Post by ivandrago on Jan 13, 2009 9:01:17 GMT -5
Around spring last year I came on here as I was writing an essay on Commando for my film studies degree, and the people on the board were really helpful and sent me the press kit and other stuff that was on the commandofans site (Thank you, by the way). Anyways, I thought y'all might be interested in the essay. It's very scholarly, but it does give the board a shout out
Commando: The Journey from ‘Goofy Movie’ to ‘Smart Film’
Commando (Mark L Lester 1985 USA) is rather generic action film typical of its era. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as John Matrix, a retired commando whose daughter is kidnapped, and therefore undertakes an ultra-violent revenge mission to get her back The movie, while a success, became largely forgotten but in the last few years has seen a resurgence. Where as the film was seen as un-remarkable upon its release, being over shadowed by more notable pieces from Schwarzenegger’s filmography such as The Terminator (James Cameron 1984 USA) and Predator (John McTeirnan 1987 USA), it has since attained at cult following due to its sheer un-remarkableness; it is the epitome of the Regan era action film and the ideology of the time. Yet despite this it is still yet to be inducted into the mainstream, and virtually nothing has been written on it.
Most probably due to it falling off the cultural radar, there is very little available about the film’s production. The only details easily available are promotional material, but they give no real insight into any of the choices made. It is most likely that it was just written as a star vehicle for Schwarzenegger. Ultimately the production of the film seems to not be particularly interesting. What is much more interesting is the way it was marketed, and how its reception has changed over time.
The most common form of movie marketing is the poster. The poster for Commando is, at first glance, a very simple. What is notable, however, is what little information there is on the poster. The only prominent words (bar small, barely legible necessities like the distributor and the rating) are “Commando” and “Schwarzenegger.” This shows that the film is being marketed purely on the star power of Arnold Schwarzenegger. McDonald says that “a star can only be a star if s/he is recognised and known as a star .” While this may seem obvious, it is important to analyse how well known Schwarzenegger was at this point in time. Prior to this movie, he had a relatively small body of work, with only the Conan series of films and The Terminator likely to have been in the public consciousness. The Terminator had been a massive success, especially for what was essentially a low budget low profile science fiction film. The studio deemed it as big enough a success that Schwarzenegger could now carry a mainstream Hollywood production based on the recognition he gained from the film. However it goes further than that. He is credited as “Schwarzenegger” as opposed to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Even at this early stage in his career, Schwarzenegger is recognisable, bankable brand name. His name is above the title of the film, giving it equal or even greater prominence than the title, showing that the Schwarzenegger brand is a bigger draw than the character or the narrative. It is also noticeable that this was the first film sold purely on Schwarzenegger as an action hero. Prior to this he had success with Conan the Barbarian (John Milius 1982 USA) and Conan the Destroyer (Richard Fleischer 1984 USA), which had the in-built appeal of the Robert E Howard pulps, which enjoyed renewed popularity in the 1970’s and early 80’s due to a successful Marvel Comics series featuring the character, thus Schwarzenegger not the only marketable feature of the film. By the same logic, The Terminator was directed by James Cameron, and is in the science fiction genre, a genre that has an in-built cult audience. Commando was purely marketed upon Schwarzenegger’s burgeoning star persona. This was the first film where he received true top billing, with his name above the title.
The image on the poster also shows this. It is one image of Schwarzenegger dressed in an assault vest and wearing camouflage paint. There is no background to indicate the setting of the film or imply anything of the narrative, as this is not important. The star persona of Schwarzenegger and prior knowledge of the action genre allow the audience to deduce that he is most likely the hero and protagonist of the film, and that is enough to market the film. Other characters are not needed on the poster, as the spectacle will be Schwarzenegger defeating those who attack him, regardless of who they are. This is typical of Hollywood cinema of the 1980’s, which Kramer describes as putting “increased emphasis on special effects and cinematic spectacle ,” over narrative and character.The image shows off a lot of Schwarzenegger’s body, particularly his muscles. McDonald describes action films as a “genre of the body… as the body is foregrounded and its significance made obvious .” Schwarzenegger’s body and the pose it is in is almost a personification of the action movie. The wordless appeal of this image is confirmed by the fact that both the German and Japanese posters use the same image, only with translations into the appropriate language or alphabet. The fact that the same image has been used internationally also shows that Schwarzenegger was a globally recognisable star at the time.
The press kit is also an important source to how the film was marketed. Press kits are given to journalists who attend press screenings, and also distributed to media outlets. They are essential as a large proportion of the marketing for Hollywood films are not directly paid for by the studio, but come from third party outlets, such as interviews with the cast, previews and reviews in magazines and on television. There is a certain risk in this type of marketing, as the studios do not have control over what is printed, as bad reviews can fuel bad word of mouth, though a certain amount of vertical integration between the studios and the media outlets does go own. Press kits are therefore very useful primary resources and they demonstrate what the studios want the media to say about their film.
The press kit for Commando is notable as it draws attention to aspects of the film rarely mentioned in promotional materials released to the public. Where as the posters and trailers merely feature Schwarzenegger, the press kit does allocate of text to Rae Dawn Chong, who play Matrix’s female sidekick. On the second page there is a brief description of the film merely giving the films release date, that fact it is a Silver Pictures production and that it stars Schwarzenegger and Chong. The third page has a two paragraph plot description, and again the only cast members mentioned are Schwarzenegger and Chong. There is a sense, that even though she is hardly featured on the posters or in the trailer, the studio did want he film to be open to other interpretations, or at least to be palatable to female audiences, even if they were not the main demographic. As is typical for such press kits, there are biographies of the main cast and crew towards the end of the document. Chong’s biography refers heavy to her performance in Quest For Fire (Jean-Jacques Annuad 1981 France). This performance was critically acclaimed, yet it was not a massive rating success, so the references are not in order to attract fans of the film. Instead this is an attempt to make Commando ‘breakthrough’ film that would introduce her to wider audience, and potentially, a bankable star.
