like Clueless where there's no real bad guy in the movie but like he's kinda like the

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. Right, right. Mm-hmm. Right, right.

Nicholas Pepin: overbearing jerk father, but you know, like it's played to comedic effect. That that's what I'm used to seeing him more not not this over the top very oddly ⁓ villain.

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm, mm hmm. Mm-hmm. ⁓ so of initially the director wanted Raoul Julia for the role of Arius, but producer Joel Silver insisted on casting Dan Hedea. Writer Stephen E. D'Souza later wrote and directed Street Fighter in ninety four, which featured Julia as the main villain. So Different totally different styles, but Rawl Julia is really more known more for like serious at work. So I he might have been a little bit more believable.

Nicholas Pepin: I I don't think that's the part of the movie that anybody really focuses on, so and you could have put just about anybody in that role.

Tim Williams: Yeah. And yeah, and honestly, he's kind of the secondary villain because the next person we're gonna talk about was the real villain. And of course, that's Vernon Wells as Captain Bennett. and of course, ⁓ well known for playing Wes in the 1981 movie Mad Max 2, The Road Warrior. after Mad Max 2, he began appearing in Hollywood films such as Weird Science, which we've covered from eighty-five. And inner space from nineteen eighty seven. So

Nicholas Pepin: And what what was that shirt that he was wearing in this movie? Like what w Like the mustache is one choice, but the the sh that the outfit made sense to me.

Tim Williams: Yeah. Right. Yeah, it's pretty and it's almost Mad Max ish. It's not fully Mad Max, but but it fun fact, he was not the original actor cast to play Bennett. He auditioned for the role but lost to Wings Hauser. On the first day of filming, however, director Mark L Lester fired Hauser and hired Wells. This is the reason that Bennett's clothes seemed too tight because Wells was bigger than Hauser and the production didn't have time to make a new costume. But Vernon Wells did describe his look as quote unquote Freddy Mercury on steroids, I think is pretty accurate. Pretty accurate. ⁓

Nicholas Pepin: Yes. Pretty accurate, yeah.

Tim Williams: Yeah. So yeah, the whole chain like Yeah, it's just weird. It's but you know.

Nicholas Pepin: Yeah, like at first I thought it was chain mail, but then I'm like, No, that's just like a knit, like sweater vest kind of yeah, it it was it it's a choice. It's it's

Tim Williams: Yeah. ⁓ yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's a choice. Yeah. I mean, you've got we got to a Bill Duke as one of the, you know, henchmen in a full three-point suit, and then you've got Bennett over here looking like he just came back from a a ⁓ in somebody's basement. So it's crazy. All right, David Patrick Kelly as Sully, one of my favorite characters, best known as the main antagonist, Luther in the cult film The Warriors in 79. He's also known for collaborations with Spikely in films like Malcolm X, Crooklin, and Chirac. He's also been with David Lynch in Wild Wild at Heart, as well as Twin Peaks. His other credits include roles in Forty Eight Hours in 82, The Crow in 94, Last Band Standing in 96, The Longest Yard remake in 2005, and a recurring role in The Blacklist. But yeah.

Nicholas Pepin: He's kinda one of those that guys. Like you're like, ⁓ I've seen him.

Tim Williams: ⁓ for sure, for sure.

Nicholas Pepin: I've seen him somewhere and you know and then you look you look at the list and you're like, ⁓ I've seen him everywhere like that's

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. I've rew we haven't covered Forty Eight Hours yet on the show, but I watched Forty Eight Hours a couple of years ago. Two two things very s the soundtrack is identical. They use the same music in both movies. Not sure why. There I think there's a reason, but I don't remember. But he's in both movies and he's basically playing the same character in both ma both movies. So it's almost like and I don't think he dies in that one. So I'm like, this was like, you know, y ⁓ in the same universe, maybe. So I don't know. It'll be when I when I go back and c when I go back and cover forty eight hours, maybe I'll watch the two movies back to back and see if I can find any real connections, but ⁓ but yeah.

Nicholas Pepin: Okay. All right.

Tim Williams: ⁓ the director wanted Arnold Schwarzen Schwarzenegger to dangle David Patrick Kelly Kell I can talk. Director Mark L. Lester really wanted Arnold Schwarzenegger to dangle David Patrick Kelly over the edge without any help. Arnold looked at him and said, Are you crazy? So they used a crane to hang Sully off the cliff. I'm like, surely that's not him really holding him over a cliff, but you know.

