The Terminator and his role as the T-800 that cemented him as a staple of the genre.

Movies from the '80s like Predator (1987) and The Running Man (1987) remain Scharzenegger action classics, as does 1990's Total Recall. The 90's saw the Austrian actor's domination of the action space continue with movies like Kindergarten Cop (1990), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Last Action Hero (1993) and True Lies (1994). There's one title from the '80s, however, that also lives on as not just a quintessential Schwarzenegger action movie, but as one that is emblematic of the over-the-top action excess that defined that entire decade.

Commando Earns A Dismal Accuracy Score From Military Expert

The Arnold Schwarzenegger Action Movie Features A Number Of Exaggerations

A former Green Beret docks accuracy points from Commando for its abundance of unrealistic elements. Released in 1985, the action movie hails from director Mark L. Lester, with Schwarzenegger starring as Matrix, a retired Special Forces soldier who leaps back into action to save his daughter after she is kidnapped. The movie, which earned generally positive reviews from critics, features an abundance of action scenes, many of which are over-the-top in typical '80s fashion.

In a recent video for Insider, former Green Beret soldier David Harris analyzes Schwarzenegger's compound assault sequence from Commando, breaking down all the inaccuracies. According to Harris, one of the most egregious elements of the sequence is the destructive power of the claymore mines Matrix sets down, but the hand grenade explosion is also, unsurprisingly, over the top. Check out Harris' analysis below, as well as his score for the film out of 10:

Nope, not at all. Those claymores would not do that much damage. Basically what a claymore is it’s a one-and-a-half pound of C4 with about 700 or 800 ballbearings on it, and then you blow it up and it scatters and can go out. And the kill radius is about 50 meters.

They use them to go defensive. They were designed to actually like get in your patrol base and put those out so guys couldn’t sneak up on you. And then the other way of using them was in ambushes you open up with those because they’re going to produce the mass casualties. It’s not blowing up, taking out two buildings. Pellets aren’t going to do that.

When we were in the old days of wars we used flamethrowers to go after bunkers. So the standoff of that was like 75 meters. From what I know of the quad-tube rocket launcher, that weapon system was designed so that we can get more standoff from the bunkers themselves. They were designed to be bunker busters where you could get more standoff, that was up to about 150 to 200 meters. So now the guy didn’t have to run up there with a flamethrower and gas on his back on a bunker where they were getting shot at.

The rocket launchers weren’t designed to shoot at moving targets. They were designed for bunkers, a stationary target. But if you were in a pinch, let them rip. They weren’t heat-seeking so they didn’t have the ability to pick up a heat signature […] it’s a point-and-fire weapon.

A blast from a grenade would not send two dudes doing somersaults into the air. They’re not designed for that. It’s an area fire weapon and, honestly, those two dudes, because it’s about a five to 15 meter kill zone, those dudes would have been dead on impact.

I would rate this a three [out of 10].

Our Take On Commando's Poor Accuracy Score

It's Okay That It's Not Realistic

The fact that Commando isn't a realistic movie is not surprising, and it ultimately doesn't negatively affect the film. The '80s is filled with one-man-army type action movies, and Commando remains one of Schwarzenegger's most iconic in this action subgenre. The entire appeal of the movie is Matrix is essentially a super soldier who mows down countless enemies with ease. Interestingly, this approach to action would shift in the '90s with the release of Die Hard, which featured Bruce Willis' John McClane as more of an everyman who uses ingenuity in addition to brute strength to defeat his enemies.

On Rotten Tomatoes, Commando's critics' score and audience score are both 68%. The film grossed $57 million on a $9 million budget, making it a big hit.

Still, though, these types of video analyses aren't meant to knock the film, but to use the film as a means of letting experts talk about their experiences. Audiences probably already know that Schwarzenegger's antics in Commando aren't realistic, but it's interesting to hear exactly how they're not realistic and how the movie compares to a soldier's real-life experiences and expertise.

Source: Insider