The character of Cindy is described as a “wise cracking sidekick” and having the role of “counterpointing the non-stop action of Matrix.” There are several references to 48HRS, a traditional buddy movie that was a success the previous year, which shows that the studio intended the film not to be a completely mindless action film. The director is also quoted as saying that his “initial concern was not make Commando a ‘heavy’ film.” These elements are noticeably absent from the trailer, and especially the poster, which play almost completely on the Schwarzenegger/action appeal of the film. Press kits are, by their very nature, self-serving to the point of inaccuracy, yet the idea of mentioning these elements to the media is so it can appeal to a secondary audience. The logic is that while the main target audience is predominately male and would be attracted by the action and violence alluded to in the trailer, the second level of advertising would make the film acceptable to female audiences, who while would not choose to see the film themselves, would accompany their significant other. It may also be an attempt to change the focus of the film at the last minute, due to the fact the film received an ‘R’ rating, potentially limiting some of its teenage audience. Matrix and Cindy are described as having an “off-beat, tenuous relationship.” This is the only use of the ‘relationship’ when describing the two characters, and it avoids implying anything romantic or sexual happening between the two. Both Schwarzenegger and Chong have ambiguous ethnic origins (Schwarzenegger being European and Chong being Chinese-American), and the sight of an inter-racial relationship is deem as not palatable to a conservative American audience, so she is always described as a side-kick, never a love interest.
The press kit also illustrates how the action side of the film was marketed, especially
in regards to Schwarzenegger. Almost on straight away he is described as coming to the film “fresh from the box office and critical success of The Terminator.” The first half a page of his biography is spent referring to that film. He studio is aiming for
Commando to build upon Schwarzenegger’s breakthrough performance in The
Terminator. The press kit states that Schwarzenegger “looks upon Commando as an
important step in his acting career, because Matrix is a man with more than one
dimension.” This is a direct reference to his role of ‘The Terminator’, a soulless
killing machine. It also illustrates the studios plans for Schwarzenegger’s career. The
Terminator was a low budget film that was a surprise success. By having
Schwarzenegger as the protagonist in Commando (as he was the villain in
Terminator), it is an attempt to establish him as a bankable star of high budget films,
as opposed to just the cult star of a crossover hit. The remainder of his biography
speaks more about his bodybuilding career than his acting, which establishes him a
‘legitimate’ tough guy as opposed to just an actor. Richard deCordova identifies four categories that film actors fall into . By highlighting Schwarzenegger’s career as a bodybuilder, the studio are trying to move him from a ‘picture personality,’ one who is only known for their film work, to what deCordova defines as a ‘star,’ one who’s off-screen (or a at least a construction of their off-screen life) is known by the audience, and affects their perception of the actor’s on-screen performance. Thus, knowing that Schwarzenegger has excelled at bodybuilding, a typically masculine pursuit, makes him more convincing and appealing as an ‘action hero’.
The press kit sells the film on the action elements. The film is described as “structured as a classic no-win for the protagonist,” playing into the generic conventions of the action genre. However, the press kit goes further, detailing the weapons used in the film, irrelevant as it is to the plot, and boasting that 20,000 rounds were fired on-set. This is an admission that the spectacle of destruction is a selling point for the film. As well as drawing attention to the visceral thrills of the film in order to market this spectacle, the press kit even admits the inherent stupidity of narrative, and that it is not the films strong point (albeit to film journalists, who are more likely to be cine-literate enough to understand that the narrative can be enjoyed ironically, and not to the less media savvy public at large). In the initial description of the plot it describes Cindy as a stewardess “who {Matrix} abducts during his getaway at an airport.” This is what happens in the film, but the description of the events sounds ludicrous, and the word ‘abduct’ makes Matrix sound like a villain. This shows that the studio are also selling the tongue in cheek elements of the film, if just covertly.
To see how the press kit works in practice, I will look at the September 1986 edition
of PrimeTime magazine, a promotional magazine for subscribers of Rogers cable
television in Canada. Commando if the cover feature as it was premiering on cable
that month, and it features an interview with Chong. Many of the second level
marketing messages from the kit appear in the interview, including references
to Quest for Fire, 48HRS and even a similar sense of tongue in check when it comes
to plot. It describes Matrix as “retired from a life of clandestine mission to live a
peaceful (!) existence.” The use of the exclamation mark shows that the tongue in
cheek attitude alluded to in the kit has survived to the media.
The film was a success at the time, financially. It grossed $57 million worldwide, easily making a profit on its $10 million budget. It grossed $7 million in its first weekend, and remained at the top of the box office chart for three weeks. This was the film was received as a standard action film, as the studio intended. Schaltz says that while the in post Jaws (Steven Spielberg 1975 USA) late 1970’s and early 80’s “one or two big hits tended to dominate the market place ,” by the mid 80’s “the number of super-hits dropped while the number of mid-range hits earning $10 million or more increased significantly .” The film is a perfect example of this mid range hit, and shows that is exactly what the studio designed it for. Shaltz names the growing home video market as a cause for this, and Commando is a very good example of a film that would deliver the expected action quota to someone renting the tape. There is also no attempt to inject the film with “family issues {in order to} broaden the it’s appeal beyond the core audience of teenagers and young adults to reach the family audience ,” showing that it was intended to be the biggest blockbuster of the summer.
