Original subtitles

The year is 1985 and Arnie

has already emerged as barbarian.

Crush your enemies.

He was a big heavily muscled action movie actor.

A destroyer and a Terminator.

Get out.

Arnold was just becoming a star.

Sarah Connor.

And his next film...

I like this picture. I'm not a robot from the future,

a caveman from the past.

...is the story of how Arnie

goes from big to massive.

One gigantic mother--

With a touch of normal.

He was trying to humanize Arnold.

The making of "Commando"

was destined to be the making of a whole new genre.

Okay, this is a giant comic book movie.

The only problem was...

This genre doesn't exist.

...hardly anyone had tried this before.

Oh my God, this is like millions of dollars.

We need safety, we need boats.

No one seemed to know the limits...

He says, "We gotta kill more guys."

...of taste...

And he pulls out a giant vibrator.

...or manners...

He says, "You don't fucking understand, do you?

I'm gonna own you."

...or the budget...

We spent an extra week killing all these guys,

and now we do not have the money or the budget.

...or even gravity.

We were up there so long

that I had like veins popping outta my head.

You gotta step your game up.

Kiss my ass.

And some didn't even want to be there.

Your soldiers are nothing.

I'll get on a plane and go home. I'm cool.

So get ready for a trip back to 1980's Hollywood...

I was at a party at the Playboy Mansion.

...via a movie you almost never got to see.

We've just made a deal with Arnold Schwarzenegger

for a movie we don't own.

It's not my day.

Oh my God, what have I done?

As Arnie takes command.

- Leave anything for us? - Just bodies.

To learn where the story of "Commando" came from,

we need to take a flight from New York to LA

on a jumbo jet with this man

and his screenwriting partner, Matthew Weisman.

We were hilariously arrogant.

We had come out here from film school at Columbia University

in New York. Knew no one.

Jeph and Matthew were short on LA friends,

but not ideas.

We would go to pitch meetings, and we would pitch ideas,

and people would go, "We love this.

This is great and you told it so well

and we're all set.

Could we read something that you've done?"

But they had no idea how Hollywood worked.

And we would go, "Yeah, when you pay us

to write the script."

Jeph and Matthew soon learned.

You have to spec a screenplay.

- Spec, meaning-- - Write for free.

Which is how we end up on the plane to LA

when Jeph was about to have an idea

while sitting in first class.

I am flying from New York to Los Angeles.

Actually being an out of work screenwriter,

it was definitely economy.

And I am sitting almost directly across from the galley.

The galley is empty,

and literally two seconds later I look up,

and there's a flight attendant in the galley.

Like she appeared out of nowhere. This is magic to me.

You please make sure that all your carry-on luggage is--

A humble flight attendant

was about to change Jeph's life.

There you go.

I say, "Where did you come from?"

She says, "Oh, I was downstairs."

And I said, "I'm sorry, there's a downstairs?"

And she shows me that there's this elevator

that you can get on and go downstairs

and get your food cart and come back upstairs.

The 747's lift not only delivered food,

it delivered Jeph an idea that would kickstart a career.

And suddenly it occurs to me it's the perfect clock.

In other words,

the flight time was a great timeframe.

Because once that plane takes off until that plane lands

and everyone thinks you are on that plane,

you can go do whatever you want to do.

We land in Val Verde in exactly 11 hours.

Thanks to his well-placed economy seat,

Jeph suddenly had an idea about a man escaping a plane

through its undercarriage

to carry out a mission in the time it takes the plane

to reach its destination.

- Now I have a clock. - Yes, the clock.

Now I need a story that goes with the clock.

We'll get to that later

when Jeph works out the minor details like--

How's he gonna get off that plane?

But the spark that leads us

to the making of "Commando"...

- By sheer coincidence. - ...that started with a kiss.

Ah, not that kind of kiss and not Arnie, not yet.

It was the Kiss.

A friend of mine, Stan Brooks calls

and says, "Would you like to meet Gene Simmons,

the lead singer of Kiss?"

This is 1984.

So Kiss is the biggest thing ever.

But not big enough for Gene

because the rock star wanted to become a movie star.

"He's a comic book fan.

You're a comic book fan. Who knows what could happen."

So Jeph met with Gene.

We sit down. We start talking.

Gene said, "I'm making 'Runaways' with Michael Crichton."

We got a call in the office that one

of your 912s was not functioning.

"And it's my first movie and I like making movies.

So do you have an idea for me to be a movie star?"

Jeph didn't. Well, not right away.

But when he heard Gene's story, he started thinking.

Gene grew up in Israel

and learned how to read English through comic books.

That gave Jeph an idea.

Once the hand of violence touches you, it never lets go.

About a retired commando.

