Studio:

Theatrical: Silver Pictures

DVD: 20^th Century Fox Pictures Home Entertainment

Review by Leonard Norwitz

Video:

Aspect ratio: approx. 1.85:1

Feature film: 1080p / MPEG2 @ 24 MBPS

Supplements: 1080p

90 minutes

24 chapters

Audio:

English DTS 5.1 HD Master Lossless

English Dolby Surround

French Stereo

Spanish Mono

Subtitles:

English and Spanish + CC

Extras

• Enhanced for D-Box Motion Control Systems

• Theatrical Trailers in HD

Standard Blu-ray case: 1 disc

25 GB single layer

Comment

Compared to Arnold Schwarzenegger's other action films (Terminator, Predator, T2, Eraser, Total Recall, True Lies), Commando has to rank at near the bottom, along with End of Days.  Coming, as it did, between The Terminator (1984) and Predator (1987), we must lay the blame entirely at the feet of Silver Pictures and everyone that came with it: most of all, an embarrassingly predictable and moronic script and ham-fisted direction.  All of the actors, including Arnold at more or less the start of his big movie career, had done much better work.

The Score Card

The Movie : 3

John Matrix thinks he has retired from the commando business.  He enjoys his young teenage daughter (a bit too much, I thought, no thank you, Mr. Lester) at his mountain retreat.  Not so fast, John.  You are about to find out that members of your old unit are being snuffed out by forces unknown.  No sooner than he learns of this than his home is under attack and his daughter abducted by a former member of his team in the pay of an exiled dictator.  Matrix follows in hot pursuit.

Image : 8 (7~9/9)

The score of 8 indicates a relative level of excellence compared to other Blu-ray DVDs on a ten point scale.  The score in parentheses represents: first, a value for the image in absolute terms; and, second, how that image compares to what I believe is the current best we can expect in the theatre.

This image is variable.  It's never poor, exactly.  Simply, uninteresting; and hardly representative of what Fox has been able to do with old movies.  I don't know if the source material was not much to start with, but in any case, Fox probably didn't give it their best shot.

       

Audio & Music : 7/4

A particularly forgettable score laid in to an audio mix that clear enough but lacking in dynamic interest.

Operations : 7

Fox gets right to the menu before we even have a chance to return to our seats.  Chapters are titled, but thumbnails do not enlarge. 

Extras : 1

Only a handful of theatrical trailers - in HD, at least.  Too little, too late.