Buckle up and get ready to hit the road with two young women who’ve stumbled upon a mysterious briefcase full of trouble! A new Drive-Away Dolls trailer is barreling down the information highway today, with plenty of kooky characters hitchhiking aboard the new comedy co-written by husband and wife duo Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke.
The Ethan Coen-directed comedy revolves around Jamie (Margaret Qualley), an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her timid friend Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan), who desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way.
Beanie Feldstein, Pedro Pascal, Colman Domingo, Bill Camp, and Matt Damon join Qualley and Viswanathan for Coen and Cooke’s unique crime caper, with Focus Features handling domestic distribution. Meanwhile, Universal Pictures will bring the film overseas. Robert Graf, Tim Bevan, and Eric Fellner join Coen and Cooke as producers.
In the new Drive-Away Dolls trailer, Jamie and Marian discover a mysterious briefcase in the trunk of a beat-up car, changing their lives forever. Knowing the contents of the suitcase could invite trouble; they look anyway, better judgment be damned! Unaware of the Pandora’s box they’ve opened, the girls quickly find themselves in a madcap chase for possession of the stolen goods. Elsewhere, the dealer, hitmen, a senator, the boss, and a cop get wind of the mayhem, with none of them safe from bullets, buffoonery, or backstabbing.
Margaret Qualley plays Pussycat in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. Still, her role as Ann Reinking in Fosse/Verdon put her on the map. She’s starred in several films and TV series since, with her role as Alex Russell in Maid being one of her best yet. In 2022, she played Trish in Stars at Noon and Rebecca in Zachary Wigon’s dramatic thriller Sanctuary.
Meanwhile, Viswanathan made her mark in 2018’s Blockers, the Kay Canon-directed comedy starring John Cena, Leslie Mann, and Ike Barinholtz. She’s starred in several films and television shows since, including a 23-episode run on the TBS comedy Miracle Workers as Alexandra Shitshoveler, Prudence Aberdeen, and Eliza Freya Exaltada.
After getting bumped around because of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA stikes, Drive-Away Dolls pulls into theaters on February 23, 2024.
Despite no longer being a part of Yellowstone’s next season, Kevin Costner seems to be busier than ever. First up, he’s got a two-part Western epic called Horizon: An American Saga that’s coming out this summer (Chapter 1 comes out June 28th, Chapter 2 on August 16th), and now, Deadline is reporting that the actor’s got another “longtime passion project” ready to roll. While there are no specifics on what it may be, Costner is set to produce and star in the untitled film, with the director of his 2016 thriller Criminal, Ariel Vromen, at the helm.
In the article, no specifics are given, although Costner has been open about certain long-planned projects in the past. One is his book, The Explorer’s Guild, which he wrote with his Horizon collaborator Jon Baird and was called an Indiana Jones-style globetrotting adventure. It could be anything, although given Vromen’s track record, which includes based-on-fact thrillers, The Iceman (with Michael Shannon) and Netflix’s The Angel, we’re thinking it might be something less fantastical and more reality-based, perhaps even in the vein of his JFK (we recently revisited that Oliver Stone classic) or Thirteen Days?
If you haven’t seen it, Vromen’s Criminal is a pretty wild movie. In it, Costner plays a killer who is implanted with the memories of a dead spy (played by Ryan Reynolds), and I remember it being a cool little action movie that not too many people saw. This was a shame as it reteamed Costner for the first time with two of his JFK co-stars, Gary Oldman and Tommy Lee Jones. Vromen’s The Iceman is also worth checking out, with Michael Shannon delivering a menacing performance as real-life mob hitman Richard Kuklinski, who claimed to have murdered anywhere from 100-200 men for the mob.
While I wish he’d agree to tie up his arc as John Dutton on the ever-popular Yellowstone, it’s good to hear Costner is staying busy. Hopefully, his upcoming passion projects live up to his expectations.
Hickory-dickory-dock, the Dice Man is teaming up with Eddie Murphy for a heist comedy, eliciting excitement and shock. Andrew Dice Clay (A Star Is Born, Warrior Strong, Pam & Tommy) is bringing his signature comedy brand to The Pickup, an upcoming film directed by Tim Story (The Blackening, Barbershop, Fantastic Four) for Amazon MGM Studios.
