MovieChat Forums > Commando (1985) Discussion > The surprise attack makes no sense

The surprise attack makes no sense


Why do the visitors use a helicopter to travel to the cabin? Could it be that such a mountainous and hilly area is pretty difficult to reach otherwise, it probably has only one, not-very-smooth road to it, mostly uphill.

So how the heck do the enemies not only get there quickly and quietly without any aerial stuff (if they parachuted in, that'd be something, but you should still see and hear the plane unless it uses crazy altitudes, but someone like Matrix should still be able to 'intuitively feel' something is wrong)..

..but ALSO completely and utterly avoid detection as a big entourage driving on a bad dirt road uphill on a sunny day with all that sand dust blowing and revealing their location to anyone watching from miles away?

All the while the 'good guys' helicopter has PERFECT VISIBILITY to the whole cabin area and its surrounding perimeter.

How do these heavy trucks and noisy people with their guns and snarky villains manage to be so stealthy that Matrix doesn't detect them until he smells them, doesn't feel like anything is wrong, no one in the helicopter sees their trucks, dust clouds, etc., no one HEARS their cars/trucks/etc...

Also, why do the villains WAIT until the helicopter arrives to attack? What kind of sense does THAT make?

Why doesn't anyone in the helicopter see anything weird going on?

My point is, these guys are not ninjas with electric cars and invisibility cloaks, they are some big-bellied noisy idiots with guns, trucks, etc. on a sunny day using an awful dirt road to move.

What kind of sense does it make that NO ONE detects them until they attack (except Matrix due to his dog quality nose)?

I mean, this movie is less realistic than the contemporary silliest saturday morning cartoon, but this kind of stuff is just never explained and stretches the suspension of disbelief a bit too thin.

In other words, it makes no sense.

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Also, why do the villains WAIT until the helicopter arrives to attack? What kind of sense does THAT make?

I think they followed the helicopter there. They didn't know where Matrix was, they killed the others so someone would come to warn Matrix.

I think both Matrix and people on helicopter saw them, but those are unremarkable cars. I think it is more of a case of "I thought they were with you. No, I thought they were with you" kind of situation.

Of course it would be more logical if they came later at night, but I think that is just movies being movies.

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Commando is one of the most realistic movies to ever come outa America. The Insurgents knew his location and attacked before Matrix and support managed to set up a perimeter. The element of surprise was lost as they were detected by odor.

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Perfect film.

They hiked from where they were out of hearing range. Their mistake was being downwind.

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It is kind of a stretch for sure but the bad guys must have either followed the chopper (with their trucks?) or had hiked to the location with full gear and it all just happened to time out that way. Then when the shooting started, they had a truck on standby which drove in to pick up the daughter and then drove out with all of them. We don't know exactly how much time elapsed when Matrix was in his shed getting his weapons ready and Jenny was hiding under the bed. That could have been a 5-15 minute window and long enough for a truck to zoom in and pick her and all the bad guys up except Cervantes, and for someone to tamper with Matrix's car.

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I don't buy it. The scene was unrealistic in a movie where most everything else was grounded more in reality

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