The reviews follow this. Sight and Sound described it as a “formula action movie, along Rambo lines, ” and treated it with some disdain saying that it had “some nice explosions, {but} adequate jokes.” Sight and Sound is published by the British Film Institute, and is traditionally a journal of highbrow cinema, and thus not the target audience for the film. However, it is a particularly cine-literate magazine, so it can thus be used as accurate evidence that the film was similar thought of as one of many similar action films of the era. The fact that Sight and Sound only mention the film in their “Now On” section, and never mentioned the film again in any capacity, shows that it was not thought of a film with any sort of artistic value, or even historical notability, at the time of it’s release.
A more mainstream, yet still cinematically educated review was given on At the Movies with Siskel and Ebert , broadcast the same week as the film’s release. Both Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel (up until his death) are respected film critics, but are syndicated on American television, and have successfully entered the public consciousness, particularly with the phrase “Two Thumbs up.” Thus they are a good judge of how a film was received. Straight away, Ebert recognises the lack of originality in the film, calling it a “goofy movie” and distilling the plot to “Schwarzenegger tough guy; bad guys kidnap daughter; he blow them up real good,” said in deliberately broken English. He also acknowledges the ludicrousness of the film, saying that the amount of weapons in it makes it “look like a close out sale at the weapons store.” What is interesting is that these points do not lead to a bad review of the film. Ebert calls Commando “efficient entertainment.” He says that the action sequences do work, and that Schwarzenegger is convincing enough as an action hero to carry the film. Probably the most important quote from the segment is when he says that the film is nowhere near as sophisticated as The Terminator. His ultimate opinion, which seems to be the consensus of the time, was that is not a film that will remain with the viewer or be celebrated on any level, like The Terminator for instance, but is acceptable entertainment while the film lasts.
There is only one point in which both the reviews that suggest that the film is worthy of further study. Sight and Sound said that the film has a “sadistic/homoerotic subtext.” Gene Siskel suggested that Bennett (the villain) was portrayed as a homosexual, and that Schwarzenegger has to prove that his is a man by defeating him. Whether or not these allegations are justified (Siskel seems to base his theory purely on the evidence that Bennett has a moustache and wears a chain mail vest), they do point to the film being enjoyed (or at least looked at) in an ‘ironic’ way, different from the how the producers intended, which has become much more common in recent years. However, there is little evidence that this approach was taken by the general public, away from cine-literate, cynical film critics. This is in part due to the marketing, and explains the focus on Chong in the press kit. By having a girl in between the masculinity, it creates a safe atmosphere that nulls the potential homoeroticism. This tactic is not entirely successful. Due to the ethnicity of Chong, Cindy and Matrix are never implied to have any sort of romantic or sexual relationship, as would be expected in an action movie of this type, as the studio fears the reaction to an interracial relationship. On top of this, she is rarely sexualised on screen, fulfilling a ‘sidekick’ role, more akin to the press kit’s reference to 48HRS, than a love interest. This is also in contrast to the fetishisation of Schwarzenegger’s body, particularly the scene where he strips down to apply camouflage paint, which consists of close ups which rely on the spectacle of his body, and the film’s finale, where Martrix impales Bennett with a large pipe, being a very graphic potential sexual metaphor. Thus, the heterosexual counterbalance to the homoeroticism is not as strong as it could be, and more cine-literate critics have highlighted this potential subtext.
Overall, the film was received as was it was intended; an undemanding action film. People went to see it, and enjoyed it. There is no evidence of any particular word of mouth effect, positive or negative. The film made money. Schwarzenegger’s career continued in the direction it was heading. The film sustained his star persona, and he went on to star in several other successful action movies throughout the 1980’s and early 90’s, such as Predator and Total Recall (Paul Verhoeven 1990), and managed to make this persona well known enough that he could play off it in comedies such as Kindergarten Cop (Ivan Reitman 1990 USA) and Junior (Ivan Reitman 1994 USA). Based on this evidence, the film can be seen as a success, especially from the perspective of the studio.
However, the film seems much less of a success when compared to Schwarzenegger’s previous film, The Terminator. The Terminator is a film that has entered the public consciousness, and has remained there for many years after the film has been released. It has spun off into comic books, toys, novels, videogames and toys . It has become iconic film, with the catchphrase “I’ll be back” taking on a life separate to the film. A perfect example of its pop culture status is shown Last Action Hero (John McTeirnan 1993 USA). During the film, protagonist travels ‘our’ reality and into the world of an action film starring Schwarzenegger. Thus it is a world where Arnold Schwarzenegger does not exist. At one point the characters enter a video store and see a poster for The Terminator, but instead starring Sylvester Stallone. This shows that Schwarzenegger’s star persona in the role of the Terminator was so well known that mainstream audiences could be relied upon to have enough prior knowledge to understand the joke. Even if they had not seen Terminator or its sequel, the majority of people would at least recognise Schwarzenegger and the character’s association with one another. Nothing like this happened with Commando, at least when the film was released. The film faded from view very quickly. What is interesting that there were attempts to produce spin off merchandising for the film. A toy line was produced in 1986 by Diamond Toymakers . As well as figures of Matrix there was an attempt to create a mythology around the character. A cast of characters for Matrix to lead were created, and figures of those produced. The toy line was not a success, and no mythology was built around the character. In contrast, much of the long-term success of The Terminator was built on a mythology created by comic books and toys that are only alluded to in the film.