Written by Matt Mider (Gentlemen Lobsters, The Package) and Kevin Burrows (The Package, The Croods), The Pickup also stars Pete Davidson (The King of Staten Island, The Suicide Squad) and Keke Palmer (Nope, Hustlers), with the project angling for a Prime Video release in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. Plot details remain a mystery, though with Clay and Murphy at the wheel, The Pickup is sure to entertain.
In addition to his directorial duties, Story produces through his The Story Company banner, with Davis Entertainment’s John Davis and John Fox, and Murphy and Charisse Hewitt-Webster via Eddie Murphy Productions. The Story Company’s Vicky Mara Story, Davis Entertainment’s Jeremy Stein, Kevin Burrows, Ross Fanger, and Matt Mider executive produce.
Many know Andrew Dice Clay as the foul-mouthed comedian of the 1980s. I remember watching Clay reciting naughty nursery rhymes on stage, thinking, “Wow! I should not be hearing these sorts of things right now. Even I know I am far too young.” Despite my living a taboo by watching Clay do his thing, his rise to fame in the era of big hair, leather jackets, and goomba comedy was meteoric. He’d easily sell out world-famous venues like Madison Square Garden while releasing one platinum record after the next. He was a king of the comedy stage with specials for HBO and Showtime, earning himself the reputation of being a ratings darling.
In addition to his comedy chops, Andrew Dice Clay is a solid actor with several character roles. He appears in films like The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Blue Jasmine, A Star Is Born, and Warrior Strong, with roles in Vinyl, Gravesend, The Blacklist, Entourage, and Pam & Tommy, bringing him to the small screen.
What do you think about Andrew Dice Clay joining the cast of The Pickup? Will Clay and Murphy have great comedic chemistry together? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
We’re just one month away from the March 8th theatrical release date of the horror film Imaginary, the latest team-up between Blumhouse and director Jeff Wadlow – who had previously collaborated on the 2018 film Truth or Dare and the 2020 horror version of Fantasy Island. With that date swiftly approaching, a new trailer for Imaginary has arrived online, and you can check it out in the embed above.
The film sees DeWanda Wise of Jurassic World: Dominion taking on the role of Jessica, who moves back into her childhood home with her family, and her youngest stepdaughter Alice develops an eerie attachment to a stuffed bear named Chauncey. Alice starts playing games with Chauncey that become increasingly sinister. As Alice’s behavior becomes more concerning, Jessica intervenes, only to realize Chauncey is much more than the stuffed toy bear she believes him to be.
Wadlow wrote the screenplay for Imaginary with Greg Erb and Jason Oremland. An earlier synopsis we saw made it sound like a horror take on the 1991 comedy Drop Dead Fred: A young woman returns to her childhood home only to discover that the imaginary friend she left behind is very real and very unhappy she left.
The director had this to say about working with Wise: “DeWanda has been more than a star on this movie — she has been a full creative partner. So much of horror grows out of our most basic fears from childhood, and DeWanda taps into all of that. You know that old saying that the audience’s imagination is scarier than any movie? We’re going to put that to the test.“
Lionsgate and Blumhouse are co-financing Imaginary. Lionsgate and Blumhouse previously worked together on the 2012 release Sinister. Wadlow is producing the film alongside Blumhouse founder Jason Blum.
In addition to Truth or Dare and Fantasy Island, Wadlow has also directed Cry_Wolf, Never Back Down, Kick-Ass 2,True Memoirs of an International Assassin, and The Curse of Bridge Hollow, as well as episodes of TV shows like Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television and Are You Afraid of the Dark?
What did you think of the new trailer for Imaginary? Will you be watching this movie when it reaches theatres next month? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
Back in March of 2022, it was announced that Jonathan Majors was set to star in and executive produce the psychological thriller The Man in My Basement, which is based on the Walter Mosley novel of the same name (pick up a copy HERE) and would mark the feature debut of writer/director Nadia Latif. But then, as we all know, things fell apart with Majors in a major way… but at least Latif is still pushing The Man in My Basement forward. Majors is no longer involved with the project, but Variety reports that it’s going to star Corey Hawkins (The Last Voyage of the Demeter), Willem Dafoe (Poor Things), and Hawkins’ 24: Legacy co-star Anna Diop.