You could be a former Mossad person

who's living in the States now.

He thinks it's kind of cool to be an action hero.

That wasn't his only idea.

I'd say, "I would love to do a Hitchcock moment.

You start, you're talking to your daughter

and it's this incredibly loving, fun relationship.

And then you go outside for five minutes

and when you come back, she's gone, like vanished.

Now you have to go find out who's got her."

I'm making up the story as we go along.

He says, "I love it. Great."

Stan looks at me and says, "This is the spec script.

You should write this script."

That's exactly what Jeph

and his writing partner did.

At this point, a rockstar, better known for the length

of his tongue than the depth

of his acting experience was destined

to play a man on a violent quest to save his daughter.

Excuse me, ladies, you seem to be in some need of assistance.

It had come just at the right time

to intersect with a new genre

taking Hollywood by storm.

Tell me a story.

Fuck you.

Oh, that's one of my favorites.

It was the action comedy.

A genre you could say took only 48 hours to create.

There's a new sheriff in town.

Produced by Joel Silver and Larry Gordon.

Eddie Murphy's highly comedic "48 Hrs"

got Jeph and Matthew thinking.

All right you two, what's going on here?

Nothing.

We had seen "48 Hrs."

We thought, "Why doesn't this guy have a sense of humor?"

Jeph's story already had the plot and the action.

- Perfect clock. - Yes, the clock.

They just needed to find the comedy.

You want to see me kick some ass?

And it was another character inspired

by Jeph's friendly air hostess that held the key.

He kidnaps a woman...

Don't move.

...who does not wanna be anywhere near this.

I'm not interested.

She's somebody who has nothing to do with the story

and is now thrust into the story.

Would you please leave me alone?

And that sets up really good comedic relief

with a ton of violence.

It was a perfect formula.

These guys eat too much red meat.

And before long, Jeph and Matthew declared--

We now have a script.

But not for a Hollywood action hero.

For Gene Simmons.

A rock star who wanted to be a movie star.

We send it to Gene and Gene reads it.

He gives it to one of his advisors.

They say, "We don't get it."

It's a tragedy.

And that's the end of the conversation.

Well, if they couldn't have a rockstar,

maybe they could have a rockstar director.

- We'd seen "48 Hrs." - Oh, you saw that.

I desperately wanted to work with Walter Hill.

Somehow Jeph got in front

of "48 Hrs" director, Walter Hill.

We sit down and he goes, "I read your script.

"I really like your script. It's an interesting concept."

Walter's first note was a reality check

in the shape of one question.

He goes, "Which one of you owns a bear?"

And I go, "I'm sorry, I don't--

I don't even understand the question."

Let's explain.

It was all to do with this off-pace pursuit

early in "Commando's" first act.

In the scene where he takes the truck

and he sort of barrels down the mountain,

we had truck smashed or however it happens.

And then a bear came out

and then he had to deal with a bear.

Walter saw the bear in the script

but thought it was a dog of an idea.

He says, "Have you ever worked with a bear?"

I said, "I've never made a movie."

So he goes, "They'll never do what you wanna do.

Take the bear out of the movie."

Now bear-less, Jeph and Matthew's script

was overhauled at Walter Hill's direction.

And so it became much more streamlined

in terms of A to B to C to D.

But Walter ultimately decides not to make the movie.

Bear or no bear,

Jeph and Matthew were now lost in the woods.

We're two guys that nobody knows.

But they had one lifeline

and it might prove to be a master stroke.

Bob Kosberg is known in Hollywood as the Pitch Master.

Jeph Loeb and his writing partner,

Matthew Weisman,

had a script all dressed up with nowhere to go.

But then they were offered a blind date.

Through a friend, probably Stan Brooks

With a Hollywood matchmaker.

You should meet this guy Bob Kosberg.

Bob Kosberg is known in Hollywood as the Pitch Master.

I got a reputation recognizing good stories

by hearing a lot of pitches.

And that got me into the rooms to pitch it

to a studio or a production.

I would be hanging on as one of the producers

'cause I was the one bringing it in.

So we all profit.

Bob comes to us and says, "What have you got?"

Jeph and Matthew pitched to the Pitch Master

And they pitched me "Commando."

They told me two scenes that would be in the movie.

Picture a log cabin

in the woods on a quiet mountain.

They were talking about a retired military guy

and then he spots a deer.

You got nervous 'cause you thought, "Oh no,

is he gonna kill that beautiful deer?"

And you see him getting closer

and closer until he reaches out

and he doesn't shoot the deer.

He actually reaches over and pets it.

Instead it was a wonderful surprise.

But this scene would not have surprised

the writers who originally dreamed it up,

who were not Jeph and Matthew.

I can now confess

that scene is actually in a comic book.