Whilst the star persona of Schwarzenegger is obviously very strong, yet it is the only distinguishable feature of Commando, and this is possibly the reason for its lack of resonance. All of his other films of the same era that have endured have had another element to differentiate them. Predator has a visually iconic character, is directed by John McTeirnan, who has directed several other iconic action films such as Die Hard (John McTeirnan 1988 USA), and has the presence other stars who have cult appeal in the action genre, such as Carl Weathers and former wrestler Jesse Venture. The Running Man (Paul Michael Glazer 1987 USA) was based on a novel by Stephen King. Red Heat (Water Hill 1988) features comedian James Belushi, popular for his work on Saturday Night Live. Total Recall (Paul Verhoeven 1990 USA) is based on a story by cult science fiction author Phillip K Dick and is by respected director Verhoeven. Notably, none of the cast or crew went to any further success apart from Schwarzenegger. Director Lester most notable film post-Commando was Showdown in Little Tokyo (Mark L Lester 1991 USA), an action vehicle for Brandon Lee. Rae Dawn Chong did not become the comedic star the press kit pushed her as. Only Alyssa Milano, who played Matrix’s daughter, achieved any lasting fame, in the cult television series Charmed, but this was many years later, and had little to do her work as a child actress. In many ways Commando is the perfect Schwarzenegger film as relies purely on him. The only other film from the era that relied purely on his star persona was Raw Deal (John Irvin 1986 USA), which has also been similarly forgotten.
However, at the beginning of the 21st century, Commando is re-entering pop culture landscape. Where as The Terminator is iconic enough to have been parodied or eluded to in mother films or on television, this has rarely happened (if ever) happened to Commando, especially in the years following its release, where it should have been its most popular. Yet in the episode of The Simpsons entitled ‘The Bart Wants What It Wants’ first broadcast in 2002, Rainer Wolfcastle, a character always intended as a parody of Schwarzenegger, says the line “Remember when I said I’d eat you last? I lied,” to a piece of food, mimicking Matrix’s is line in the film (with “kill” changed to “eat”). Robot Chicken, a cult animated sketch show which is part of Cartoon Network’s ‘Adult Swim’ programming block also referenced the line in a sketch featuring Schwarzenegger in the episode ‘Shoe’ broadcast in 2007. This shows that the film is now more recognisable in pop culture terms than it was when it was released. A special edition DVD of was released in 2007, featuring an extended cut and newly created special features. The film was already available on a basic, featureless DVD, so the fact that 20th Century Fox were willing to produce a new special edition of the film shows that they must believe there is a market, and a fan base, for it. The film even has a fan site online, with an active, if small, forum.
The question now stands to as to why the film has taken on an iconic status that it never had at the time of its release, and was never even really designed to have in the first place. Thus it is necessary to deduce what has happen in the 20 years since its release. Andrew Pulver says that the success of American independent cinema in the 1990’s significantly changed the way cinema is received, with Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino 1994 USA) winning the Cannes Palme d’Or “symbolising the turning of a cinematic generation .” Jeffery Sconce expands upon the films from this era, commenting that there were “so many films stripped bare of rational moral judgement and politics .” However he does not think these films themselves are immoral, instead that “beneath their veneer of studied detachment, cultivated disaffection and ironic posturing, many of these films are extremely politicised and even moralistic .” For these films to work, audiences in the 1990’s must have developed enough education and irony to understand this. For example, the film Happiness (Todd Slondz 1998 USA) is an ensemble comedy which features a protagonist who is a paedophile. The film relies on the “younger, more educated, ‘bohemian’ audience ,” as Sconce puts it, to understand that the film is meant to be taken as a satire, yet this is never signposted in the text itself. The film is thus a ‘smart film,’ a film that requires intelligence, and differentiates itself from the ‘dumb’ films produced by Hollywood, or “goofy movies” as Roger Ebert calls them.
This change in the perception of audiences can be seen to effect Commando. The film can be seen as a perfect example of a ‘dumb’ film, relying purely on the spectacle of Schwarzenegger killing people. Thus the film is enjoyed by a younger, more educated audience ironically, in the terms of it being ‘so bad its good.’ There is definitely a certain element of this in Commando fandom. For instance on the Commandofans forum, there is an ongoing thread entitled ‘Bennett Spotting ’, consisting of images of Vernon Wells photoshopped into famous movie posters, which is obviously mocking the character.
However, the re-evaluation of the film goes much further. Audiences are now approaching it almost as a ‘smart film’. In the same way that the viewer does not completely align themselves with the protagonist in Happiness, Matrix has now changed from a hero to a satirical figure of Regan era politics. To many audiences he may be just as repugnant, and the ‘smart film’ period thrived on such repugnant anti-heroes. The fact that the film was referenced in programmes known for their subversive edge like The Simpsons and Robot Chicken supports this. The film lacked political context when it was made but now has taken on one. The 20-year gap changes the appeal from the spectacle of destruction to a historical document. It is interesting to compare it to the release of Rambo (Sylvester Stallone 2008 USA), which features similar spectacles of destruction. Many found the offensive, even to the point of the Odeon cinema chain refusing to show it , because it was seen to trivialise current events in the world. The same allegations may have been laid against Commando at the time, but the 20-year gap has given it a new context, arguably being reclaimed as an indictment of the politics it initially celebrated. The film has also taken on even more significant since Schwarzenegger was elected Governor of California in 2003. While obviously an actor’s star persona and real life politics are separate entities, they are deliberately intertwined in the eyes of the public. Thus his politics have been compared to his film roles. He has been called ‘The Governator ’ in reference to The Terminator, and even respected authors are not above this, with P J O’Rourke referring to his “Terminator tactic to wipe out political corruption and the deficit. It was a sci-fi reform, Hiram Johnson’s cyborg .” Yet the character is equally a creation of James Cameron. With Commando being, as I have argued, the ultimate Schwarzenegger film it takes on completely new meaning. While the position of Governor does not really allow for initiating military action, Schwarzenegger is a Republican, and a vocal supporter of George W Bush, and thus creates a connection to Iraq war, producing new meaning in a film as gleefully violent in a film like Commando.
