Arnold Schwarzenegger describes hilariously brutal rejected Commando scene

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Arnold Schwarzenegger's COMMANDO is ridiculously over-the-top, full of hard-hitting action, cheesy one-liners, huge explosions, and more nameless goons pumped full of lead than you can keep track of. If you're somehow not familiar with COMMANDO, it follows retired Special Forces Colonel John Matrix (Schwarzenegger) who is forced back into action when a group of mercenaries kidnap his daughter. The film is pretty much the perfect '80s Schwarzenegger flick, but it is missing one very crucial element: Schwarzenegger's character never chops off someone's arm and beats the guy to death with it. I know. For shame.

When Arnold Schwarzenegger dropped the trailer for TERMINATOR: DARK FATE on Reddit the other day, he stuck around for an impromptu AMA. One user asked the actor, "Did y'all know how hilarious COMMANDO was (in a great way!) while filming it?" Schwarzenegger said that he knew COMMANDO was going to be funny as soon as he carried a thousand pound log with one arm, and then went on to describe an hilariously brutal scene which was sadly rejected.

I wanted to cut off a guy’s arm and kill him with it. This wasn’t in the script. He would throw a knife at me and after he missed, while his arm was still extended, I chop it off at the shoulder with a machete and beat him to death with it. Needless to say, I was asked by the head of the studio, Larry Gordon to come to his office. And he said “what the fuck is the matter with you? Do you want to make money with this movie or an x-rated movie?" I said “you’re right” and he said “get the fuck out of my office."

Oh what could have been. Another user joked that the one-liner which followed the rejected scene could have been,"Thanks for lending me a hand." To which Schwarzenegger responded, "You're hired." That seems like the perfect moment to wrap up the week, so if you'll excuse me, I'll be heading out to let off some steam.