Chris Claremont and John Byrne's, "X-Men" run.

Wolverine is running around and chasing a deer.

And because "Wolverine" is a homicidal maniac,

you're very worried that he's gonna kill this deer.

And in the end, he pets the deer.

Which Bob thought was a nice touch.

You like him 'cause he loves animals.

But more importantly it showed

how he could do anything to catch anyone

'cause nobody can catch a deer in the wild, but he did.

So I remember thinking,

"That's a good way to start a movie."

The second scene was not about a deer,

but about daring.

Then telling me this scene where he jumps off the plane

and I thought, "That's a great--

Get him back into the chase in a clever way."

Bob hit the studios

and producers with a simple two scene pitch.

I took it to pretty much a development executive,

VP of development at every single studio and was told no.

Bob had run into a wall.

The action comedy genre was so new,

it remained a species unknown to science.

But Bob wasn't letting that stop him.

Y'all be cool. Right on.

I knew a young woman, Stephanie Brody,

who I'd become friends with who was an assistant at CAA.

She said to me, "We know Joel Silver.

Let's give him a script."

Why Joel Silver?

He had a reputation for producing comedy.

So what would you little maniacs like to do first?

And action hits.

He also had a reputation for producing drama,

just not on the screen.

Joel had a reputation for being an over-the-top--

I wouldn't call it a bully,

but it was an over-the-top person

who was not particularly kind to people under him.

He would scream and go and get upset.

Joel has styled himself on the stereotype producer

that you would see in a million movies to such a degree

that in recent movies, every time there's a producer,

- it's a parody of Joel. - I can handle Buddy.

Unreachable may work for other hacks out there, but not here.

They made a movie, "Swimming with Sharks."

That might be the title.

What good are you? Do you have a brain?

Where he throws something across the room

and hits someone in the head.

It's when I do this.

And here's another energetic tribute.

You can forget about acting for the next 20 years.

Your fucking career is over.

He even played the parody producer himself.

Can we lose the playback please?

Regardless of his personal peccadillos,

I always know that Joel cares about the film.

So who better than a larger than life producer

for this larger than life movie?

And the next thing I knew,

Joel Silver was reading the script.

If Joel Silver likes Jeph

and Matthew's script,

they might not only gain a producer, but a studio.

Larry Gordon, who was the godfather of the group,

went over to Fox and then Joel came over as a producer.

Two men on the lookout for the next "48 Hrs."

Hope this big move of yours turns out to be something.

Stephanie called me and said, "Guess what?

Joel read the script and thought it was good."

But they didn't see that

in Jeph and Matthew's "Commando." Not yet.

And Joel says, "We just need to find a way of doing it."

In other words, "Don't call us. We'll call you."

The script was shelved until, enter a man

that would change everything.

- Tell me what I must do. - Yes, Arnie.

But not just Arnie, a man of small stature but big clout.

Barry Diller had just become head of Fox.

He was at a cocktail party where he met Arnold

and was charmed by him.

Enter Arnie, enter opportunity.

So the next day, he came into the office,

and he said, "I met Arnold Schwarzenegger the other night

and he's nothing like these characters he's played,

in 'Conan the Barbarian'...

You have nothing that I want.

- ...and in 'Terminator.'" - I'll be back.

"He was kind of funny and amusing.

If you can find a movie you can make with him

for $10 million,

I will immediately green-light it."

The next day, Larry had somebody go

into the subterranean basement

with a torch looking for any

and all scripts that could possibly be a vehicle

for Arnold Schwarzenegger

And the guy tapped to help get this Arnie vehicle

on the road was the co-writer of "48 Hrs,"

Steven de Souza.

One of the things that sort of made my reputation

starting in television and carrying over into feature

is to be able to balance action with comedy.

A job he'd been doing since bionic men

cost only $6 million.

I started out as a story editor

on the "Six Million Dollar Man."

If we're gonna get to Mars from here,

we're gonna need a new computer.

Until I was a producer of "Knight Rider."

I hope it's the right apartment, Michael.

After surveying the shelves

at Fox, one script pecked,

I mean piqued Steven's interest.

Monday morning, everybody came in

and said, "This script called 'Commando'

is the closest to becoming

an Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle."

- Are they any good? - Real good.

It was a green light

for Jeph and Matthew's first movie, but...

They were dying as a studio at that point.

Fox Studio vehicle named "Commando."ther

Partly because a string of flops

hung around the studio's neck from "Blame It on Rio"...

Is it something I did?

...to "Unfaithfully Yours."

- How do you like him, huh? - Ah.

Worst of all, another foray

into action comedy, "Rhinestone,"

♪ Rhinestone cowboy ♪

was a mess for Stallone

and proved to be a--

- Dog. - Oh, dog.

