Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone rivalry added more 'killings' in 'Commando' to outdo 'Rambo'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The writer of Arnold Schwarzenegger's 'Commando' has revealed how the action film was modified due to the actor's rivalry with Sylvester Stallone. After 'Conan the Barbarian' and 'The Terminator,' Schwarzenegger had his first opportunity to play a traditional militaristic action hero in the 1985 film 'Commando.' In the same year, Stallone, Schwarzenegger's primary rival in the action film genre at the time, debuted 'Rambo: First Blood Part II,' the sequel to his 1982 smash 'First Blood,' which featured his own "gung-ho shoot-em-up" style. Fans at the time viewed 'Commando' vs 'Rambo II' as an epic battle between the two ultimate 1980s action heroes.
Prior to their eventual friendship, Stallone and Schwarzenegger were fierce rivals. Before starring opposite one another in 'The Expendables' and 'Escape Plan,' Stallone, 76, and Schwarzenegger, 75, did not get along well. The aged icons are delighted to admit that they once had a fierce hatred for one another, but that has long since been put to rest when they ended up becoming great friends. According to Insider, in a recent interview, the 'Rocky' star said, "We couldn't stand to be in the same galaxy together for a while. We truly, truly loathed each other."
'It was Rambo versus Commando'
According to 'Commando' writer Steven E de Souza, 'Commando' vs 'Rambo II' was viewed by fans as an epic clash between the '80s action heroes. It turns out that people working behind the scenes on 'Commando' also perceived things the same way. In an interview with Radio Times, de Souza went into great detail about how changes to the 'Commando' script were made to match the body counts in 'Rambo II,' and how those modifications ultimately impacted the movie ending.
The writer said at the time, "I concurred with Arnold [that the film would be a success]. At the time it was Rambo versus Commando and those two had a rivalry for a long time, but Arnold predicted that people would still be talking about this film because it did not take itself seriously and was self-aware. And Rambo took himself very seriously. … I blame Sylvester Stallone for screwing up the [Commando] ending."
The writer further stated that 'Commando' director Mark L Lester, who had a sneak peak of 'Rambo II,' claimed that since Stallone has killed a million men, so "we have to kill more guys." Therefore, Lester went over budget by including the massive sequence when the private army is destroyed. "The random shooting of hundreds of guys was not in the script. So they burned up the budget and then said we don’t have the money to film what you wrote," de Souza added.
'Commando' writer had 24 hours to pen the ending
'Commando's final scene features Schwarzenegger as John Matrix infiltrating the villa where the villains are imprisoning his daughter Jenny (Alyssa Milano). This leads to an epic basement brawl between Matrix and the primary antagonist Bennett (Vernon Wells), which Matrix ultimately wins by hitting Bennett with a steam pipe. As de Souza says, the writer was given 24 hours to craft a new scene, and this condensed ending was shot at Fox studios due to financial constraints.
The original ending, which was filmed in a fairly ordinary basement, is successful in its own simplified way, but it differs from what de Souza had in mind. Schwarzenegger fans might have been treated to a very different, possibly more thrilling 'Commando' climax if Stallone hadn't set such a high bar for the carnage in 'Rambo: First Blood Part II' and Schwarzenegger's crew hadn't felt the need to get beyond that threshold.
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When foes turned friends
Time appears to have eventually mellowed the rivalry between the two action heroes. It's possible that the argument about who is the king of action movies will go on forever, but it seems like Stallone has finally accepted that he is second best. The former Mr Olympia discussed his rise to popularity and subsequent success in the Netflix documentary 'Arnold' claiming that Stallone served as the "enemy" he "always needed" to push himself to new heights.
Stallone confessed that the 'True Lies' actor eventually outperformed him in their box office competition while they were both actively vying for the top position. Nevertheless, they are now close friends and have worked on films like 'The Expendables' and 'Escape Plan' together.