Nicholas Pepin: Yeah, I mean I think for once Arnold was the smart one here, not the director. Like like could Arnold have done it? Yes. Would it have been safe and smart? No.

Tim Williams: Yeah. Right. Probably, yeah. No, not at all. at all. So but that was one of my favorite scenes as a kid. We all look we all looked forward to that scene of Arnold holding him over the cliff. So remember I told you I'd kill you last? Yeah, and made sure she did. I lied. So great lines. All right, I mentioned before Bill Duke Bill Duke as cook. He began his career as a theater actor. he in this movie and Predator. With Arnold Schwarzenegger. He also appeared in other films like Bird on a Wire in nineteen ninety, Minister to Society in ninety three, X-Men The Last P Stand in 2006, and Mandy with Nick Cage in 2018. So prolific actor, also a director. He directed Sister Act Two, Back in the Habit. So he's done a little directing here and there, but I liked him better in Predator, but he's just that menacing character.

Nicholas Pepin: He does he does good at what he does.

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. My favorite scene with him is when he steals the car at the at the the car dealership.

Nicholas Pepin: ⁓ yeah.

Tim Williams: Ha ha. All right, let's see. I'm gonna skip over him. So this is a name that I recognized. You may not remember her at all. ⁓ maybe you will. Chelsea Field as the brunette stewardess. Blink and you miss it. ⁓ she started as a ⁓ gold dancer, and one of the first television roles she had was on Airwolf. But she's most known for playing Tila in the 1987 adaptation of Masters of the Universe.

Nicholas Pepin: Okay. I've seen I I've seen I I I saw her name pop up a lot when they're like this was her first movie and I'm like Who is she? ⁓ Okay, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. Alright, I've I've definitely seen her, but like she doesn't really like she's not somebody who immediately pops to mind when I think of eighty stars.

Tim Williams: Okay. Mm-hmm. Right, right. Yeah. Yeah. She yeah. She also played Bruce Willis's wife in The Last Boy Scout, which is what I probably remember her the most from. I've seen that movie more than I've seen Masters of the Universe, but other Blinkin You Miss It early role for Bill Paxton. He's the intercept officer. Of course we talked about Bill Paxton as well. Well known actor, gone too soon.

Nicholas Pepin: ⁓ yeah.

Tim Williams: And then the last one I'll mention is Brancombe Richmond as Vega, a very small role here, but most people know him as Body Six Killer on the American Syndicated drama series Renegade from 92 to 97. And he also had starring roles on the TV series Hawaiian Heat in '84 and Heart of the City from 86 to 87. Just one of the henchmen basically that's there for five minutes. So

Nicholas Pepin: Okay, yeah. I mean I I remember him from so many other things, but I don't remember him from this movie.

Tim Williams: Yeah. looks different. He's younger in this for sure than he wa I mean I remembered him from Renegade, but he's definitely younger. And it's once again, he's barely in the movie. So but yeah, that's that's who I have for Cast. Anybody else that I didn't mention?

Nicholas Pepin: No no, I I you know, there's there's a lot of blinking you miss some people, but there's nothing really that other than Bill Paxton who you're like, wait, was that Like, hold on now, was that really I mean he it's one of those like he was definitely a nobody when he did that and like they were like, Hey look, now we have Bill Paxton in this movie.

Tim Williams: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hm. Mm-hmm. And honestly, like 'cause you hear his voice before you see his face. So I recognize the voice immediately. But then when they showed his face, and it's really dark, it's not a really good it's hard to kind of see him like really clearly on the version that I was looking at. but yeah. I mean he's in he's you know, blink you know, he's the beginning of Terminator. So I don't know if Schwarzenegger like, Hey, I know this guy, he was in a sm had a small part in Terminator, we can throw him in this too, so but but yeah. He's he's known as the only guy that's been killed by an alien, a terminator, and predator.

Nicholas Pepin: Okay.

Tim Williams: 'Cause he's in Aliens, he was in Ter first Terminator, he was in Predator two, so

Nicholas Pepin: That's right, yeah. Okay. I said there's so many of those movies now, I'm just there's gotta be other people, but if that's what the research says then you know.