Steven's first job was to convince Arnie

to jump on board even though the "Commando" script

wasn't actually a good fit.

We couldn't send him the script

because the script was written for a person

of a more normal physique.

Well, not entirely normal.

Gene Simmons, the lead singer of Kiss.

The screenplay just wasn't physical enough for Arnie.

Also, Arnie only had one accent, and it wasn't Israeli.

Nice night for a walk.

We go to Arnold's office to pitch the movie

that hasn't been written yet to Arnold.

This might be close but no cigar.

And he sat there for a moment with, you know,

his cigar in his hand.

And finally he said, "I like this picture.

I'm not a robot from the future,

a caveman from the past.

I'm wearing clothes like a regular person.

That's a part John Wayne could do. I do this picture."

That was reportedly a $2 million handshake.

Not bad for a rising star.

Arnold was just becoming a star.

Everybody could see he was on his way.

- Producers had their lead. - That's all you'll ever need.

They had Barry Diller's blessing.

The movie was green-lit.

And most importantly,

they had Jeph and Matthew's script.

And Joel had a piece of paper that said

that he had optioned the script.

At least Joel thought he had.

We had not met Joel. We're going, "What?"

Sure, Joel Silver had an arrangement

but not with the right people.

He goes, "Bob doesn't own the script?"

Pitch Master Bob didn't.

He didn't put his name on anything.

So Fox didn't even have the rights to the movie

they had just contracted Arnold for.

Look, it may take a while.

If you wanna wait, there's a bench over there.

And I remember Joel calling

and it was one of the few times I could see

that there was a fire in Joel's eyes.

But we've just made a deal

with Arnold Schwarzenegger for a movie we don't own.

Like a lot of Hollywood problems,

it was easily fixed for a fee.

Somewhere between $50,000 and $200,000.

If this all sounds too '80s Hollywood,

wait until you hear how the director got involved.

Well, I was at a party at the Playboy Mansion.

- Brace yourself. - In my pajamas.

And I sat down.

Joel Silver was next to me and we introduced each other.

Joel had just met the man

who was going to direct the next Arnold Schwarzenegger film

and it wouldn't be his first.

I was making film after film, drive-in movies

and exploitation films.

All right, everybody, settle down.

I did this movie "Class of 1984,"

which was a completely independent film.

Got something in there for us, Lester?

And that was very successful.

- I didn't know about that. - And then I got hired

to do "Fire Starter."

That was a big studio film, Universal,

where they had all the money and power.

So we started talking

and he said, oh, he has a picture I might be interested in.

When Joel hired Mark

he said, "This is the kind of film I want."

I was very ready to go for this picture.

I said, "Well, can you send me the script?"

He said, "Oh no, it's not done."

Because the script was still a story

written for rock and roll's greatest tongue.

But that wasn't going to hold up casting,

starting with finding the right woman for Arnie.

Many actresses turned it down, crazy enough.

They didn't want to act with Arnold

'cause he wasn't really, you know, he hadn't done that much.

It's like, "Oh, we don't want to be in the movie with him."

But one woman was not turning her nose up

at the role, even though on paper,

she was wrong for the part.

It was written for a blonde white woman.

And they were having trouble with the casting.

And I saw exactly why. I knew what to do.

So I begged my agent to fight to get me in

to see the casting person.

Rae Dawn had come close

to breaking Hollywood before.

- Tracy. - Lee, come on up.

I was up for "Fame" but I wasn't as talented as Irene Cara.

- I sing too. - No.

And play the piano.

But I knew that I had a vibe going.

You still feel like being dangerous?

Come on.

Rae's vibe got her an audition

and her comedy instincts were soon giving casting directors

good vibrations.

This one scene, Arnold kidnaps Cindy.

I'm not going to hurt you.

He puts his hand in her bag

and he pulls out a giant vibrator.

And as we women know,

we don't carry giant vibrators around.

'Cause you could tell a man wrote this.

Oh, you don't know what you're missing.

In the script,

she says, "Oh, it gets lonely on the road."

It was so awful.

So when Arnold in my audition puts his hand in my bag

and pulls out this vibrator, I said, "Wow, whose is that?"

So Schwarzenegger didn't know what to say.

He just sat there with this imaginary vibrator in his hand.

He goes, "I don't know." I said, "Well, it's not mine."

And it just blew up in the room. Everybody laughed.

Rae and casting director Jackie Birch were vibing.

So I got the part and I booked it.

For the film's band of bad guys,

Joel Silver called on talent

he personally brought up from obscurity.

Joel Silver discovered me.

I was only two films into my film career at that point.

-"The Warriors"... - Warriors.

...and "48 Hrs"...

