Commando Remake
Nikita Desjardins
Over a decade after the last effort fell apart, writer Steven E. de Souza addresses the chances of a potential Commando movie remake. Hitting theaters in 1985, the original Commando came fresh off of Arnold Schwarzenegger's star-making turn in James Cameron's The Terminator and saw the action icon portray a retired United States Army Special Forces Colonel who races against time to rescue his daughter from a South American dictator. While not a critical darling, it was a box office smash and is considered one of Schwarzenegger's most iconic movies to date.
During a recent interview with Radio Times for the movie's special screening at the London Action Festival, Steven E. de Souza was asked about the previously scrapped Commando remake from David Ayer. The writer didn't offer too many details on the prior attempt, but proved doubtful in his feelings of another remake gaining ground, feeling no one can recapture Schwarzenegger's charisma, though has one condition for a remake. See what de Souza explained below:
The Commando remake was first announced to be in development in 2010 with Ayer attached to write and direct, a few years after having made the jump to the director's chair with the Christian Bale-led Harsh Times and Keanu Reeves-starring Street Kings, both of which scored generally mixed-to-negative reviews from critics. While it remains unclear why Ayer's R-rated remake never got off the ground, it didn't set him too far back as he broke out with the critically acclaimed End of Watch a couple of years later.
Though it remains one of Schwarzenegger's fan-favorite action movies, there is the question of whether a Commando remake would be a success without the star's involvement. At the time of writing, only two of his projects have been given the remake treatment with the Colin Farrell-led Total Recall and CBS' True Lies show, both of which scored generally mixed-to-negative reviews from critics with the former underperforming at the box office while the latter was cancelled after just one season.
De Souza's feeling that The Rock could be the only one to take the reins from Schwarzenegger in a Commando movie remake may be a nostalgic notion for those who enjoyed their passings of the torch in The Rundown, though as he also notes, the likelihood of the modern action star remaking or rebooting something is low. He was once attached to develop a Big Trouble in Little China sequel, though his increasingly busy schedule in the worlds of Fast & Furious, Red Notice sequels and live-action Moana makes it even more unlikely for him to take on the Commando mantle.
Bionic Commando Rearmed is an enhanced remake of the 1988 Nintendo Entertainment System version of Bionic Commando. It was developed by Grin and published by Capcom for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation Network, and Xbox Live Arcade, and was released in August 2008. The BlackBerry version was developed and published by Beeline Interactive and released on April 23, 2009. The remake serves as a prelude to the 2009 video game Bionic Commando.
Rearmed follows Nathan "Rad" Spencer, a commando with a bionic left arm that can extend and be used as a weapon, or to swing from various objects. Spencer is sent to destroy a weapon known as the Albatross project under construction by the Badds. The game was developed using Grin's Diesel engine and features in-game art by Shinkiro. Music for the game was composed by Simon Viklund and consists largely of remixed versions of the original music. The soundtrack was released on May 27, 2008 by Sumthing Else Music Works.
Rearmed was well-received by critics, who praised the updated gameplay, graphics and faithfulness to the original, with some calling it one of the best downloadable games available on the Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. A sequel, Bionic Commando Rearmed 2, was released in February 2011.
Bionic Commando Rearmed borrows its plot largely from the NES version of the game. In keeping with the North American release of that version, the references to the Nazi party found in the original Japanese title are not featured in Rearmed. However, as is the case in the original, the final boss of the game resembles Adolf Hitler, and is referred to as "The Leader".[2]
Rearmed centers around two warring factions: the Federation and the Empire. It begins with the Imperial forces discovering classified documents regarding the development of a secret weapon known as the Albatross project, originally started by an organization known as the Badds, but never completed. Killt, Generalissimo of the Empire's forces, decides to complete the project himself. When the Federation learns of the Empire's plot, they send in their national hero, Super Joe to infiltrate the Empire. During his mission, Joe is captured by Imperial forces. The Federation sends in a second operative named Nathan Spencer to rescue Super Joe and assist him in completing his mission.[2]
Spencer traverses several areas, eliminating many Imperial leaders along his way. As he progresses, he finds new technology and travels deeper behind enemy lines. The plot culminates as Super Joe is rescued from the bionic Imperial soldier Gottfried Groeder, and both Spencer and Joe set out to destroy the Albatross project. During the mission, Spencer encounters "The Leader", the resurrected head of the Imperial forces. Spencer defeats The Leader, and together with Super Joe destroys the Albatross. The game ends with both heroes hanging onto a helicopter, flying off as the Albatross explodes.