Hawkins is taking on the role of Charles Blakey, a man living in the African American neighborhood of Sag Harbor, who is out of work, out of luck and on the verge of foreclosure on his ancestral home. A knock on the door from a mysterious white businessman, Anniston Bennet (Dafoe), brings a bizarre and lucrative proposition; rent his dusty stand-up basement out and receive enough money to clear his debts for good. Once Charles accepts, he finds himself led down a terrifying path that confronts his family’s ghosts and locks the men in a terrifying puzzle, at the heart of it race, the source of their traumas, and the root of all evil.
Diop will be playing Narciss Gully, a local academic and antiques expert who is passionate about having African American histories told – particularly the history of African American women. When she meets Charles Blakey and is introduced to what he pulls out of his basement, she realizes his family history may be what she’s always been looking for.
The Man in My Basement is coming our way from Protagonist Pictures, Good Gate Media, and Mosley and producer Diane Houslin’s banner B.O.B. FilmHouse. Andscape is providing the financing, so the film will be released through the Hulu streaming service, thanks to Andscape’s existing partnership with them.
Does The Man in My Basement sound interesting to you? What do you think of the cast Nadia Latif has assembled for the film? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
Earlier, it was revealed that Miles Teller of Whiplash and Top Gun: Maverick was in talks to join Antoine Fuqua’s Michael Jackson biopic, Michael. It was yet to be known as whom, but the speculation was that Teller would possibly play John Branca — Jackson’s high-powered attorney. Lionsgate, the studio behind Michael, has confirmed in a press release that Teller will, in fact, be playing Branca in the controversial musical biopic. Teller joins a cast that includes Michael’s real nephew, Jaafar Jackson, in the gigantic task of portraying the King of Pop, Colman Domingo as Joe Jackson, Nia Long as Katherine Jackson and Juliano Krue Valdi as Michael at a younger age.
The film is currently in production with Graham King, the Oscar-winning producer of such films as Bohemian Rhapsody, The Departed and The Aviator, on board as producer. The script comes from three-time Academy Award-nominated screenwriter John Logan. King would comment on the casting of Teller, saying, “Miles is a compelling screen presence, whom I’ve admired since watching him in Whiplash. He’s the perfect actor to capture John’s enigmatic persona. From our earliest development conversations, it was clear the emotional connection that John still has to Michael. He graciously allowed us to use him as a character in the film, and I’m thrilled that it’s Miles who will portray a relationship that extended over three decades, through Michael’s greatest triumphs and most difficult days.”
Fuqua adds, “Miles’ finely tuned skills as an actor are up to the challenge of playing a man who is being examined for the pivotal role he played in Michael Jackson’s life. He is the perfect actor to disappear into the role of John Branca.”
The press release also states that “Michael will bring audiences a riveting and honest portrayal of the brilliant yet complicated man who became known worldwide as the King of Pop. The film presents his triumphs and tragedies on an epic, cinematic scale — from his human side and personal struggles to his undeniable creative genius, captured by his most iconic performances. As never before, audiences will experience an inside look into one of the most influential, trailblazing artists the world has ever known.”
Michael will also be produced by the co-executors of the Michael Jackson estate, John Branca and John McClain. Lionsgate is distributing the film domestically, while Universal Pictures International will handle all territories apart from Japan, which Lionsgate will oversee.
Lionsgate and Universal Pictures International have slated the worldwide release for April 18th, 2025.
Every few months, someone seems to ask either the show’s creator Bryan Fuller or series star Mads Mikkelsen what’s going on with their hoped-for revival of Hannibal. Eight years have gone by since NBC cancelled the television series, which was inspired by characters in novels by Thomas Harris, after its third season, but Fuller, Mikkelsen, and fellow star Hugh Dancy have always let it be known that they’re hoping to reunite to make a fourth season at a new home. Eight months ago, Mikkelsen said, “It’s all about finding a home for it. Of course, we’re running out of time. We can’t wait twenty years, but in the next couple of years, if somebody finds a home, I think we’re all ready to take it up again.” Now, during an interview with Business Insider, Mikkelsen has given an update, saying there’s still nothing concrete going on regarding the revival.
