Commando
Photo credit: © Disney/Park Circus
Part of An Evening with Mark L. Lester
Another opportunity for the Austrian Oak to deliver his legendary line “I’ll be back” comes via his role as an ex-special-forces colonel forcibly thrust out of retirement. A dictator he once helped overthrow, now burning for revenge, makes the big mistake of kidnapping our hero’s daughter to ensure his services in the counter-revolutionary effort. There are few films that revel in the body count as much as Commando. Collateral damage is high, one-liners fly back and forth, and in between there are even delicate saplings of the meta-humor which would later become much more strenuous (“Can’t believe this macho bullshit!”). And Arnie, well, he lifts, tears and annihilates whatever gets in front of his massive, lovingly displayed muscles. A classic. (tt)
In attendance of Mark L. Lester (director)
is a renowned director and producer, founder and president of the production company American World Pictures, where he has overseen the development and distribution of over a hundred films. He is also the founder of Titan Global Entertainment. Born in 1946, he began his career with drive-in classics like Truck Stop Women (1974) and Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw (1976). His breakout movie was Roller Boogie (1979), but he is best known for his work in the 1980s, beginning with the legendary Class of 1984 (1982) and culminating in big budget movies like the Stephen King adaptation Firestarter (1984) and Commando (1985). His latest directorial effort was The Dragons of Camelot (2014). He has since concentrated on producing films such as, most recently, the horror thriller Cinderella’s Revenge (2024).
