Textual Analysis 4 - Commando

Commando
The film starts with a prelude to the introduction set in a typical American suburb. It begins with a fade opening of a long shot of a garbage truck driving towards the camera. The garbage truck is followed through the area by the camera shots until the scene cuts to a couple waking up in bed alerted to the sound of the truck approaching. The man carries the garbage outside to be collected. The tone of the scene begins to change as the expressions of the garbage men turn sinister. The man says “I was worried you’d miss me” to which he is replied “don’t worry, we won’t.” His man changes to a look of horror as the men produce semi-automatic weapons and gun him down. This sets the tone of the film and introduces the audience to our antagonists. Two more scenes of this nature follow with the same men killing two other nameless victims in different urban scenarios.
The tone of the film is suddenly changed as the scene fades to a close up shot of a man’s feet walking through a forest accompanied by dramatic non-diegetic score. Extreme close ups follow of a chainsaw and biceps until it finally rests on the face of the main protagonist, none other than the mighty Arnold Schwarzenegger. The camera follows him as his carries a log atop his shoulder and chainsaw in his hand through a forest. The music suggests he is about to engage in some kind of challenging task. The camera is low, pointing up towards his face with the sun over his shoulder, displaying him as a figure of power. As he begins chopping the wood, upon arrival at his home, a shadowy figure is seen to approach him from behind. He glances at the reflection in his axe and smiles, this leads the audience to believe that he is in danger whoever is approaching him is no challenge to him. As he turns around intensely it is shown to be his daughter. This is reaffirmed when she calls to him “Oh, daddy!” and the musical score changes to an uplifting friendly tone. This is then followed by a montage of our protagonist alone with his daughter being paternal. It is clearly displayed that they are close. This time is used to display the cast and crew credits which is in a bold blue font which connotes to the feelings of an action thriller.