Suburban Commando

Suburban Commando

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Burt Kennedy
Produced by Howard Gottfried
Written by Frank Cappello
Starring
Music by David Michael Frank
Cinematography Bernd Heinl
Edited by Terry Stokes
Production
company
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Release dates
 October 4, 1991
Running time
 90 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $11 million
Box office $8 million[1]

Suburban Commando is a 1991 American science fiction comedy film starring Hulk Hogan, Christopher Lloyd and Shelley Duvall. Burt Kennedy directed the film based on a screenplay by Frank Cappello. It was the veteran director's final film.

The film was originally titled Urban Commando, and was intended for Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger. When these two opted to make Twins (1988), the script was bought by New Line Cinema as the follow-up to another Hulk Hogan film, No Holds Barred.

Plot

Interstellar warrior Shep Ramsey (Hulk Hogan) is on a mission to capture intergalactic despot General Suitor (William Ball). The general kidnapped President Hashina, the ruler of an entire planet. Shep boards Suitor's flagship but is unable to rescue Hashina, who is killed by Suitor who turned into a berserk reptilian alien after Hashina wounded him. Shep barely escapes, but is able to blow up the ship as he does so.

Due to his failure in saving the President, Shep's superior officer (Roy Dotrice) suggests that he is "stressed out" and should take a vacation. Annoyed, Shep accidentally smashes his control systems and is forced to crash land on Earth. He will have to stay until his spaceship repairs itself. He has little knowledge of Earth's customs, and his temper and sense of justice causes problems with everyone he meets, especially a mime artist he frequently runs into and tries to help such as getting him out of his 'invisible box'.

Charlie Wilcox (Christopher Lloyd) is a weak-willed architect working for the fawning and hypocritical Adrian Beltz (Larry Miller). His wife Jenny (Shelley Duvall) unsuccessfully encourages him to stand up for himself. In order to help out financially, she rents out Charlie's hobby shed as a vacation cabin, which Shep leases. Shep's appearance and behavior makes Charlie nervous and he begins to spy on his guest. He soon discovers Shep's advanced equipment. He turns the equipment on, not knowing that the power sources are traceable and its whereabouts are now being tracked by Suitor's men. They send a pair of intergalactic bounty hunters after Shep. Shep also requires several rare crystals to fix his ship, the closest samples of which can be found in Beltz's office. Charlie helps Shep get into his boss's office during a party, but then the bounty hunters corner them. After winning a furious fight, Shep and Charlie head home to repair the ship.

After the bounty hunters' defeat, Suitor, who had escaped the destruction of his ship, comes to Earth. He takes Charlie's family hostage, forcing Charlie to lead him to Shep. Suitor begins torturing Shep, enjoying himself before he kills the warrior. Finding his courage, Charlie injures Suitor, who then turns into his monstrous form. Physically outmatched, Shep is forced to set his ship to self-destruct and he and Charlie manage to escape the ship's explosion, which destroys Suitor for good.

Shep leaves Earth using the bounty hunters' ship. He takes Beltz's secretary, Margie, with him, hoping for a quiet family life. Charlie, though, has become bolder from his experiences; he appears in Beltz's office the following morning, yelling at his boss in front of witnesses, and finally quits his thankless job. Later Charlie solves his final problem by using one of Shep's weapons to destroy an annoying set of traffic lights that never changed at the right time and receives cheers from the other motorists.

Cast

Reception

The film received mostly negative reviews.[2][3][4] To date, the film holds an 18% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Box office

The movie opened with $1.9 million. Overall, the film grossed a total of $8,002,361 in the United States. With a budget of $11 million, this film was not a commercial success.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "Suburban Commando". Box Office Mojo.
  2. ↑ "Suburban Commando". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2012-06-02.
  3. ↑ "'Commando' a Weak Effort". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-06-02.
  4. ↑ "Review/Film; A Space Warrior Learns Suburban Ways". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-06-02.
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