Tim Williams: Ha ha Yeah. That's what the internet told me, so I gotta believe ⁓ All right, well let's talk about iconic and favorite scenes. So if someone says to you commando, what's the first scene that pops in your head?

Nicholas Pepin: ⁓ well we've already discussed the carrying of the tree and the breaking of the guy's neck, so what else? ⁓ okay. So they disable this car so that he ⁓ he can't drive after them. So he just literally pushes it down the cliff, jumps in it, and uses it as a weapon anyway. And then of course we get the prerequisite eighties thing of when it gets to the bottom of the cliff, he jumps out, it goes further, and then it blows up for

Tim Williams: Ha ha ha. Yes, yes. Yes. Right, right. Yeah.

Nicholas Pepin: No reason whatsoever. Yeah, but I just I just love he's like you disabled my car, I'll still use it as a weapon.

Tim Williams: Mhm. And obviously if the if the engine's gonna start the brakes don't work either because he couldn't slow down for anything. So that was you know. Yeah. For me a couple of iconic scenes for me. One is the of ⁓ Ray Don Chong with the rocket launcher when she shoots it backwards and then turns around. And then I'm and even in that like were you trying to blow up the vehicle that he was in? Wouldn't that kill him if you did that? Like why would you use it? But I mean thankfully she's a terrible shot and it goes under the truck and knocks the truck over.

Nicholas Pepin: yeah.

Tim Williams: And of course Schwarzenegger comes out without a scratch, you know. the

Nicholas Pepin: That does give us the one of the great lines of how did you know how to use it? I read the instruction manual.

Tim Williams: Yeah. R right, right, right. the other iconic scene we have talked kind of talked about of him coming out of the woods with the log and then of course the going know, once he gets on the beach and he know, it's like that classic eighties montage of him putting all his weapons ⁓ on, you his knife in his in his in in one thing, putting on the grenades on his I don't know what do you call it.

Nicholas Pepin: Vandalier, I'm guessing?

Tim Williams: But yeah, there you yeah, that's what you call it. Yeah. and then he's putting the the the black paint on his face to camouflage. So ⁓

Nicholas Pepin: Yeah, I I I I clocked that one as like I've got very limited time before they figure out something but you know what I'm gonna do? Take the time to get completely ready and put eye black and paint face paint, like what? I'm gonna take this extra ten minutes to do all this work, like I gotta be ready.

Tim Williams: Right. Right. Right, right. 'Cause you've 'cause you've got to be camouflage when you're attacking a house that has a clear that has a clear back you know, backyard with very little tree coverage, but you know. It looked cool for the poster though. All right, what about favorite scenes?

Nicholas Pepin: Yes. did really like the the one scene at the mall when ⁓ when Ray Don Chong is like, this big guy is out to get me and then the the cops start coming at him. But I did how I mean he and he goes over and he picks up the ⁓ the phone booth and just like pick is just like but then I got to thinking like just wave after wave after wave and I was like how many cops are at

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Are there at the small?

Nicholas Pepin: at this mall, like I mean you gotta figure most malls had one or two, but this mall had like forty fi didn't ⁓ didn't I read somewhere that this was the same mall from Fast Time?

Tim Williams: Right. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. No, it is, let's see. It was in it was in Terminator two and Inner Space.

Nicholas Pepin: There it was another movie that you okay. I knew there was another movie that you and I had done together, Inner Space. Yeah. Apparently apparently they didn't have cops at the inner space time, so they were like, ⁓ we gotta load up so people don't get injected for things. But but yeah, no, it was there were so many cops.

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. Inner space, yep. Ha ha ha. Right, right. Yeah. And he beats them all. Like I love I love the scene where they're all like on top of him and then I'll he just does the like his two arms go up and everybody goes flying off of him. So like, you know, just eighties eighties cheese action. So it all makes sense. Him swinging from the second floor with the plastic whatever decorations. You know, that that this'll hold me. I'm I'm a light guy, so

Nicholas Pepin: Yeah. ⁓ yeah. Yeah.

Tim Williams: ⁓ yeah. I think I kinda talked about my favorite scenes alright already. ⁓ I you know, I always like the Sully scene. I like the opening scene with the you know, the ⁓ the garbage truck, the the car dealership excuse me. I'm trying to think if there's another scene that stands out, but those are the those are like the main ones. I the fight scene at the end with him and Vernon Wells is pretty good, you know. not the not the greatest fight scene. And I you know, and let's let's talk about Vernon Wells for a second. Dude not holding anything back. Like you want somebody to be crazy? I'm gonna be as crazy as you w I mean ⁓ I he's just so such the the top villain that it almost makes it like a comedy by the end.