Overall, Commando was merely intended to make money, and to perpetuate Schwarzenegger’s star image until the next iconic vehicle came along. In this way, it was a success. However, the sheer banality of the final product has actually given it more resonance 20 years later, as it is now more a historical document than a film.
Commando: The Journey from ‘Goofy Movie’ to ‘Smart Film’
Commando (Mark L Lester 1985 USA) is rather generic action film typical of its era. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as John Matrix, a retired commando whose daughter is kidnapped, and therefore undertakes an ultra-violent revenge mission to get her back The movie, while a success, became largely forgotten but in the last few years has seen a resurgence. Where as the film was seen as un-remarkable upon its release, being over shadowed by more notable pieces from Schwarzenegger’s filmography such as The Terminator (James Cameron 1984 USA) and Predator (John McTeirnan 1987 USA), it has since attained at cult following due to its sheer un-remarkableness; it is the epitome of the Regan era action film and the ideology of the time. Yet despite this it is still yet to be inducted into the mainstream, and virtually nothing has been written on it.
Most probably due to it falling off the cultural radar, there is very little available about the film’s production. The only details easily available are promotional material, but they give no real insight into any of the choices made. It is most likely that it was just written as a star vehicle for Schwarzenegger. Ultimately the production of the film seems to not be particularly interesting. What is much more interesting is the way it was marketed, and how its reception has changed over time.
The most common form of movie marketing is the poster. The poster for Commando is, at first glance, a very simple. What is notable, however, is what little information there is on the poster. The only prominent words (bar small, barely legible necessities like the distributor and the rating) are “Commando” and “Schwarzenegger.” This shows that the film is being marketed purely on the star power of Arnold Schwarzenegger. McDonald says that “a star can only be a star if s/he is recognised and known as a star .” While this may seem obvious, it is important to analyse how well known Schwarzenegger was at this point in time. Prior to this movie, he had a relatively small body of work, with only the Conan series of films and The Terminator likely to have been in the public consciousness. The Terminator had been a massive success, especially for what was essentially a low budget low profile science fiction film. The studio deemed it as big enough a success that Schwarzenegger could now carry a mainstream Hollywood production based on the recognition he gained from the film. However it goes further than that. He is credited as “Schwarzenegger” as opposed to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Even at this early stage in his career, Schwarzenegger is recognisable, bankable brand name. His name is above the title of the film, giving it equal or even greater prominence than the title, showing that the Schwarzenegger brand is a bigger draw than the character or the narrative. It is also noticeable that this was the first film sold purely on Schwarzenegger as an action hero. Prior to this he had success with Conan the Barbarian (John Milius 1982 USA) and Conan the Destroyer (Richard Fleischer 1984 USA), which had the in-built appeal of the Robert E Howard pulps, which enjoyed renewed popularity in the 1970’s and early 80’s due to a successful Marvel Comics series featuring the character, thus Schwarzenegger not the only marketable feature of the film. By the same logic, The Terminator was directed by James Cameron, and is in the science fiction genre, a genre that has an in-built cult audience. Commando was purely marketed upon Schwarzenegger’s burgeoning star persona. This was the first film where he received true top billing, with his name above the title.
The image on the poster also shows this. It is one image of Schwarzenegger dressed in an assault vest and wearing camouflage paint. There is no background to indicate the setting of the film or imply anything of the narrative, as this is not important. The star persona of Schwarzenegger and prior knowledge of the action genre allow the audience to deduce that he is most likely the hero and protagonist of the film, and that is enough to market the film. Other characters are not needed on the poster, as the spectacle will be Schwarzenegger defeating those who attack him, regardless of who they are. This is typical of Hollywood cinema of the 1980’s, which Kramer describes as putting “increased emphasis on special effects and cinematic spectacle ,” over narrative and character.The image shows off a lot of Schwarzenegger’s body, particularly his muscles. McDonald describes action films as a “genre of the body… as the body is foregrounded and its significance made obvious .” Schwarzenegger’s body and the pose it is in is almost a personification of the action movie. The wordless appeal of this image is confirmed by the fact that both the German and Japanese posters use the same image, only with translations into the appropriate language or alphabet. The fact that the same image has been used internationally also shows that Schwarzenegger was a globally recognisable star at the time.
The press kit is also an important source to how the film was marketed. Press kits are given to journalists who attend press screenings, and also distributed to media outlets. They are essential as a large proportion of the marketing for Hollywood films are not directly paid for by the studio, but come from third party outlets, such as interviews with the cast, previews and reviews in magazines and on television. There is a certain risk in this type of marketing, as the studios do not have control over what is printed, as bad reviews can fuel bad word of mouth, though a certain amount of vertical integration between the studios and the media outlets does go own. Press kits are therefore very useful primary resources and they demonstrate what the studios want the media to say about their film.
The press kit for Commando is notable as it draws attention to aspects of the film rarely mentioned in promotional materials released to the public. Where as the posters and trailers merely feature Schwarzenegger, the press kit does allocate of text to Rae Dawn Chong, who play Matrix’s female sidekick. On the second page there is a brief description of the film merely giving the films release date, that fact it is a Silver Pictures production and that it stars Schwarzenegger and Chong. The third page has a two paragraph plot description, and again the only cast members mentioned are Schwarzenegger and Chong. There is a sense, that even though she is hardly featured on the posters or in the trailer, the studio did want he film to be open to other interpretations, or at least to be palatable to female audiences, even if they were not the main demographic. As is typical for such press kits, there are biographies of the main cast and crew towards the end of the document. Chong’s biography refers heavy to her performance in Quest For Fire (Jean-Jacques Annuad 1981 France). This performance was critically acclaimed, yet it was not a massive rating success, so the references are not in order to attract fans of the film. Instead this is an attempt to make Commando ‘breakthrough’ film that would introduce her to wider audience, and potentially, a bankable star.
