


Instead, Schwarzenegger played contemporary super-soldier, John Matrix, who embarks on a bloody mission to rescue his kidnapped daughter, Jenny (12-year-old Alyssa Milano), from the clutches of mercenaries led by an old ally-turned-adversary, Bennett (Vernon Wells).įilled with one-liners and over-the-top action set-pieces, Commando set the tone for so many of the action favourites its star would make throughout the ’80s and ’90s, from Predator and The Running Man to True Lies and Eraser. Courtesy: Everett Collection)Īrnold Schwarzenegger was already an internationally-recognised celebrity by the mid-1980s, but Hollywood’s Schwarzenegger Era officially began 35 years ago on 4 October, 1985 with the release of Commando.ĭirected by Mark Lester, the lean, mean action movie awarded the Austrian bodybuilder his first starring role that didn’t involve him playing a sword-swinging barbarian or a killer robot from the future.