I don't know what you're talking about?

...with Joel Silver. And we are good to go.

You're a funny guy, Sully. I like you.

Ironically, the youngest actor on the shoot

was one of the more experienced.

Here she is.

Like, the wrong casting on the daughter,

the audience would've gone, "Yeah.

I don't love this kid."

The fact that it was Alyssa Milano gave the audience

an opportunity to be able to go,

"Yeah, go save the, 'Who's the Boss?' girl."

You have a lovely home and you're so pretty.

Well, thank you.

- I'm very flattered. - That's the idea.

12-year-old Alyssa's character, Jenny,

daughter of John Matrix, would be kidnapped

by a gang of henchmen led by Bill Duke as Cooke.

I think when, I think Joel Silver, he saw my work,

You got scruples now, huh?

And he didn't really make me audition.

Understandable.

You wouldn't want to make Bill do anything.

The ducks were lining up except one.

An exotic breed Joel Silver had worked hard

to coax from down under.

I was in Australia and very happy and doing other things.

And I did not want to come to America.

Joel really had his work cut out

casting Vernon because...

The truth be known

I didn't wanna be an actor. I wanted to be a director.

He'd recently chased Vernon for his ability

to sport a mohawk in Silver's John Hughes-directed comedy.

Is this your party?

Joel Silver started ringing up to get me

to do "Weird Science."

I just said to my manager,

"No, I don't wanna go to America."

And she went, "Are you sure?"

And I went, "Yes."

But also very sure of himself, a certain producer.

Mr. Silver was a very persistent human being.

No denying that.

In Australia,

they don't just raise the price if you don't do it.

They sort of say, "Do you wanna do it?" You say, "Nope."

And they go, "Okay."

But America, they just keep saying,

"All right, we'll pay you this much."

"I don't want to come. You know?"

"Okay, we'll pay you this much."

And the manager rang me and said, "I love you and all,

but you're not gonna make that money here.

Go do it."

And so Vernon ended up channeling his frustration...

...into his performance as Lord General in--

♪ Weird Science ♪

But Vernon wasn't off Joel Silver's hook just yet.

He said to me one day, "I'm doing another film

with an actor called Mr. Schwarzenegger."

But nothing about that idea was enticing Vernon,

certainly not this Arnie guy.

- I went, "Mr. Who?" - Whose name seemed to have

as many syllables as he had muscles.

I couldn't even pronounce his name,

let alone know what he had done.

In the end, Mark Lester

didn't share his producer's enthusiasm for Vernon.

And the director wasn't interested in me.

He said, "No, he'll 'Wez' it up."

Who knows what that meant,

but whatever it was, it didn't bother Vernon.

I'll get on a plane and go home. I'm cool.

So I flew back to Australia and went back into my life.

And so wonderfully named TV veteran, Wings Hauser,

seen here on "Magnum P.I."...

Would someone mind telling me what's going on here?

...was cast as the grudge bearing Bennett.

Oh, he's a character.

He was kind of a loopy, post-traumatic Vietnam vet.

You have the right to remain silent.

While Joel Silver was chasing his cast,

he wasn't chasing a script and the time was running out.

It's getting really bad 'cause we're shooting in two weeks

and I don't have a script. No one knows this story.

But I'll tell you.

Mark Lester was desperate for a shooting script.

e of the two writers, Steven de Souza,

had some wrinkles to iron out first.

And when you have an actor whose native language

is not English, run lines with him

'cause you may have inadvertently given him

a tongue twister.

So I suggested this to Arnold.

He said, "Yes, that's great. Come over to my house."

He needed to make sure he

and Arnold were singing from the same sheet music.

I go over to his house and as I walk in, he's singing.

He's going, ♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh. Ah, ah, ah. ♪

And I go, "What do you think you're doing musicals or something?"

And he says, "No, Steven, but voice control

and learning to sing is a good way to control my diction

because I want to lose my accent, but not so much.

It is associated with me."

While Arnie was fine-tuning his diction,

the clock was ticking for Steven, who now had only 14 days

to deliver a script.

There was a writers' strike coming up,

which is one of the reasons the pressure was on it.

I stopped writing literally at 4:55.

You had to stop writing at five o'clock.

How quickly did I write the script? I don't know.

But it was as blazingly fast

as anything I'd worked on in television.

I have a strange feeling about this.

What are you talking about? You don't have feelings.

Steven had taken the bones

of Jeph and Matthew's story and streamlined it.

The deer stalking opener

became a deer-petting family moment.

Israeli Mossad agent was out.

That goes away. He becomes Special Forces American.

Lumberjacking was in.

It starts with him coming down a hill,

carrying an entire tree.

Of course, even Mr. Universe

still has to be a regular dad.