The character of Cindy is described as a “wise cracking sidekick” and having the role of “counterpointing the non-stop action of Matrix.” There are several references to 48HRS, a traditional buddy movie that was a success the previous year, which shows that the studio intended the film not to be a completely mindless action film. The director is also quoted as saying that his “initial concern was not make Commando a ‘heavy’ film.” These elements are noticeably absent from the trailer, and especially the poster, which play almost completely on the Schwarzenegger/action appeal of the film. Press kits are, by their very nature, self-serving to the point of inaccuracy, yet the idea of mentioning these elements to the media is so it can appeal to a secondary audience. The logic is that while the main target audience is predominately male and would be attracted by the action and violence alluded to in the trailer, the second level of advertising would make the film acceptable to female audiences, who while would not choose to see the film themselves, would accompany their significant other. It may also be an attempt to change the focus of the film at the last minute, due to the fact the film received an ‘R’ rating, potentially limiting some of its teenage audience. Matrix and Cindy are described as having an “off-beat, tenuous relationship.” This is the only use of the ‘relationship’ when describing the two characters, and it avoids implying anything romantic or sexual happening between the two. Both Schwarzenegger and Chong have ambiguous ethnic origins (Schwarzenegger being European and Chong being Chinese-American), and the sight of an inter-racial relationship is deem as not palatable to a conservative American audience, so she is always described as a side-kick, never a love interest.
The press kit also illustrates how the action side of the film was marketed, especially
in regards to Schwarzenegger. Almost on straight away he is described as coming to the film “fresh from the box office and critical success of The Terminator.” The first half a page of his biography is spent referring to that film. He studio is aiming for
Commando to build upon Schwarzenegger’s breakthrough performance in The
Terminator. The press kit states that Schwarzenegger “looks upon Commando as an
important step in his acting career, because Matrix is a man with more than one
dimension.” This is a direct reference to his role of ‘The Terminator’, a soulless
killing machine. It also illustrates the studios plans for Schwarzenegger’s career. The
Terminator was a low budget film that was a surprise success. By having
Schwarzenegger as the protagonist in Commando (as he was the villain in
Terminator), it is an attempt to establish him as a bankable star of high budget films,
as opposed to just the cult star of a crossover hit. The remainder of his biography
speaks more about his bodybuilding career than his acting, which establishes him a
‘legitimate’ tough guy as opposed to just an actor. Richard deCordova identifies four categories that film actors fall into . By highlighting Schwarzenegger’s career as a bodybuilder, the studio are trying to move him from a ‘picture personality,’ one who is only known for their film work, to what deCordova defines as a ‘star,’ one who’s off-screen (or a at least a construction of their off-screen life) is known by the audience, and affects their perception of the actor’s on-screen performance. Thus, knowing that Schwarzenegger has excelled at bodybuilding, a typically masculine pursuit, makes him more convincing and appealing as an ‘action hero’.
The press kit sells the film on the action elements. The film is described as “structured as a classic no-win for the protagonist,” playing into the generic conventions of the action genre. However, the press kit goes further, detailing the weapons used in the film, irrelevant as it is to the plot, and boasting that 20,000 rounds were fired on-set. This is an admission that the spectacle of destruction is a selling point for the film. As well as drawing attention to the visceral thrills of the film in order to market this spectacle, the press kit even admits the inherent stupidity of narrative, and that it is not the films strong point (albeit to film journalists, who are more likely to be cine-literate enough to understand that the narrative can be enjoyed ironically, and not to the less media savvy public at large). In the initial description of the plot it describes Cindy as a stewardess “who {Matrix} abducts during his getaway at an airport.” This is what happens in the film, but the description of the events sounds ludicrous, and the word ‘abduct’ makes Matrix sound like a villain. This shows that the studio are also selling the tongue in cheek elements of the film, if just covertly.
To see how the press kit works in practice, I will look at the September 1986 edition
of PrimeTime magazine, a promotional magazine for subscribers of Rogers cable
television in Canada. Commando if the cover feature as it was premiering on cable
that month, and it features an interview with Chong. Many of the second level
marketing messages from the kit appear in the interview, including references
to Quest for Fire, 48HRS and even a similar sense of tongue in check when it comes
to plot. It describes Matrix as “retired from a life of clandestine mission to live a
peaceful (!) existence.” The use of the exclamation mark shows that the tongue in
cheek attitude alluded to in the kit has survived to the media.
The film was a success at the time, financially. It grossed $57 million worldwide, easily making a profit on its $10 million budget. It grossed $7 million in its first weekend, and remained at the top of the box office chart for three weeks. This was the film was received as a standard action film, as the studio intended. Schaltz says that while the in post Jaws (Steven Spielberg 1975 USA) late 1970’s and early 80’s “one or two big hits tended to dominate the market place ,” by the mid 80’s “the number of super-hits dropped while the number of mid-range hits earning $10 million or more increased significantly .” The film is a perfect example of this mid range hit, and shows that is exactly what the studio designed it for. Shaltz names the growing home video market as a cause for this, and Commando is a very good example of a film that would deliver the expected action quota to someone renting the tape. There is also no attempt to inject the film with “family issues {in order to} broaden the it’s appeal beyond the core audience of teenagers and young adults to reach the family audience ,” showing that it was intended to be the biggest blockbuster of the summer.
The reviews follow this. Sight and Sound described it as a “formula action movie, along Rambo lines, ” and treated it with some disdain saying that it had “some nice explosions, {but} adequate jokes.” Sight and Sound is published by the British Film Institute, and is traditionally a journal of highbrow cinema, and thus not the target audience for the film. However, it is a particularly cine-literate magazine, so it can thus be used as accurate evidence that the film was similar thought of as one of many similar action films of the era. The fact that Sight and Sound only mention the film in their “Now On” section, and never mentioned the film again in any capacity, shows that it was not thought of a film with any sort of artistic value, or even historical notability, at the time of it’s release.
