For some reason, the British Board of Film Classification (or
BBFC) decided Commando was too violent and requested 15 seconds
of cuts before they agreed to release the film. If you live in
the UK and wonder if you own a cut version, read below:
The cuts were as follows:
1. During John Matrix's (Schwarzenegger's) climactic siege on
Arius' (Dan Hedaya's) villa to reclaim his daughter (a very
young Alyssa Milano), the infamous "toolshed" sequence was
trimmed of two brief, though graphic, moments; the guard being
downed by an axe to the groin was removed, and the guard who has
his arm chopped off by Matrix with a machete, as well as the
subsequent shot of him screaming in pain at his bleeding stump,
were removed in their entirety.
2. The finale fight between Matrix and Bennett (Vernon Wells,
who astute readers will remember as Wes in "Mad Max 2") has been
trimmed of the pay-off to Bennett's evisceration with a length
of pipe. The close-up tracking shot down the pipe has been
removed.
Clearly, the number of cuts detailed in Paul Williams' review of
Fox's R4 do not match at all against the above cuts as censored
from the UK R2 release! At a staggering 56 seconds (estimated),
the cuts do not at all mirror the 12 seconds of cuts requested
of the UK edition. So, the question remains, where did Fox
source their master for the R4 release?
I had entertained the idea that the Australian master had been
lifted from a European R2 original, and reformatted, but a
decisive email from one of our readers from Denmark confirmed
that the R2 disc is definitely uncut. There has been strong
confirmation that the French R2 PAL disc is complete.
Thus, and I'm going out on a limb here, based upon the
censorship history of film in a variety of world-wide
territories; confirmation that the French R2 disc is uncut;
coupled with confirmation that the UK R2 disc will undoubtedly
mirror that territory's video release (ie: the 12 seconds of
cuts will stand), there is only one remaining European territory
where the film was trimmed for violence for both its cinema &
video releases. That territory was Germany. I am happy to be
proven wrong in this instance, but all current information
points towards Fox utilizing an edited German R2 master for the
Australian R4 release. Until somebody owns up to the facts, or I
am deluged by email from our European readers confirming
otherwise, this is the best hypothesis I can offer as to the
reasons behind the R4 disc of "Commando" being released in such
a shoddy, emasculated version.
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There are approximately 56 seconds of missing footage in total.
Here is a list of all the cut scenes that I noticed and their
approximate lengths, plus a general comment on what happened in
the cut footage. I played my VHS tape version of Commando
simultaneously with the DVD to produce this list.
Location
(mins:secs) Cut
(secs) Description of cut footage
2:01 4 Making sure the first target is dead by shooting him
again.
21:18 5 John Matrix snapping Henriques' neck.
45:31 14 Close up of Cooke dying whilst impaled on a table leg.
66:50 1 John cutting guard's throat.
67:09 2 John cutting another guard's throat.
67:18 5 John killing two guards.
68:35 5 John shooting two guards.
70:20 4 John shooting more guards.
71:36 2 John stabbing a guard with a pitchfork in the chest.
71:40 6 John using an axe and a machete to dispatch two more
guards (ouch - that's got to have hurt).
79:16 2 Bennett gets a longer electric shock.
79:50 1 Pipe hitting Bennett.
79:55 5 Panning shot along the pipe protruding from Bennett's
chest.
Filming Locations for Commando
Beverly Hills, California, USA
(Harold Lloyd Mansion)
Long Beach, California, USA
(Airport scene)
Los Angeles, California, USA
(Tom Bradley International Terminal, LAX International Airport)
Mt. Baldy, California, USA
(Snack bar exterior)
San Luis Obispo, California, USA
San Simeon, California, USA
(Val Verde barracks, Hearst Castle)
Sherman Oaks Galleria - 15301 Ventura Boulevard, Sherman Oaks,
Los Angeles, California, USA
