Arnold Schwarzenegger
was, for a time, one of Hollywood's biggest action stars. He still carries that reputation at age 77, and many of his action films from the '80s and '90s have stood the test of time. Schwarzenegger's action hero tenure began largely with Conan the Barbarian in 1982, but it was in 1984 The Terminator and his role as the T-800 that cemented him as a staple of the genre.
80s movies like Predator (1987) and The running man (1987) remain Scharzenegger action classics, as are those from 1990 Full recall. The 90s saw the Austrian actor's dominance in the action space continue with films such as Kindergarten police officer (1990), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Ultimate Action Hero (1993) and True lies (1994). There is one '80s title, however, that also lives on not just as a quintessential Schwarzenegger action film, but as a film emblematic of the over-the-top action excess that defined that entire decade.
Commando gets dismal accuracy score from military expert
Arnold Schwarzenegger's action film features a series of exaggerations
A former Green Beret docks precision points of Command for its abundance of unrealistic elements. Released in 1985, the action film is by director Mark L. Lester, with Schwarzenegger starring as Matrix, a retired Special Forces soldier who returns to action to save his daughter. after she is kidnapped. The film, which received generally positive reviews from critics, features an abundance of action scenes, many of which are exaggerated in typical '80s style.
In a recent video for Insiderformer Green Beret soldier David Harris analyzes the robbery sequence at Schwarzenegger's compound in Commandbreaking down all the inaccuracies. According to Harris, One of the most egregious elements of the sequence is the destructive power of the Claymore mines that The Matrix lays downbut the hand grenade explosion is also, unsurprisingly, over-the-top. Check out Harris' analysis below, as well as his score for the film out of 10:
No, not at all. These claymores wouldn't do as much damage. Basically, what a claymore is is a pound and a half of C4 with about 700 or 800 ball bearings, and then you blow it up and it spreads around and can go out. And the destruction radius is about 50 meters.
They use them to be defensive. They were designed to actually get into your patrol base and put them out so the guys couldn't sneak up on you. And then the other way to use them was in ambushes that you open with them because they will produce mass casualties. It's not blowing up, destroying two buildings. Pellets won't do that.
When we were in the old days of war, we used flamethrowers to attack bunkers. Then the impasse was about 75 meters. From what I know about the quad-tube rocket launcher, this weapons system was designed so that we can get greater distance from the bunkers themselves. They were designed to be bunker busters where you could get more standoff, which was about 150 to 200 meters. So now the guy didn't have to run there with a flamethrower and gas on his back in a bunker where they were being shot at.
Rocket launchers were not designed to fire at moving targets. They were designed for bunkers, a stationary target. But if you're in trouble, let them rip. They didn't seek heat, so they didn't have the ability to pick up a heat signature […] It is a point and shoot weapon.
A grenade explosion wouldn't make two guys somersault in the air. They weren't designed for that. It's an area firearm and, honestly, those two guys, because it's a kill zone of about five to 15 meters, those guys would have died on impact.
I would rate this as a three [out of 10].
Our take on the Commando's low accuracy score
It's okay that it's not realistic
The fact that Command it's not a realistic film, it's not surprising, and ultimately it doesn't negatively affect the film. The 80s are full of one-man-army action movies, and Command remains one of Schwarzenegger's most iconic films in this action subgenre. The entire appeal of the film is that Matrix is essentially a super soldier who takes down countless enemies with ease. Interestingly, This approach to action would change in the 90s with the launch of Die Hardwhich featured Bruce Willis' John McClane as more of an everyman who uses ingenuity in addition to brute strength to defeat his enemies.
Still, these types of video reviews are not intended to criticize the film, but rather to use it as a means of allowing experts to speak about their experiences. The public probably already knows this Schwarzeneggerantics in Command are not realistic, but It's interesting to hear exactly how unrealistic they are and how the film compares to a soldier's real-life experiences and knowledge.
Source: Insider