A more mainstream, yet still cinematically educated review was given on At the Movies with Siskel and Ebert , broadcast the same week as the film’s release. Both Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel (up until his death) are respected film critics, but are syndicated on American television, and have successfully entered the public consciousness, particularly with the phrase “Two Thumbs up.” Thus they are a good judge of how a film was received. Straight away, Ebert recognises the lack of originality in the film, calling it a “goofy movie” and distilling the plot to “Schwarzenegger tough guy; bad guys kidnap daughter; he blow them up real good,” said in deliberately broken English. He also acknowledges the ludicrousness of the film, saying that the amount of weapons in it makes it “look like a close out sale at the weapons store.” What is interesting is that these points do not lead to a bad review of the film. Ebert calls Commando “efficient entertainment.” He says that the action sequences do work, and that Schwarzenegger is convincing enough as an action hero to carry the film. Probably the most important quote from the segment is when he says that the film is nowhere near as sophisticated as The Terminator. His ultimate opinion, which seems to be the consensus of the time, was that is not a film that will remain with the viewer or be celebrated on any level, like The Terminator for instance, but is acceptable entertainment while the film lasts.
There is only one point in which both the reviews that suggest that the film is worthy of further study. Sight and Sound said that the film has a “sadistic/homoerotic subtext.” Gene Siskel suggested that Bennett (the villain) was portrayed as a homosexual, and that Schwarzenegger has to prove that his is a man by defeating him. Whether or not these allegations are justified (Siskel seems to base his theory purely on the evidence that Bennett has a moustache and wears a chain mail vest), they do point to the film being enjoyed (or at least looked at) in an ‘ironic’ way, different from the how the producers intended, which has become much more common in recent years. However, there is little evidence that this approach was taken by the general public, away from cine-literate, cynical film critics. This is in part due to the marketing, and explains the focus on Chong in the press kit. By having a girl in between the masculinity, it creates a safe atmosphere that nulls the potential homoeroticism. This tactic is not entirely successful. Due to the ethnicity of Chong, Cindy and Matrix are never implied to have any sort of romantic or sexual relationship, as would be expected in an action movie of this type, as the studio fears the reaction to an interracial relationship. On top of this, she is rarely sexualised on screen, fulfilling a ‘sidekick’ role, more akin to the press kit’s reference to 48HRS, than a love interest. This is also in contrast to the fetishisation of Schwarzenegger’s body, particularly the scene where he strips down to apply camouflage paint, which consists of close ups which rely on the spectacle of his body, and the film’s finale, where Martrix impales Bennett with a large pipe, being a very graphic potential sexual metaphor. Thus, the heterosexual counterbalance to the homoeroticism is not as strong as it could be, and more cine-literate critics have highlighted this potential subtext.
Overall, the film was received as was it was intended; an undemanding action film. People went to see it, and enjoyed it. There is no evidence of any particular word of mouth effect, positive or negative. The film made money. Schwarzenegger’s career continued in the direction it was heading. The film sustained his star persona, and he went on to star in several other successful action movies throughout the 1980’s and early 90’s, such as Predator and Total Recall (Paul Verhoeven 1990), and managed to make this persona well known enough that he could play off it in comedies such as Kindergarten Cop (Ivan Reitman 1990 USA) and Junior (Ivan Reitman 1994 USA). Based on this evidence, the film can be seen as a success, especially from the perspective of the studio.
However, the film seems much less of a success when compared to Schwarzenegger’s previous film, The Terminator. The Terminator is a film that has entered the public consciousness, and has remained there for many years after the film has been released. It has spun off into comic books, toys, novels, videogames and toys . It has become iconic film, with the catchphrase “I’ll be back” taking on a life separate to the film. A perfect example of its pop culture status is shown Last Action Hero (John McTeirnan 1993 USA). During the film, protagonist travels ‘our’ reality and into the world of an action film starring Schwarzenegger. Thus it is a world where Arnold Schwarzenegger does not exist. At one point the characters enter a video store and see a poster for The Terminator, but instead starring Sylvester Stallone. This shows that Schwarzenegger’s star persona in the role of the Terminator was so well known that mainstream audiences could be relied upon to have enough prior knowledge to understand the joke. Even if they had not seen Terminator or its sequel, the majority of people would at least recognise Schwarzenegger and the character’s association with one another. Nothing like this happened with Commando, at least when the film was released. The film faded from view very quickly. What is interesting that there were attempts to produce spin off merchandising for the film. A toy line was produced in 1986 by Diamond Toymakers . As well as figures of Matrix there was an attempt to create a mythology around the character. A cast of characters for Matrix to lead were created, and figures of those produced. The toy line was not a success, and no mythology was built around the character. In contrast, much of the long-term success of The Terminator was built on a mythology created by comic books and toys that are only alluded to in the film.