Nicholas Pepin: Yes. Yeah, because, you know, he's Yeah, no, you're right. I mean it was just it was he was like I'm gonna ham it up and I'm gonna I'm gonna try to out I mean this is really before Arnold is Arnold but like is it's like this is the this is the movie they used as a blueprint for all Arnold movies going forward with the one liners and and the and the you know the over the top not violence but over the top like you know just like 'cause I did I did take note of it at some point

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. ⁓ yeah, ⁓ for sure.

Nicholas Pepin: He does look at Ray Don Chang and say, I'll be back. Right?

Tim Williams: He does. He also says it to Bennett when he d when they drop him off at the airport.

Nicholas Pepin: Okay, or that's when he says it, but he definitely he definitely says it. So I was like, wait, how many So I went through and I I researched it. It's at least twenty one Arnold movies. He says I'll be back or some variation of like I I'll be right back or I'll be back or you know. Yeah, so twenty one Arnold movies he says I'll be back.

Tim Williams: Yeah, yeah. ⁓ yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Hey, that was that was the line that made him a star. So of course they're gonna they're gonna refer back to it. Because they gotta use it in the trailer, right? So ⁓ yeah. All right, well let's jump into some trivia, some other behind the scenes stuff, maybe ⁓ jog our memory. I don't know if I knew this. ⁓ I didn't I haven't shared this with Laramie yet, but the film was inspired by DC Comics character Sgt. Rock.

Nicholas Pepin: Right.

Tim Williams: Which star Arnold Schwarzenegger and producer Joel Silver had long attempted to make into a movie. Screenwriter Jeff Loeb had written for comics and gave Sergeant Rock's first name Franklin to General Kirby and the middle name John to Matrix. So.

Nicholas Pepin: I mean I had read that too. I mean Sergeant Rock is one of those like kind of forgotten characters at this point in comic history. Like I think he used to be bigger, but I don't know if he was he was never like Superman, Spider Man, Batman level. But like I think at one point when, you know, he was 'cause I think he's definitely in the non superhero side of comics. Like

Tim Williams: Mm-hmm. ⁓ of course, yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Nicholas Pepin: But yeah, no, I I I I am aware that they have tried to do Sergeant Rock stuff in the past and it's just never made it for whatever reason.

Tim Williams: other piece of trivia. Arias said to be a deposed dictator from the country of Valverde. Valverde is a fictionalized Latin America country used by Hollywood in the eighties and early nineties to depict a Spanish-speaking country similar to Cuba or Nicaragua without encountering diplomatic problems. It is also referenced in films Predator, Die Hard Two, and the made-for-TV movie Deadly Enemy Deadly Enemies from nineteen eighty eight. So Just in case you're trying to find Valverde on the map, you will not find it there.

Nicholas Pepin: No, I I wasn't, but I I f I didn't realize they had used it in that many other places.

Tim Williams: Right, right. we talked about how the Sherman Oaks Galleria Mall was used in other films, but the mansion for the final shootout, do you know what other movie that was featured in?

Nicholas Pepin: No, but I do remember reading it was owned by somebody famed Buster not Buster Keaton.

Tim Williams: No, Harold Lloyd.

Nicholas Pepin: Harold Lloyd. I knew of some other famous

Tim Williams: Yep. Yep. But it's the same it's the same mansion where Axel Foley and Victor Maitland face off in Beverly Hills Cup in eighty four.

Nicholas Pepin: ⁓ okay. All right.

Tim Williams: ⁓ so originally in the script the movie would end with Bennett fleeing from the island on a speedboat with Jenny while Matrix chases after them before Matrix and Bennett would engage each other in hand to can hand to hand combat on a beach. However it was dropped due to the production running out of money and changed to Matrix and Bennett fighting in the crammed basement. But then we wouldn't have gotten the line. Let off some steam, Bennett. So it worked out. All right, let's talk about box office. The film debuted at number one on the weekend of October fourth, nineteen eighty-five, United States, and spent three consecutive weeks at the top position. I looked at other movies released that week and there were not many. Nun no none were that were worth mentioning. So ⁓ didn't have any real stiff competition for for that. So

Nicholas Pepin: Ha ha ha.

