The Commando Appreciation Thread

[QualityChimp]

Listen to the sublime lyrics...

[CMcK]

Great clips. So funny.

[losersclub]

amazing!

[Mr_Skinny]

[Welrain]

Amazing!

[QualityChimp]

The director's cut of Commando is coming out. To celebrate, here's a giferator:

https://www.commandogiferator.co.uk

[bash]

Holy ****, I forgot about this thread, back when these forums rocked

[JazzFunk]

Sadly, we're at the point where Schwarzenegg can't play Matrix no more. He's in them ads on TV. He's sagging like a bank manager's testicles with wispy hairs and limp veins and down all over him. And papery skin. And desperation. I'd never have said it before but Sly's better now. He was always the talented underdog lagging behind Arnie's effortless jovial ruthlessness. Sly can still rock a beret and look soldier. And he had a cool cool son who died. Arnie looks old in a polo shirt.

I wanna be proved wrong but the Austrian Oak has seen his last better day and would be better off recycled as some kind of pork/poultry snack.

[Colin]

Today I have seen Arnie, Sly and Jean Claude in ****ey tv commercials, that's the new 'old' action hero arena.

[JazzFunk]

Yeah, Sly was doing Warburtons ads. In Yorkshire. He was in the Yorkshire Evening Post. I thought it was cool him being in my native West Yorkshire but also felt really sad for him. Just go to somewhere nicer in Europe or summat and sell tractors online. It's more anonymous and all the food and beer taste better, and the racism is not quite as bitter.

[Neon Ignition]

With the Arnie, Sly generation for me it really depends on what they're in. There's no denying their age and that Arnie could never pull off playing a role like Matrix again but on the flip side the rampant ageism displayed against any actor 50+ is shocking most of the time. It really depends on the role they're playing.

Since Arnie's return to acting, there's been some rust on his performances but he slowly seems to be shaking it off. He's not been great in some of the stuff he's put out recently but of his upcoming 3 films things look a bit better. I can forego his Terminator performances as though the new film is using a workaround to explain it away, he is ultimately a machine and that is easily handled so his age is merely an appearance matter. The film Maggie he's done looks pretty decent too, the one I'd question most would be the new Conan. I know it's picking up from the shot of Old Conan at the end of the first film but I do wonder if we're now that bit past when this should have been made given the nature of and amount of physicality you'd expect from the role.

With Sly, I'd agree with Jazz, he does seem to hold up better on screen. With Sly it's the same thing, the last Rocky was based on the idea so it worked in favour of the film. He's fine enough in the Expendables films too. I've seen Bullet in the Head and he was fine there too and there's no way at all I'd argue he's too old when Rambo 4 is still relatively recent. Give him the right material and execution and Sly can still pull it off.

It's pretty much the same for most actors, the other one I can think of that gets it in the neck a lot is Harrison Ford. That shot in Episode 7's trailer of him must have filled half the net in 'he looks so old'. It's almost like he's not allowed to age or like the character wouldn't have after 35+ years. Much the same with Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. For me, for all the belly aching about him being too old to be in it, the films issues lay with the script and execution rather than Ford.

Ford is 72, Arnie's 67 and Stallone is 68. If anything it's impressive.

[Dogg Thang]

Samuel L Jackson is 66 or so too. But I don't know I'd buy into a call of rampant ageism. In reality, a lot of our best well-known (male) actors are 50+. But there are parts that are easier to buy at certain ages than others. If someone is called too old, it usually means too old for the role as written.

With Arnie, I think it's less about his age and more about him becoming a parody of himself. Stallone is easier to buy as an actual actor. It's not really about age, it's about their on and off screen personas. That said, as rubbish as I think the new Terminator trailers look, I actually seem to buy Arnie in those trailers.

[Neon Ignition]

I'd agree about Arnie, some fans do seem to want to protect that early Commando, Predator, Terminator era image of him in their minds. I think that's partly why I'm fine with what he's been doing, that image was already broken down and often parodied by the man himself. True Lies, Last Action Hero, even to an extent Kindergarten Cop all play on his image and dial up his performance to a caricature of himself.

Though I can understand them wanting to avoid moments like this:

[Dogg Thang]

Yep. In a way, it's one of the fun things about Arnie - even with all his Governer stuff and werid political stuff and dodgy tales that actually might be quite seedy and dark, in terms of his image he doesn't seem to take himself too seriously. That can be a plus but it can negatively affect some roles and, yes, I think you're right that many of us are protective of some of our favourite roles. Being honest, given how hilarious Commando is (in all good ways) I'm not sure I'd be quite as protective.

[Neon Ignition]

The scary thing is we could in theory get Commando 2... I mean, we're getting Triplets