Mikkelsen and Fuller did recently get together to make a horror movie called Dust Bunny, and Hannibal came up when Business Insider asked if they had any conversations about the revival while working on that movie. Mikkelsen answered, “It’s no secret that all of us who were part of the cast and Bryan, we all want to go back. It’s got to happen eventually sooner than later because we’re not getting any younger, right? But the story itself can jump, it can have that gap, which is fine. So it’s all about finding a home for it, but that’s nothing concrete out there now. Why that’s the case? I don’t know. We love the show and there seem to be a lot of other people liking it as well. But then I got the chance to work with him on Dust Bunny, so I got a little whiff of the old times.“
When asked where he thinks the story would pick up in the long-awaited new season, Mikkelsen said, “He’s got a few ideas, Bryan. So I can’t really reveal any, in case we do start, but I’m sure (Hannibal Lecter and Will Graham) made it somehow.“
Hannibal focused on the relationship between FBI special investigator Will Graham (Dancy) and Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Mikkelsen), a forensic psychiatrist destined to become Graham’s most cunning enemy and at the same time, the only person who can understand him.
Mikkelsen and Dancy were joined in the cast by Caroline Dhavernas, Hettienne Park, Laurence Fishburne, Scott Thompson, Aaron Abrams, and Gillian Anderson.
Fuller executive produced Hannibal with Martha De Laurentiis, Sidonie Dumas, Christophe Riandee, Katie O’Connell, Elisa Roth, Sara Colleton, David Slade, Chris Brancato, Jesse Alexander, Michael Rymer, and Steve Lightfoot. The writers on the show included Channel Zero creator Nick Antosca and Child’s Play / Chucky franchise mastermind Don Mancini.
Fuller is currently working on Crystal Lake, a TV show based on the Friday the 13th franchise that’s set up at Peacock.
Are you a fan of the Hannibal TV series, and would you like to see it get a revival season? Are you disappointed that there’s still nothing concrete going on? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.
Department Q, the popular Danish crime novel, has seen a film series adaptation since 2013’s Danish film, Department Q: The Keeper of Lost Causes. It would then be followed by 2014’s Department Q: The Absent One. Then, that installment would be followed by 2016’s Department Q: A Conspiracy of Faith. Those would then proceed with 2018’s Journal 64, 2021’s The Macro Effect and the upcoming Boundless. Additionally, Netflix will be producing a series based on the crime novels.
Deadline has just unveiled the cast for the upcoming Department Q Netflix show. The series, which is based on author Jussi Adler-Olsen’s popular works, is currently filming in Scotland. Matthew Goode, who is known for Antony Armstrong Jones in season two of Left Bank’s regal drama The Crown, has been cast as DCI Carl Morck, along with Chloe Pirrie, who you may know from The Queen’s Gambit, plays ruthless and ambitious prosecutor Merrit Lingard. Kelly Macdonald has been cast as Dr. Rachel Irving, a therapist tasked with getting officers back on the front line. Alexej Manvelov will be portraying Syrian cop Akram Salim, who was forced to flee to Europe and ultimately becomes part of the new department. Leah Byrne has been cast as Rose, a star police cadet left shaken by a breakdown and looking for a chance to prove herself in DCI Morck’s team.
The synopsis per Deadline says, “After a violent incident turns Morck’s life upside down, the emotionally scarred detective is charged with setting up cold case unit, Department Q, upon his return to work. At first, the disillusioned cop is happy to waste his days away, but his detective instincts are ultimately reawakened and his new department becomes a magnet for a crew of misfits and mavericks.”
Department Q will be headed up by showrunner Scott Frank of The Queen’s Gambit. Frank has also written the series along with Chandni Lakhani, Stephen Greenhorn and Colette Kane. Frank will additionally direct the first two episodes of the eight installments. Filming is underway and taking place in Edinburgh, where the show will be set.