Tim Williams: Alright, well now it's time to see where this movie ranks on the rewatchability and nostalgia meter. It's our way of determining how ⁓ well movie's held up ⁓ for multiple viewings and how much nostalgia it brings. It's scale of one to ten. how it works. At the bottom of the scale is a number one, which means I saw it once and that was enough. Right in the middle is a five means it's a good rewatch every couple of years. And the top, if you get to a perfect ten, it's the highly coveted means it's highly rewatchable and full of nostalgia. So, Nicholas, for you, where does commando land for you on the rewatchability and nostalgia meter?

Nicholas Pepin: See now I shouldn't give it that high of a score because I don't have a lot of nostalgia for it, but I'm I think I'm gonna give it a seven. ⁓ I mean it's a solid movie. I mean it's fun. It's just it's not good. well it's not it's not great. It is a good movie. There's so many plot holes like we talked about and so much but it's so much fun and so cheesy. And it's I mean it is Arnold ⁓ at the beginning, but it's Arnold at you know, kind of Arnold's best.

Tim Williams: Ha Okay. Right, right. Mm-hmm. ⁓ yeah. Yeah.

Nicholas Pepin: Yeah. So yeah, I feel like a a good re ⁓ it's not one I'm gonna watch every, you know, like once a year or every every weekend, but like, you know, every couple years, yeah, absolutely I'm gonna watch this.

Tim Williams: Yeah. I'm right there with you. I was gonna give it a seven as well, and honestly it's kind of the other kind of the other way around because the nostalgia's what pushes it up for me because I saw it so much as a kid, but it's not really one that I tend to rewatch very much. Like I said, I'm gonna put in Predator or I'm gonna put in Running Man, I'm gonna put in True Lies, even though that's not a eighties movie, when I'm thinking about Schwarzenegger. So but it's one I would I I would still watch it every couple of years. It's like I said, it's not one that I'm gonna watch every year. It's not that high for me, but it's a fun watch. It's not long. It's ⁓ mindless entertainment. You can have it on, you know, look up for the action sequences, go back to whatever game you're playing on your phone or scrolling on doom scrolling on your phone ⁓ while dialogue is happening. and still don't feel like you really missed anything. So but yeah. So ⁓ let know where it

Nicholas Pepin: Yeah.

Tim Williams: ranks for you the rewatchability nostalgia meter so you can send us a message on social media send us an email at 80s flick flashback i'm sorry info at 80s flick flashback dot com or you can leave us a comment right here in the comment section if you're watching us on YouTube. So well I think we've covered all there is to cover on commando what's going on over at Pop Culture Roulette this month.

Nicholas Pepin: we're in a bit of a hiatus right now. some personal things have come up and and just some other schedules. but ⁓ I we've got a couple of big brackets lined up here. I just don't know what the proper order of ⁓ is gonna be just yet, so I don't wanna say anything. But we are gonna do we just finished off a a name game series where we where where we did ⁓ what's who the real actor's name, the real movie name, and then the real band name.

Tim Williams: Gotcha. Gotcha. Yeah, I saw that, it was good. Mm-hmm.

Nicholas Pepin: Like you had to say you had to figure that out. But so that was a fun little series that we just did. But now we're definitely getting back to our bread and butter of brackets here pretty soon. So

Tim Williams: Ha ha ha. Very cool. We'll definitely check out Pop Culture Roulette on your favorite podcast, Catcher. And ⁓ appreciate you, Nicholas, for joining in. So that's a wrap on today's episode of the 80s Flick Flashback Podcast. If you had as much fun as we did, please show us some love with an awesome review and a shiny five-star rating on Apple Podcasts. Don't forget to hit that follow or subscribe button and spread the word to all your 80s Flick loving pals. If you've got questions or just want to chat about your favorite flicks, you can reach out to us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. And if you're feeling super cool, why not support the show over at buymacoffee.com? Plus, you can totally rock some killer 80s flick flashback gear and original designs by checking out our online store at 80sflickflashback.com and tpublic.com for all your nostalgic swag. Thanks again for tuning in. I'm Tim Williams for the 80s Flick Flashback Podcast. I eat green berries for breakfast, and right now I'm very hungry.

Nicholas Pepin: Yeah.