Editing Suburban Commando

{{Short description|1991 film by Burt Kennedy}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Suburban Commando
| image          = Suburban Commando poster.jpg

| alt            = 
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Burt Kennedy]]
| producer       = [[Howard Gottfried]]
| writer         = [[Frank Cappello]]
| based_on       = <!-- {{based on|title of the original work|writer of the original work}} -->
| starring       = {{plainlist|
* [[Hulk Hogan]]
* [[Christopher Lloyd]]
* [[Shelley Duvall]]
* [[Larry Miller (comedian)|Larry Miller]]
}}
| music          = [[David Michael Frank]]
| cinematography = Bernd Heinl
| editing        = Terry Stokes
| studio         = [[New Line Cinema]]
| distributor    = New Line Cinema
| released       = {{Film date|1991|10|04}}
| runtime        = 90 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $11 million
| gross          = $8 million<ref name="BOM">{{cite web |title= Suburban Commando |url= http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=suburbancommando.htm |website= [[Box Office Mojo]] }}</ref>
}}

'''''Suburban Commando''''' is a 1991 American [[Science fiction film|science fiction]] [[action film#Action-comedy|action comedy film]] directed by [[Burt Kennedy]], produced by [[Howard Gottfried]], and written by [[Frank Cappello]]. The film stars [[Hulk Hogan]], [[Christopher Lloyd]], [[Shelley Duvall]], and [[Larry Miller (comedian)|Larry Miller]]. Additionally, a young [[Elisabeth Moss]] briefly appears in her film debut.

The film was originally titled ''Urban Commando'', and was intended for [[Danny DeVito]] and [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]]. When these two opted to make ''[[Twins (1988 film)|Twins]]'' (1988), the script was bought by [[New Line Cinema]] as the follow-up to another Hulk Hogan film, ''[[No Holds Barred (1989 film)|No Holds Barred]]''.

In the film, an [[Extraterrestrials in fiction|extraterrestrial]] [[warrior]] botches a part of his mission. He is subsequently instructed to take a vacation, and causes damages to his own control systems while reacting in frustration. He [[crash-lands]] on planet [[Earth]], and finds himself stranded there until his spaceship recharges itself. He unintentionally gets his new landlords involved in conflicts with his foes.

==Plot==
Interstellar warrior Shep Ramsey ([[Hulk Hogan]]) is on a mission to capture intergalactic despot General Suitor ([[William Ball (director)|William Ball]]). The general has kidnapped planetary ruler President Hashina. Shep boards Suitor's flagship but is unable to rescue Hashina, who is killed by Suitor. Wounded by Hashina in the process, Suitor transforms into a berserk reptilian creature ([[Frank Welker]]). Shep barely escapes, but is able to blow up the ship as he does so.

Due to his failure to save the President, Shep's superior officer suggests that he is "stressed out" and should take a vacation. Annoyed, Shep accidentally smashes his control systems and is forced to crash-land on Earth, where he will have to stay until his spaceship has repaired itself. Shep has little knowledge of Earth's customs, and his temper and sense of justice cause problems with the people he meets, especially a [[mime artist]] he tries to help in various comical fashions.

Charlie Wilcox ([[Christopher Lloyd]]) is a weak-willed [[architect]] working for the fawning and [[hypocrisy|hypocritical]] Adrian Beltz ([[Larry Miller (comedian)|Larry Miller]]). His wife Jenny ([[Shelley Duvall]]) unsuccessfully encourages him to stand up for himself and unsuccessfully tells Charlie to ask Beltz for a raise. In order to help out financially, she rents out Charlie's hobby shed as a vacation cabin, which Shep leases. Shep's appearance and behavior make Charlie nervous, and he begins to spy on his guest. He soon discovers Shep's advanced equipment and begins experimenting with it, not knowing that the power sources are traceable. Its whereabouts are tracked by Suitor's men, who send a pair of intergalactic [[bounty hunter]]s Knuckles and Hutch after Shep. Shep also requires several rare crystals to fix his ship, the closest samples of which can be found in Beltz's office. Charlie helps Shep get into his boss's office during a company party before the bounty hunters corner them. After winning a furious fight, Shep and Charlie head home to repair the ship.

After the bounty hunters' defeat, Suitor, who has escaped the destruction of his ship, arrives on Earth. He takes Charlie's family hostage, forcing Charlie to lead him to Shep. To protect Charlie and his family, Shep decides to use a "lose to win" tactic by setting his ship to self-destruct and surrendering to Suitor, in exchange for releasing the Wilcox family. Suitor then begins torturing Shep, enjoying himself before he intends to kill the warrior. Finding his courage, Charlie returns to help Shep and injures Suitor, who then turns into his monstrous form. Physically outmatched, Shep stuns Suitor with some electrical wires, and he and Charlie manage to escape the ship's explosion, which destroys Suitor for good.