He was trying to humanize Arnold.

Oh, daddy.

You know, he had Alyssa Milano,

this beautiful little daughter.

And he'd been such a famous villain.

Now he was trying to be human.

A regular dad who happens

to be a professional killer.

You go to your bedroom, okay?

It's not a question of whether

or not he can save his daughter.

It's only how many people are going to die before that happens.

Set off picture.

As filming the action scene in the beach house

got underway, Mark Lester realized he had all the action

on paper, but something was off.

Mark was bristling about a lot of the comedy.

I can't believe this macho bullshit.

You get too funny,

you can undermine the suspense and the action,

and if you get too gruesome and grim,

you're not gonna get the laugh.

It's a balance you try to find on paper

and then you can make an adjustment on the set.

Okay, this is a giant comic book movie,

but it's real life.

So what is that? You know, an exaggerated form of reality.

And finally, Joel,

he says, "We are shooting all the comedy

and I know you're worried it's too funny,

if a joke doesn't work, we can cut it out.

But when we have the test screening

and it's not funny, it's too late."

This Green Beret's gonna kick your big ass.

At the end of the day,

the final word of the final moment was Joel.

I eat Green Berets for breakfast.

Armed with as many one-liners as guns.

"Try not to wake my friend, he's dead tired."

Don't disturb my friend. He's dead tired.

It was all about how it was served.

I told him we should just use your real personality in this.

Wait a minute, what's happening here?

Because you're witty, you're funny,

you're delivering one-liners all day long.

I'm gonna go this way now.

Melting just the right amount of cheese

onto the corn.

Remember, Sully, I told you I would kill you last.

I lied.

Arnie had already perfected

putting the dead into deadpan.

- What'd you do with Sully? - I let him go.

It's over the top, the movie. But that's the whole idea.

So now you don't have a car.

Mark and Joel were giving Arnie every opportunity

to flex his muscles.

Now I do.

But even Arnie's muscles have their limits.

I had my mind that Arnold could do anything,

that he was Mr. Universe,

he could pick up 500-pound weights.

As Mark discovered only at the very last minute

in one scene.

The scene where he grabs Sully out of the car

and carries him across the street

and then hangs him over the cliff.

I called Arnold the night before

and I said, "Arnold, tomorrow we shoot the scene.

"Are you ready?"

And Arnold's like, "What are you talking about?

I can't do that."

I go, "What?

We got a very small tiny guy.

He only weighs like 150 pounds."

Have some beers in Val Verde, mate.

I said, "You're lifting 400-pound weights."

He goes, "Yeah, but that's straight up.

And they're weights.

And that's different than carrying someone

across the street, upside down

and then holding 'em for hours over a cliff.

That's impossible."

And I was like in a complete state of panic.

So fade out, fade in.

Next morning is a giant crane with David Patrick Kelly.

He's in a wire outfit

and a crane is off screen carrying him across.

...the most important thing in your life right now.

But what is important is gravity.

Though it's all cheated like that.

Of course, even when you're cheating gravity,

there's no cheating gravity.

We were there for three or four hours at least.

We were up there so long

that I had like veins popping outta my head.

This is my weak arm.

There was no getting around some heavy lifting.

Spoilers. Sorry, Arnold.

The lifting was real.

He actually lifted up the phone booth.

But not the heavy.

This is gonna come to twelve, right?

I knew by that point

that it was gonna have to be faked.

Yeah, he's not gonna lift up a phone booth, throw it.

You know, that was ultimately balsa wood.

I think I remember there being a big dummy in there

that's supposed to be me.

And then he threw it on the ground and I crawled out.

And the things Arnie couldn't do,

he sometimes wanted to try anyway.

Arnold flies across the galleria and lands on the elevator.

Arnold wanted to do all this stuff himself.

He can't do dangerous stunts.

But finding stunt doubles to match the look

of Mr. Universe was nearly as hard as the stunts themselves.

The night of the shoot,

a little tiny guy shows up,

maybe 4'6" or something, right?

And I was like, he says, "I'm Arnold's double."

I said, "Well, this is impossible.

You don't look anything like him.

You're just a little tiny person."

He goes, "I'm a circus acrobat

and I'm gonna swing across this galleria on that rope."

He says, "No one will ever know."

He says, "Because when you're going that fast,

you can't tell the size and there's no perspective."

So I said, "Okay, you're on."

He says, "And besides, there's no net,

so like no one else is gonna do it."

I thought, "Oh my God, this guy's gonna die here."

- Background. - Extras.

And he like swings and lets go

and lands on the top of the elevator. It was crazy.

And he did it in one take.

And maybe best of all.

The guy was right.

No one ever said a word.