True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto was the mastermind behind the first three seasons of the HBO anthology crime series, but he’s not creatively involved in the latest season, True Detective: Night Country, despite retaining an executive producer credit on the show. He has made his lack of involvement with the new season very clear on social media, where he even went so far as to refer to one element of the new episodes as “stupid”. True Detective: Night Country comes to us from Tigers Are Not Afraid filmmaker Issa López, who directed and co-wrote all six episodes of the season. To find out what Lopez thought of Pizzolatto’s comments, Vulture reached out to her – and did get a response.
Screen caps of the comments Pizzolatto has made can be found on reddit. In response to a fan who said “I really hope Matthew (McConaughey) had enough respect for what you all did with season 1 to not show up in Night Country,” Pizzolatto said, “I certainly did not have any input on this story or anything else. Can’t blame me. Matthew doesn’t show up, nor would he.”
Another fan asked Pizzolatto, “Do you still have the season 1 lore document? It used to be around on Google, talking about how the Tuttles have a local construction business and whatnot. Apparently (in Night Country) they fund an arctic research station now.” Pizzolatto replied, “Haha. So stupid.“
When asked what she thought of Pizzolatto’s comments, López told Vulture, “I believe that every storyteller has a very specific, peculiar, and unique relation to the stories they create, and whatever his reactions are, he’s entitled to them. That’s his prerogative. I wrote this with profound love for the work he made and love for the people that loved it. And it is a reinvention, and it is different, and it’s done with the idea of sitting down around the fire, and [let’s] have some fun and have some feelings and have some thoughts. And anybody that wants to join is welcome.“
Despite the True Detective creator’s negativity, True Detective: Night Country does seem to be going over very well with a lot of viewers. As Vulture pointed out, the show’s 93% postive critical rating and 66% positive audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes are the highest numbers True Detective has reached since the first season. JoBlo’s own Alex Maidy loved Night Country, giving it a 9/10 review.
True Detective: Night Country picks up after the long winter night falls in Ennis, Alaska, as the six men that operate the Tsalal Arctic Research Station vanish without a trace. To solve the case, Detectives Liz Danvers and Evangeline Navarro will have to confront the darkness they carry in themselves, and dig into the haunted truths that lie buried under the eternal ice.
Jodie Foster (The Silence of the Lambs) and professional boxer Kali Reis star alongside John Hawkes (Deadwood), Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who), Fiona Shaw (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1), Finn Bennett (The Nevers), Anna Lambe (The Grizzlies), newcomer Aka Niviâna, Isabella Star Lablanc (Long Slow Exhale), and Joel D. Montgrand (Average Dicks).
What do you think of True Detective: Night Country, and of the comments Nic Pizzolatto has made about it? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
INTRO: If there’s one word that perfectly sums up the bombastic nature of 80s action cinema, it has to be ‘excess’. Action behemoths, big hair, muscles, fantastical landscapes, and arm-wrestling matches that could be won by the simple flip of your favourite cap. It was an amazing decade for movies, and for action movie icons. Looking back on the early career of one of the era’s most iconic megastars, Arnold Schwarzenegger, there’s one thing that jumps out like doomed cannon-fodder from one of his movies; they were never dull. After having successfully conquered the world of bodybuilding, and subsequently the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, with career defining roles in Conan the Barbarian, Conan the Destroyer, The Terminator and Red Sonja, it’s clear that going bigger would be better for his career. Those movies highlighted how Arnie’s impressive physique could be utilised for maximum effect, whether he was wielding a sword as Conan, or destroying an entire police station as the T-800 in The Terminator, it was pretty clear that muscles and mayhem were very much on the menu for 80s audiences.
This is just as well, because the movie we’re revisiting today, 1985’s Commando, is a glorious example of 80s excess. You want violence, you get it in spades. Daft one liners? Yup. Over the top, memorable villains with awesome facial hair. You betchya!. That’s right movie fans, we’re heading up that secluded mountain to catch-up with retired special agent, John Matrix, before he’s forced to rescue a very young Alyssa Milano from his former unit. So, grab hold of that airliner’s wheel after despatching some rogue passengers, as we take a retrospective look at the Mark L. Lester classic from 1985, here on ARNIE REVISITED!
