Bill Duke's three quick opening scenes, mid-80s malls and Arnold's secret gun shed are loved. — Bill Simmons
Bill Paxton's out-of-nowhere cameo ('We lost them, sir') is praised; Paxton had a scene with Arnold in The Terminator, and the guess is Arnold wanted him around.
Arnold's one-liners are top of the game: 'I'll be back, Bennett', the Sully 'kill you last' and 'I lied' callback, 'I let him go', 'We'll take Cook's car' and 'Let off some steam, Bennett'; he reportedly had more ad libs in deleted scenes; the cliff scene was considered for this list and called more of a what's-aged-the-best item. — Bill Simmons
Commando unapologetically lifts the 48 Hours steel-drum theme; for a devoted 48 Hours viewer it is jarring but also a reminder of that film. — Bill Simmons
Rae Dawn Chong is the pick: funny, doing fight commentary during the Bill Duke fight and freaking out in the car, a great balance for Arnold; Justin Long in the Die Hard franchise is cited as a later version of the idea. — Shea Serrano
Seconding the pick: she fires a rocket, there is no romance with Arnold, and the director says they auditioned widely, including Sharon Stone; a planned romantic scene was cut over concerns about southern audiences reacting to a Black woman and a white man. — Kyle Brandt
The Golden Child's love scene with Charlotte Lewis was cut for similar reasons; casting Chong rather than the white girl du jour was inspired. — Bill Simmons
In the mid-80s it was a novelty that she was Tommy Chong's daughter; some once assumed Chong was Mexican because of Cheech. — Bill Simmons
Her career illustrates old Hollywood: Soul Man, then within five years a Melrose Place arc, and it never happened for her.