Arguably "Commando's" most explosive gag

- didn't come from Mark or Joel. - What the hell was that?

In the script, they had it that she picks up this bazooka,

this rocket launcher, and she just whales away.

And I was like, "How would she know how to work this thing?

She's a stewardess."

I think she's got something for us.

She should do it backwards.

- Shit. - And then figure it out.

Because then you believe,

'cause if everyone knows how to do everything,

you don't really believe it.

Where did you learn how to do that?

I read the instructions.

While Rae's Cindy was jumping off the page,

another actor wouldn't even make it onto the screen.

He was too weak to play opposite Arnold,

like it was no threat.

Wings Hauser's Bennett

was destined to be a footnote.

Can you wait outside? I don't want any witnesses.

I just rehearsed with him.

But we never filmed him though.

He had just a different take

than Mark Lester wanted, than Joel wanted.

Producers decided

they needed a replacement Bennett.

They didn't think he was challenging enough

- to Arnold. - Come on, Bennett

And Joel Silver knew just the man.

They said, "You got 24 hours to get your life into gear.

You're coming back to the States."

So after a long flight, he was jet-lagged,

but ready to get to work. However...

Mr. Schwarzenegger was not impressed with me.

Australian wannabe actor

who really didn't wanna be an actor, Vernon Wells,

had been drafted in to cover the role

of Chief Henchman Bennett.

I'd been on a plane for 10 hours

and slept for like 20 minutes. Very tired.

He didn't really wanna be there.

And thanks to jet lag, he mostly wasn't.

So I was like a walking zombie.

They could have done a really good zombie movie

with me, "Ehh, ehh, ehh," through the set.

So imagine his surprise when he was thrust

into the first scene.

You know, cutting my hair, shaving my beard off,

putting me in a costume, and then I was on the set.

Only to discover his co-star didn't have his back.

- Bennett. - Mr. Schwarzenegger

was not impressed with me.

That's putting it mildly.

Joel had said to Arnold, "What do you think?"

Arnie put it differently.

And he said, "I think he's a pussy.

I need someone that's a man to fight."

And I heard him and I'm an Australian.

You thought wrong.

Shooting their first scene together,

Arnie might have brought the guns to this knife fight.

I don't need no guns.

But it was Vernon who knew how to use a blade.

I'm gonna kill you now.

I thought I would just show him how much I am then.

I sort of put a plastic knife as far up

his whatsit as I could get.

He can be so mean.

And he's incredible, the way he gets into it.

And he's scary.

His only comment to Joel

after that was, "Never give him a real knife."

"Commando," a movie full

of intimidating characters played

by intimidating actors was also a production

that knew how to lean on people to get the film made.

My people got some business with you.

As first assistant director

Beau Marks soon learned.

We were setting up to shoot a seaplane taking off.

On location at the Port of Los Angeles.

I had spent months working with the harbor,

working with the fire department, working with the police.

Yeah, I've got it all signed off on.

Ooh, I hope I can fly this plane.

On the night, up comes the fire marshal.

He looks at the script of what we're gonna do.

He said, "You can't do that shit."

This was a problem for a producer.

So Beau immediately reported it to his boss.

So he walks over there with me

and says, "Is there any way that you can see

your way through to helping us?"

He says, "Fuck no." And Joel looks at me, winks.

If you think this is where Arnie's muscle

is called in to settle matters,

you don't know who the real animal is on a Joel Silver set.

Joel basically bites his head off.

He says, "You don't fucking understand, do you?

"I'm gonna own you. I'm gonna sue you.

"I'm gonna do everything I can..." Just on top of him.

Okay, okay, okay.

And the guy finally was shaking

and said, "Okay, you can do it."

And he says, "Thank you very much." And then walks away.

- Works every time. - Oh, he's a beast.

He's a monster.

He's very hands-on.

Joel is the 800-pound gorilla on that set.

Needless to say, the scene was shot exactly

as Joel Silver intended it.

We did it.

Off the soundstage, "Commando" had a problem

Joel Silver would not be able to solve

no matter how much shouting he did.

We couldn't get any permission to blow up buildings

and beaches in LA.

The production was forced to go upstate.

We had to find a private beach.

In search of a setting for the showpiece finale.

That was the beach at the bottom of the Hearst Castle.

And that was the only one in California

that like would give permission.

And we just slammed into that location,

and they just built all that stuff.

Yeah, it was just really flimsy.

And if there had been a wind, we would've been in trouble.

Of course, there was more than a wind

when they neatly disassembled the set for this shot.

But explosions were not enough on their own.

Mark Lester went to a sneak preview of "Rambo."

"First Blood: Part 2" that is.

And he came back in very excited the next day,

"We gotta kill more guys."

What really counted was the body count,

right, Mark?