In Bionic Commando Rearmed, the player controls Nathan Spencer, a soldier who has been given a bionic arm. The arm is equipped with several features including a grappling hook which can be used to reach distant objects. The player uses Spencer's bionic arm to swing across gaps or climb to higher ledges. Often, the player must make a series of grappling actions in a row to successfully traverse hazards such as a wide gap or an electrified floor.[2][3]
Spencer earns a variety of weaponry and items by defeating level bosses. Some items and weapons must be acquired before certain areas can be entered: for example, the player must locate flares that can then be used to illuminate dark areas. Levels are presented to the player as an overworld-style tactical map showing friendly and enemy areas. The player controls a helicopter to move between areas, and can then select to infiltrate that area on foot. While in the overworld view, enemy convoys will also move between areas. If the player's helicopter encounters a convoy, the player must fight through it on foot and destroy the enemy anti-air truck before the helicopter can proceed. Such levels are presented from a top-down perspective.[2][3]
While Bionic Commando Rearmed remains mostly true to its NES counterpart, a number of gameplay enhancements were made. A health bar replaces the game's original health system of a limited health pool which grows after collecting bullets from defeated foes. Players collect health items from enemies to restore health, as opposed to the original system which involved earning more hit points. Defeating enemies with full health now awards players extra points, encouraging players to avoid being hit in order to obtain high scores. Players can extend Spencer's bionic arm to grab oil barrels and throw them at enemies, or use them as temporary shields. Weapons can now be changed instantly during gameplay, as opposed to being limited to one weapon per mission.[3][4] Boss battles have also been redesigned. Each battle now makes unique use of Spencer's weaponry and bionic arm. In one example, the player must latch the arm to a screw on the boss character's vehicle, then pull back to expose a weak point in the armor. Additionally, the final boss battle has been extended to a complete level as opposed to the ending sequence of one.[5] Hacking into enemy communications now involves navigating a three-dimensional puzzle as opposed to simply choosing to hack.[3] New to the remake are Challenge rooms which involve using the bionic arm to traverse a course as quickly as possible.[3] Force feedback has been implemented when using the bionic arm, firing weapons, and other events.[4]
Rearmed's campaign can be played locally with another player. Although the overall gameplay is identical, enemy AI adapts difficulty to accommodate the extra player. Character lives are shared between players, meaning that each player life lost hurts both players. Once all extra lives are depleted and a player dies, the AI reverts to its single player configuration for the remaining player until that player completes the level or an extra life is found.[6] Additionally the cooperative campaign is saved separately from the solo campaign, meaning that weapons, equipment, and powerups do not carry over from one campaign into the other. During play, the game's camera will zoom in and out to accommodate both players, and will split the screen dynamically should the camera not be able to zoom any further.[3] Competitive multiplayer modes have also been added, and can be played locally. Game modes include the standard versus and last man standing modes, and Don't Touch the Floor, in which characters attempt to knock other players to a hazard at the bottom of the level for points.[4]
Bionic Commando Rearmed developer Grin made it a priority to preserve as much of the original gameplay and visual stylings as possible. Screenshots were taken as a reference, with designers keeping the same color schemes when creating the 3D worlds.[7] Programmers had to reverse engineer the original gameplay to accurately reproduce it. They had to "measure how fast the arm goes out, how fast you swing back and forth, how fast you run across the ground, at what speed you fall down and everything," said Simon Viklund, Creative Director for the game.[8] The level editor was integrated in the engine, which allowed developers to view creations in real time. Lead Gameplay Programmer Hkan Rasmussen expanded on this concept, stating "Since BCR is built on the same engine as the next-gen BC we can also reuse the editor [which] lowers the time before we can start using levels."[8]
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