Interesting and little-known facts about the film "Commando" (19 photos)

Photos from the filming and interesting facts about the cult action movie of the eighties with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the title role.





1. The plot of the film is built around the country of Valverde. The country's deposed dictator kidnaps Matrix's daughter to blackmail him. The dictator demands Matrix to eliminate the current President Valverde, who trusts Matrix.



Valverde is a fictional country, similar in its way of life to Cuba or Nicaragua. To avoid political squabbles, the authors decided to use a fictional country. The same country appears in such films as "Predator" and "Die Hard 2", as well as in several TV series.





2. Many of the stunts in the film were performed by Arnold Schwarzenegger himself, which is why he received several injuries. While performing stunts, he suffered a dislocated shoulder, a broken rib and was hospitalized three times. In particular, due to careless use of a knife, he cut his hand, which required stitches.



3. In life, Vernon Wells, who played the villain Bennett, was a very charming and kind person. Many were surprised by how such a good-natured guy portrayed the villain authentically.



And by the way, during the filming of the film, Wells and Schwarzenegger became friends and continued their communication outside the set.

4. According to the script, dictator Arius did not have many guards, but after director Mark Lester watched the film “Rambo: First Blood 2”, he decided to surpass him in terms of murders, so the number of guards was increased several times.



True, in order not to hire more than a hundred stuntmen and extras, many of them played several roles at once, so Arnie killed them several times.

5. Many girls auditioned for the role of Jenny (Matrix’s daughter), who later became famous actresses. Among them were Winona Ryder, Drew Barrymore, Elisabeth Shue, Shannon Doherty and others. But in the end, the role went to Alice Milano.



By the way, Alisa Milano and Shannon Doherty would later play sisters in the famous 00s TV series “Charmed.”

6. According to Alice Milano, she was simply crazy about Schwarzenegger. He really acted like a loving parent, took care of her and even helped her with her homework during breaks between filming.



7. Initially, another actor was supposed to play the role of Bennett, but in the end he was fired from the set, and Vernon Wells was cast in this role.



True, the prop masters did not have time to make new clothes for Wells, who was larger than the previous actor. Therefore, the clothes fit him a little tight.



8. The film became mega-popular in Japan, and the head of one of the recording studios even offered Alice Milano a contract for 5 albums, to which the young talent responded positively. As a result, these songs became a great success in Japan.

9. The knives we saw in Matrix's final fight with Bennett were custom-made by renowned Texas craftsman Jack Crane.



10. In the film “Commando,” Bill Duke plays one of the villains that “Iron Arnie” fights, but just 2 years later they will star together in the film “Predator,” where they both play elite fighters.





11. A separate love scene was filmed for the film with the participation of Anold Schwarzenegger and Rae Dawn Chong. But it seemed so unconvincing that they simply decided not to include it in the film.



12. The original version doesn't say anything about what happened to Jenny's mom (Matrix's wife). But the director's cut mentions that she died during childbirth.



13. During filming, Arnold Schwarzenegger tripped and fell with all his weight on the fragile Alice Milano, which is why he broke her rib. After that, he began to take great care of her during filming.



14. Studio bosses were afraid that Arnold Schwarzenegger's Austrian accent would make him look ridiculous. So they wanted to make him a silent hero with a war injury that leaves him unable to speak. But director Mark Lester abandoned this idea, saying that he would do everything so that the accent does not stand out too much, but his hero must talk.



15. The film's budget was $10 million, and Schwarzenegger's fee was $1.5 million. At the same time, the film showed great success at the box office, collecting $58 million.



And finally, a cute photo where the on-screen father and daughter met after many years.