I never heard anything about that.

Well, somehow inspired by "Rambo," but maybe not.

I can't tell you what Mark saw or didn't see.

Joel Silver's movie was not coming in second.

I could tell you more action is a Joel thing.

- And so "Commando"... - What are you expecting?

- World War III. - ...went into overdrive.

Even if they had to shoot more guys

than they had on the payroll.

People died multiple times.

They just lined them up

and you could kill them over and over.

All these articles said,

"Oh, that's like the biggest body count ever."

The massacre at the beach

had raised the body count and before it was even wrapped,

"Commando" was gaining a reputation that preceded it.

Barry Diller was head of the studio at the time,

and I saw him at a party during the shooting.

Thankfully, neither man

was in his pajamas this time.

I said, "Oh, I'm the director.

I'm shooting this 'Commando.'"

He says, "So I've heard," you know?

It was like, 'cause to them, it was like going over budget.

Joel tells me, "We spent like an extra week

killing all these guys and now we do not have the money

or the budget for the final scene

at the end of the movie."

With the body count stacking,

production was burning through stacks of money

and "Commando" couldn't afford

to continue going on a killing spree.

And that was before they got to the finale

where Steven de Souza's script

threatened to blow the budget completely

with just five words.

Ready to begin war games.

It might have sounded a bit like this.

Boom. And now there's explosions going off

all around them,

and they're fighting on the beach

in "Saving Private Ryan."

There was simply no money left

for a full amphibious invasion.

Oh my God, this is like millions of dollars.

We need safety, we need boats,

we gotta shoot in the ocean for a week.

And they said, "We can't. Come up with something else."

In desperation,

Mark went to the studio,

literally to the studio in search of a location.

So I walked all around 20th Century Fox

and I ended up in this furnace room

and I said, "Wow, this is perfect for a final fight scene."

Mark didn't have the time,

but he now had the grime and the right atmosphere.

There was no set, it was already sitting there.

His new location was helping write

the final scene for him.

There was an existing furnace.

So obviously, I wanted to see their heads near the fire.

Well, obviously. The new setting

was kinder on the budget, but brutal on the actors.

They were getting hurt.

When we're doing this final scene with my arm like that,

it fractured my elbow.

And he did his shoulder.

When shooting wrapped

and the first rough cut screened for the producers,

there were big questions in the room.

Could this movie, not action, not comedy,

but somehow both, originally written by a couple

of film students for a rock star who kissed it goodbye

somehow work?

I'm always like, "Oh my God, what have I done?"

You know, I don't know that it's good or bad.

It's only when like everyone saw it

and they go, "Oh my God, this thing is amazing.

We gotta put this in the theaters like right away."

So Fox pushed for an early release date,

but for Joel, something vital was still missing.

You have to shoot a scene

where Arnold puts all of his stuff, gets his gear on.

Mark was sent back into the field

for one more glistening hero shot.

I said, "Okay, it'll be a series of closeups."

Joel thought it was very important

to see him all dressed up, ready to go to battle.

Let's sell Arnold the best we can.

The film was finally done.

It was just so close to the wire.

And when it finally hit screens.

I went to see the movie the opening night.

Mark discovered something about his film

that he could have never predicted.

Remember, Sully, when I promised to kill you last?

Before Arnold says that line,

"I lied," the whole audience said the line

and I went, "How is that possible?

The film's never screened before.

This is like opening night."

Larry Gordon, the head of the studio,

he said, "The line's in the trailer."

Arnold Schwartzenegger, "Commando."

I lied.

"Commando" was barely released

and Arnie was already becoming one

of Hollywood's most quotable stars.

Let's party. Trust me.

This is also the second time the line...

- I'll be back. - ...was used by Arnold

turning it officially into a catchphrase.

In the United States, it was a hit.

It was a huge hit around the world.

Quotable and bankable,

"Commando" earned $57 million worldwide

from its $10 million budget.

The reviews were good and the word of mouth was good.

Suddenly everyone woke up and went,

"Arnold Schwarzenegger is an international movie star."

Arnie's next project

would see him flexing muscles no one knew he had.

They told him he'd be portrayed as an everyman.

- Go on. - He wouldn't be cartoonish

like he was in "Commando."

But were audiences ready

to see him in a different light?

He couldn't see me.

Yeah, this is all stupid.

These guys wandering around the jungle.

In a film so combustible.

We almost blew up the set and killed everybody.

It threatened to blow up careers.

They said, "Arnold's sick, we need to shoot something."

As Arnold moved back to science fiction,

the genre that helped launch him.

What the hell are you?

Get ready to get ugly

for a journey to the "Heart of Darkness."

In a way, it was healing and in a way, it was a nightmare.