SET-UP: Back when I was just a young lad, skating around like I was Tony Hawk and trying my best to avoid detention at school, there was a video game I played on the awesome ZX Spectrum 48k. You know the one; rubber keys, terrible graphics, but utterly amazing at the time, that was a clear, if not official spin off from the movie we’re focusing on in this episode. Also called Commando, the run-and-gun viewed from above actioner saw you take control of a soldier called ‘Super Joe’ who’s dropped into the jungle and has to lay waste to hundreds of enemy soldiers. Sound familiar? Well, apart from betrayal and offspring being kidnapped, that’s pretty much the plot of Arnie’s wonderfully absurd movie Commando.
When Commando burst into cinemas in 1985, guns a-blazin’, it landed in a crowded marketplace with similar genre titles and stars who either packed their muscles with mayhem, or used their brains and an ingrained skillset to take out the bad guys. Stars such as Sylvester Stallone, Jean Claude Van Damme and Mel Gibson, plus characters like the recently obliterated James Bond, were dominating the action genre, alongside the Austrian Oak of course. Muscles and mayhem were big business, and the excess of the 80s was personified in action cinema. Arnie was fresh off a string of very successful movies, and was the saving grace in the entertaining but hardcore-action-lite Red Sonja, also released in 1985. The concept for the movie, as outlined by writer Jeph Loeb, was initially based around a soldier who had renounced violence; something you simply can’t fathom, given the gloriously over-the-top action in the finished movie.
Production on the film began in July 1985 and it was released an astonishing three months later on October 4th. This swift production schedule was mainly due to Arnie’s availability and also the studio’s desire to capitalise on the star’s rising popularity. Director Mark L. Lester had form in the action drama with his resume already full of B-movie fun with movies such as Steel Arena, Truck Stop Woman, Stunts, Gold of the Amazon Woman andFirestarter.Commando is arguably his greatest achievement and he didn’t stop making movies after it’s release, with his last feature to date, Dragons of Camelot not exactly being a masterpiece to say the least, but, fair play to him, he’s still working.
The production had an estimated budget of around $10 million, and was filmed mainly in California with location work at San Nicolas Island, the Pacific Coast at San Simeon, where Matrix goes to rescue his daughter, and is also home to the Hearst Castle Estate, where the scene in which the barracks are attacked is based. The film’s climax, when Matrix lays waste to countless enemy soldiers in wonderfully brutal ways, was filmed at the former main residence of the Harold Lloyd Estate in the Benedict Canyon district of Beverly Hills. One of the movie’s other main set pieces is the mall shootout, in which Matrix fights security guards and swings like Tarzan to try and apprehend one of the bad guys. It was also filmed in California at the Sherman Oaks Galleria and, aside from the frenetic climax of the movie, is probably one of the most iconic moments in the film. These locations suit the ridiculous action perfectly, but they can’t hide the fact that Arnie’s stunt double sticks out like a sore thumb whenever there’s a mad action beat that the production’s insurance couldn’t cover. Just check out that Tarzan swing, or some of the other stunts, and Arnie’s doppelganger is humorously nowhere near as buff as the star is.
Alongside the inimitable Austrian Oak, Commando also features a hugely entertaining supporting cast. Rae Dawn Chong is slightly jarring but often great value as an air stewardess who Matrix unceremoniously embroils in his revenge plan, spitting out some hilarious lines of her own and firing a missile launcher backwards. Dan Hedeya plays on of the main bad guys with his usual gurning panache, David Patrick Kelly is great as the suitably smarmy Sully, who Matrix despatches in a hilarious scene, andPredator star Bill Duke is superb as another mercenary who also has a memorable death scene after duking it out with Matrix. A very young Alyssa Milano manages to be one of the more palatable child actors of the time as Matrix’s daughter, and she shares a couple of unintentionally hilarious scenes with her dad at the beginning of the movie as they share ice cream and bond in their remote picturesque mountain top retreat, where no-one would ever think of looking for a former special agents operative, naturally. Best of all though, and one of the most memorably over the top performances as a villain in an action movie from any decade, goes to Vernon Wells as Bennet. His wide-eyed, manic stare and broad Australian accent elevates the character from what could have been a laughably bad performance, to one which makes the movie even more iconic. His fight with Matrix at the film’s conclusion is great, especially at one point when he’s electrocuted and uses his new found ‘powers’ to lay into Matrix, before being impaled hilariously by a flying steam pipe. Classic. 80s. Action! Also worth mentioning is a nice, all too brief cameo, with the late great Bill Paxton as an intercept officer.