Whilst the star persona of Schwarzenegger is obviously very strong, yet it is the only distinguishable feature of Commando, and this is possibly the reason for its lack of resonance. All of his other films of the same era that have endured have had another element to differentiate them. Predator has a visually iconic character, is directed by John McTeirnan, who has directed several other iconic action films such as Die Hard (John McTeirnan 1988 USA), and has the presence other stars who have cult appeal in the action genre, such as Carl Weathers and former wrestler Jesse Venture. The Running Man (Paul Michael Glazer 1987 USA) was based on a novel by Stephen King. Red Heat (Water Hill 1988) features comedian James Belushi, popular for his work on Saturday Night Live. Total Recall (Paul Verhoeven 1990 USA) is based on a story by cult science fiction author Phillip K Dick and is by respected director Verhoeven. Notably, none of the cast or crew went to any further success apart from Schwarzenegger. Director Lester most notable film post-Commando was Showdown in Little Tokyo (Mark L Lester 1991 USA), an action vehicle for Brandon Lee. Rae Dawn Chong did not become the comedic star the press kit pushed her as. Only Alyssa Milano, who played Matrix’s daughter, achieved any lasting fame, in the cult television series Charmed, but this was many years later, and had little to do her work as a child actress. In many ways Commando is the perfect Schwarzenegger film as relies purely on him. The only other film from the era that relied purely on his star persona was Raw Deal (John Irvin 1986 USA), which has also been similarly forgotten.
However, at the beginning of the 21st century, Commando is re-entering pop culture landscape. Where as The Terminator is iconic enough to have been parodied or eluded to in mother films or on television, this has rarely happened (if ever) happened to Commando, especially in the years following its release, where it should have been its most popular. Yet in the episode of The Simpsons entitled ‘The Bart Wants What It Wants’ first broadcast in 2002, Rainer Wolfcastle, a character always intended as a parody of Schwarzenegger, says the line “Remember when I said I’d eat you last? I lied,” to a piece of food, mimicking Matrix’s is line in the film (with “kill” changed to “eat”). Robot Chicken, a cult animated sketch show which is part of Cartoon Network’s ‘Adult Swim’ programming block also referenced the line in a sketch featuring Schwarzenegger in the episode ‘Shoe’ broadcast in 2007. This shows that the film is now more recognisable in pop culture terms than it was when it was released. A special edition DVD of was released in 2007, featuring an extended cut and newly created special features. The film was already available on a basic, featureless DVD, so the fact that 20th Century Fox were willing to produce a new special edition of the film shows that they must believe there is a market, and a fan base, for it. The film even has a fan site online, with an active, if small, forum.
The question now stands to as to why the film has taken on an iconic status that it never had at the time of its release, and was never even really designed to have in the first place. Thus it is necessary to deduce what has happen in the 20 years since its release. Andrew Pulver says that the success of American independent cinema in the 1990’s significantly changed the way cinema is received, with Pulp Fiction (Quentin Tarantino 1994 USA) winning the Cannes Palme d’Or “symbolising the turning of a cinematic generation .” Jeffery Sconce expands upon the films from this era, commenting that there were “so many films stripped bare of rational moral judgement and politics .” However he does not think these films themselves are immoral, instead that “beneath their veneer of studied detachment, cultivated disaffection and ironic posturing, many of these films are extremely politicised and even moralistic .” For these films to work, audiences in the 1990’s must have developed enough education and irony to understand this. For example, the film Happiness (Todd Slondz 1998 USA) is an ensemble comedy which features a protagonist who is a paedophile. The film relies on the “younger, more educated, ‘bohemian’ audience ,” as Sconce puts it, to understand that the film is meant to be taken as a satire, yet this is never signposted in the text itself. The film is thus a ‘smart film,’ a film that requires intelligence, and differentiates itself from the ‘dumb’ films produced by Hollywood, or “goofy movies” as Roger Ebert calls them.
This change in the perception of audiences can be seen to effect Commando. The film can be seen as a perfect example of a ‘dumb’ film, relying purely on the spectacle of Schwarzenegger killing people. Thus the film is enjoyed by a younger, more educated audience ironically, in the terms of it being ‘so bad its good.’ There is definitely a certain element of this in Commando fandom. For instance on the Commandofans forum, there is an ongoing thread entitled ‘Bennett Spotting ’, consisting of images of Vernon Wells photoshopped into famous movie posters, which is obviously mocking the character.
However, the re-evaluation of the film goes much further. Audiences are now approaching it almost as a ‘smart film’. In the same way that the viewer does not completely align themselves with the protagonist in Happiness, Matrix has now changed from a hero to a satirical figure of Regan era politics. To many audiences he may be just as repugnant, and the ‘smart film’ period thrived on such repugnant anti-heroes. The fact that the film was referenced in programmes known for their subversive edge like The Simpsons and Robot Chicken supports this. The film lacked political context when it was made but now has taken on one. The 20-year gap changes the appeal from the spectacle of destruction to a historical document. It is interesting to compare it to the release of Rambo (Sylvester Stallone 2008 USA), which features similar spectacles of destruction. Many found the offensive, even to the point of the Odeon cinema chain refusing to show it , because it was seen to trivialise current events in the world. The same allegations may have been laid against Commando at the time, but the 20-year gap has given it a new context, arguably being reclaimed as an indictment of the politics it initially celebrated. The film has also taken on even more significant since Schwarzenegger was elected Governor of California in 2003. While obviously an actor’s star persona and real life politics are separate entities, they are deliberately intertwined in the eyes of the public. Thus his politics have been compared to his film roles. He has been called ‘The Governator ’ in reference to The Terminator, and even respected authors are not above this, with P J O’Rourke referring to his “Terminator tactic to wipe out political corruption and the deficit. It was a sci-fi reform, Hiram Johnson’s cyborg .” Yet the character is equally a creation of James Cameron. With Commando being, as I have argued, the ultimate Schwarzenegger film it takes on completely new meaning. While the position of Governor does not really allow for initiating military action, Schwarzenegger is a Republican, and a vocal supporter of George W Bush, and thus creates a connection to Iraq war, producing new meaning in a film as gleefully violent in a film like Commando.
Overall, Commando was merely intended to make money, and to perpetuate Schwarzenegger’s star image until the next iconic vehicle came along. In this way, it was a success. However, the sheer banality of the final product has actually given it more resonance 20 years later, as it is now more a historical document than a film.
