Just the Features: Commando (Metal Box) Blu-ray + Screenshots

Theatrical Version (1h 30m) R-rated version shown in theaters and released on blu-ray in 2007

Director's Cut (1h 31m) Unrated version released on dvd in 2007 and again in 2015 as a Best Buy exclusive.

Commentary Track: Director Mark L. Lester sits down for a commentary that is sporadic in it's information. Lester will give a lot of info and stories, but there are long pauses in between as Lester falls into watching the movie. This commentary is listed as theatrical only and Director's Cut only. This is because both commentaries are the same except that the director's cut version has added commentary over the added scenes

Deleted Scenes (2m 53s, HD) Three deleted scenes are presented here. They aren't really deleted scenes as extensions of existing scenes. They are as follows:

-Mall Aftermath
-Freeze!
-Bennett's Death (with multiple one-liners)

Pure Action (15m 8s, SD) Director Mark L. Lester, Original Writer Joseph Loeb III, Writer Steven E. de Souza, Actress Rae Dawn Chong, Actor Bill Duke and Actor Vernon Wells provide a short history of how Commando came into being as well as some stories from the set. Everyone speaks very highly of the film (as they should because this is one of the best action movies of the 80's) and you can tell that they loved working on the film. This is a good little featurette.

Let Off Some Steam (7m 18s, SD) Some of the participants from the Pure Action featurette return for this one. This one is not as focused as Pure Action, as the stories are all over the place. I didn't like this featurette as much and felt that if the two had been edited together, then it would have made for a more cohesive featurette.

Theatrical Trailer (1m 50s)

The Packaging: The blu-ray comes inside of a Metal Box. What is a Metal Box, you might ask? A Metal Box is a variant on the more common steelbook. Since steelbook is a copyrighted design and a trademarked term, companies have decided to make their own, but different. The Metal Box is not as nice as a steelbook. The biggest difference is the spine. The spine on a steelbook is a much nicer package and has a more inlined fitting to it. A Metal Box's spine is looser and does feel as sturdy. This Metal Box
is a nice package, but some would prefer a steelbook.

Overall: Commando is one of my favorite action movies. It gets straight to the point almost immediately and doesn't stop for anything. This is what action movies should be. The movie is also nicely edited with long takes and clear action.

The package that Fox put together is old but nice. Everything here except for the transfer is from the 2007 dvd. The commentary is ok and the featurettes are short. There is nothing that stands out here. Everything is by the numbers. The packaging is nice. The director's cut is only a minute longer than the theatrical, but going by how the MPAA was back in the 80's when it came to violence, a minute of cut footage can hold a treasure trove of nice violence. Here the Director's Cut adds some frames of gore. It's not much, but I'll take it because of how much I love the film.