Shep leaves Earth using the bounty hunters' ship. He takes Beltz's secretary, Margie, with him, hoping for a quiet family life. Charlie in turn has become bolder from his experiences; he appears in Beltz's office the following morning, shouting at his boss in front of witnesses, and finally quits his thankless job. Later, Charlie solves his final problem by using one of Shep's weapons to destroy an annoying set of traffic lights that never changed at the right time, receiving cheers from the other motorists.

==Cast==
{{div col}}
* [[Hulk Hogan]] as Shep Ramsey
* [[Christopher Lloyd]] as Charlie Wilcox
* [[Shelley Duvall]] as Jenny Wilcox
* Michael Faustino as Mark Wilcox
* Laura Mooney as Theresa Wilcox
* [[Larry Miller (comedian)|Larry Miller]] as Adrian Beltz
* [[Dennis Burkley]] as Deak
* [[Branscombe Richmond]] as Biker
* [[William Ball (director)|William Ball]] as General Suitor; his mutant form is played by Vincent Hammond; [[Frank Welker]] provided the uncredited vocals for Suitor's true form as aforementioned
* [[Jack Elam]] as Colonel Dustin "Dusty" McHowell
* [[Elisabeth Moss]] as Little Girl
* [[Tom Morga]] as Mime
* Jo Ann Dearing as Margie Tanen
* [[Roy Dotrice]] as Zanuck
* [[Tony Longo]] as Knuckles
* [[The Undertaker|Mark Calaway]] as Hutch
{{div col end}}

==Reception==

===Box office===
The film opened with $1.9 million. Overall, the film grossed a total of $8,002,361 in the United States. With a budget of $11 million, the film was a commercial failure.<ref name="BOM" />

===Critical response===
On [[Rotten Tomatoes]] the film has an approval rating of 15% based on 13 reviews.<ref>{{cite web |title=Suburban Commando |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/suburban_commando/ |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date= 2020-01-20}}</ref>

[[Roger Ebert]] noted, "This is the second feature starring Hulk Hogan, the man who looks like a comic strip hero. Hogan's range is limited, but not as limited as the movies he's appeared in. Despite the fact that his public image is often aimed at children - there's a whole line of Hulk Hogan toys - his first film, ''[[No Holds Barred (1989 film)|No Holds Barred]]'' (1989) was surprisingly violent, sexist and blood-soaked. Now here's 'Suburban Commando', which is at least innocuous, but which gives the Hulkster so little to do that his fans may wonder why he bothered."<ref>{{cite news |date=October 4, 1991 |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |title=Suburban Commando |work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/suburban-commando-1991 |access-date= 2020-01-20 }}</ref> Michael Wilmington opened his review for it in the Los Angeles Times by saying that all the main personnel were "likeable" but that "all that likability combined, or even cubed, doesn't create any pressing reason to pay admission to "Suburban Commando" - unless you're an obsessed movie completist or a sudden cloudburst drives you to shelter."<ref>{{cite news |date=October 7, 1991 |author=Michael Wilmington |title='Commando' a Weak Effort |work= [[Los Angeles Times]] |url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-10-07-ca-68-story.html |access-date= 2012-06-02 }}</ref> [[Stephen Holden]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'', noted that despite the fact that it "has little narrative continuity, it is well paced and has an amusingly sour performance by Larry Miller as the kind of boss you love to hate."<ref>{{cite news |last=Holden |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Holden |date=October 6, 1991 |title=Review/Film; A Space Warrior Learns Suburban Ways |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/10/06/movies/review-film-a-space-warrior-learns-suburban-ways.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=2020-01-20}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0103003}}
* {{Mojo title|suburbancommando}}
* {{rotten-tomatoes|suburban_commando}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150307210356/http://www.whenwrestlersact.com/2015/01/episode-13-suburban-commando-1991-dir.html ''Suburban Commando'' review on the When Wrestlers Act podcast]. Archived from [http://www.whenwrestlersact.com/2015/01/episode-13-suburban-commando-1991-dir.html the original] on 2015-03-07.

{{Burt Kennedy}}

[[Category:1991 science fiction films]]
[[Category:1990s American films]]
[[Category:1990s chase films]]
[[Category:1990s children's comedy films]]
[[Category:1990s English-language films]]
[[Category:1991 science fiction action films]]
[[Category:1990s science fiction comedy films]]
[[Category:1991 films]]
[[Category:1991 children's films]]
[[Category:1991 action comedy films]]
[[Category:American action comedy films]]
[[Category:American chase films]]
[[Category:American children's comedy films]]
[[Category:American science fiction action films]]
[[Category:American science fiction comedy films]]
[[Category:American slapstick comedy films]]
[[Category:American space adventure films]]
[[Category:English-language science fiction comedy films]]
[[Category:English-language science fiction action films]]
[[Category:English-language action comedy films]]
[[Category:English-language action thriller films]]
[[Category:Films about alien visitations]]
[[Category:Films about mercenaries]]
[[Category:Films about violence]]
[[Category:Films directed by Burt Kennedy]]
[[Category:Films produced by Howard Gottfried]]
[[Category:Films scored by David Michael Frank]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Frank Cappello]]
[[Category:New Line Cinema films]]