Friday, July 27, 2007

6 Reasons to love the movie "Commando"

The movie "Commando" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger is quite possibly the greatest 1980's action flick of all time. Some may argue for other serious action movies, but in all reality, the 80's action genre is personified by cheesy dialogue, over the top action sequences, one man vs innumerable enemies, the one main "bad guy", and above all... catchphrases.

This is why I think 1985's "Commando" serves as the apex of 80's action cheese. It had Arnold at his peak. It had the ultimate "that girl" in Rae Dawn Chong. It had a venerable child star in Alyssa Milano. It had 1,000 trained guerillas against one John Matrix. It had the one "bad guy" in Bennett. And of course, it had the catchphrase ...

So rather than write out my top 6 reasons to love "Commando", I enlisted the help of YouTube.

So here you go:

1. Matrix's Intro.



Seriously, is there a better intro than to show Matrix's huge arms walking purposefully through the forrest carrying a chain-saw and a FRIGGIN TREE over his shoulder? Just awesome.


2. Matrix doesnt fuck around.



This cheesy villian thinks he can smooth-talk John Matrix into co-operating? Not when he sees the culprits driving away with his beloved (and freshly kidnapped) daughter in tow.


3. Sully



This greasy weasel is the prototypical bad guy middle man. Willing to turn on anyone at a moment's notice, he gets his courtesy John Matrix. Fantastic.


4. Shopping



When I was a kid, this scene was awesome. Shopping sprees were one thing, but to raid a Surplus store for Commando-esque gear and then bust into the hidden back room full of automatic firearms and rocket launchers? Oooh man -- that was the ultimate!


5. Toolshed scene



Ok, so serveral of these Guerillas have Matrix cornered in a toolshed. They riddle it with bullets from all sides, and when one lone dude approaches to confirm Matrix's demise - he gets it with a pitchfork. Throwing the circular saw blade and cutting off the dude's head is just another example of how bad-ass John Matrix is!


6. The final battle



Why didnt Bennett just shoot him? Instead he let Matrix goad him into a hand to hand battle and ends up getting (albeit with style) in the end. One of Arnold's classic lines finishes up that scene.

So there you have it. My top 6 Reasons to love the movie "Commando". Dont you dare disagree with me on any of these points, or I'll sic John Matrix on your ass.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Damn. I love this commercial.