REVIEW: When I first caught Commando as an impressionable youngster I was enthralled by the glorious violence, Arnie’s pumped up physique, plus the many forever quotable one liners that are littered throughout. However, as I was too young to catch it in the cinema I had to rely on its terrestrial TV debut which, unfortunately, was a heavily censored version, with most of the carnage left to my imagination. Some of the squibs were left in but a lot of the scenes where limbs are chopped off or heads sliced by flying razor blades were excised for the apparently squeamish TV audiences. Ridiculous. Even the fight with Bennet and Arnie at the end was cut, with the dust up suddenly cutting to both men bloodied and bruised and before I knew it, Bennet was impaled like the shark at the end of Jaws: The Revenge. However, I loved the movie, and by the time I finally caught the uncut version, my love of Arnie and all things 80s action-based was firmly cemented in my brain.
Looking back on the movie for this retrospective and yeah, it’s cheesy as hell in places, but that’s the point of these timeless classics. It clocks in at almost an hour and a half so there’s no time to establish Matrix’s relationship with his daughter, apart from the aforementioned ice cream scene, before she’s whisked away by the rogue mercenaries. The movie then follows that tried and trusted blue-print for action and revenge films, with one set-piece followed by another until the protagonist overcomes insurmountable odds until eventually overcoming an entire army, and a crazed Australian, before heading home with his rescued daughter. Who, by the way, doesn’t seem too fazed by almost being killed and probably witnessing countless bodies being eviscerated by her kick-ass dad, who, ya know, eats green berets for breakfast.
Overall, Commando does an admirable job of showcasing Arnie at his peak physically and also just as his star power was rapidly on the ascendance. Its plot is simple, as you’d expect, so if you’re looking for retro action with a more nuanced approach to the narrative then this movie will be lacking in depth in that regard. However, if you’re looking for some ridiculous action, great one-liners, and a movie that is most certainly a product of its time, then check out Commando as soon as humanly possible. Arnie set out to prove he was the king of the action genre at the time and along with a decent cast, a cool score by James Horner, and some glorious violence, he succeeded. Make sure you catch the uncut version, of course, so you don’t miss any of the carnage.
LEGACY / NOW:Commando was released in the US on October 4th, 1985, and was considered a success, grossing over $57.5 million, against a $9 million budget. The movie debuted at number one at the box office and stayed there for a further three weeks, before being usurped by hip-hop movie Krush Groove and the Jeff Bridges and Glenn Close thriller, Jagged Edge.
The movie was met with a mixed response from critics while review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes show the movie as having a 67% fresh rating over 36 reviews with its critics consensus saying that the film is, “the ultimate ’80s Schwarzenegger movie, replete with a threadbare plot, outsized action, and endless one-liners.” The New York Times didn’t appreciate the film, writing that, “two-thirds of this 90-minute film is mayhem unrelieved by humor and untouched by humanity,” and suggested that if sequels were to be made, “more clever writers and subtler directors will have to be found. Even a cinematic comic book needs more artful care than this one was given”. More favourable, however, was The Los Angeles Times, who said that the film was, “Full of spectacular stunts and shootouts, it’s a gory crowd-pleaser, directed with jolting efficiency by low-budget veteran Mark L. Lester. If his scenarists had only given Lester a finale with as much explosive punch as his opening scenes, the film could have been a real treat instead of a glorified fireworks display.” I’ve got to disagree with that last sentence; the movie’s climax rocks!
However, what’s YOUR take on the movie? Did Lester, Arnie and co. deliver a kick-ass 80s actioner that still holds up well today, or should the muscles and mayhem genre be something kept in the past, impaled on a steaming pipe? As usual, let us know in the comments and subscribe to our channel while you’re there. Thanks for watching our show and stay tuned for more Arnie-action. We’ll see you next time!
