*** Official THE EXPENDABLES Discussion Thread

I just got back from seeing this and the only ones who will give it bad reviews are more than likely the ones who gave these types of films bad reviews in the 80s.  It's not as good as Sly's last two pics but it's hard to really focus on a story when you've got so many names to try and put into a picture.  Not everyone gets the same amount of time on screen but if you like action then there's plenty of that and it's fun seeing all the guys together in one movie.  Could it have been better?  Yes but considering how bad it could have been I think Sly did a good job.

 

I walked into the theater today expecting a bunch of guys in the 30s-50s but was shocked to see such a wide range of people there.  Men, women, old and young.  It seemed most people really ate it up and had a good time with it.  I doubt fans of THE READER are going to enjoy it but the movie wasn't made for them.

This is a fantastic action film.  Micky Rourke and Sly had a great scene -- my favorite of the film.  The Stallone-Willis-Swarzenegger scene was awesome.  The pier destruction set piece was geek-erific and the battle in the tunnels was full-on ridiculously cool.  My only gripe is the quick cutting of the action.  Despite this (very) minor negative, I loved The Expendables.  I hope there are more to come.  I think that selling it as an action star ensemble was good to get butts in seats but the flick is better than that.  The reviews are less than stellar but don't be fooled -- fans of the main palyers and the action genre need to see this on the big screen.  Word of mouth will make it a hit.  It's better than most of the action movies of the last two years by a mile.

Edited by Brett_M - 8/14/10 at 5:16am

Well said, guys!

 

I had a blast with this.  Dolph Lundgren was probably my favorite part but I really enjoyed the whole ensemble.

 

Bring on a sequel.  NOW!!!!!!!

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Bingo. The reviews for this, like Rambo before it, are hilariously reminiscent of action movie reviews from the 80s and early 90s. Stallone and his crew should be proud :)

Good popcorn flick.  Great action.

I had a great time with my Dad on Tuesday night.  Loved the slower scenes, just in awe of these living legends on screen together.

 

The question Willis asked to Sly and Arnold = priceless!

So is Arnold's character going to be brought back for the sequel? They gotta do it right? I think Kurt Russell will probably be in for the sequel too. 

Yeah, I think the best thing for a sequel would be to include Arnold in a larger (non-cameo) capacity.  He doesn't have to be a star, but he needs at least Les Grossman airtime.

 

And yeah, Kurt Russell is almost a must.  With the success, they might be able to squeeze Seagal and JCVD in, but why bother.

 

Arnold and Kurt would make it, and then they can rely on the cast they have.

 

I would love a bit more Rourke and Crews myself.  Crews can be as funny as anyone when given the right material.

They gotta have some kind of sequence where Arnold and Sly take out like an enemy compound by themselves. 

 

That's what I expected from the Expendables anyway, but I understand with Arnold being in office that he couldn't take several days off for a movie shoot. 

"The Reader" was one of my favorites of that year.

 

That being said, I REALLY enjoyed "The Expendables".  I was very skeptical going in, but I loved the ensemble, the humorous banter, relentless action.  Jason Statham is one of my favorites, and it was nice seeing him have a more "expressive" role.  Very fun film.
 

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I think Van Damme might be the most "gettable" of those three. Russell supposedly has some kind of "no ensemble films" policy, which is why he turned down the first movie. Seagal has a personal beef with the producers. Van Damme, though, seemed to turn it down the first time around mostly because he was feeling all puffed up by the raves he was getting for JCVD and he was hoping to transition toward serious roles. Now that he's back to doing non-art-house films he might be more agreeable toward an appearance :)

Mine too but the point was that many early reviews seemed to be attacking this film for the type of film it was.  It's a stupid, dumb, loud "B" movie just like so many of those Cannon films from the 80s and it seems people are attacking it for that.  It's seems pointless to me for certain reviewers to expect some type of high art out of this thing. 

 

I'm a little shocked to hear so many people come down on this movie but the hatred for this thing started when Sly first announced his plans and it seems the "hype" surrounding it just made more and more people hate it.  I doubt they've seen it and if they did bother then I'm sure their minds were already made up.

 

I think the negative reviews were to be expected considering Sly had very few films from his career that actually got good reviews but there's a reason the guy has stayed in the business for so long. 

 

 

 

The only thing I was somewhat disappointed with was having Dolph fighting Li.  I thought it would have been much more fun seeing a ROCKY IV remake with a nice wink to the crowd.  If they do a sequel then perhaps Willis could be the bad guy or at least give us a fight between Sly and Arnold.  Perhaps even Chuck Norris could get a cameo or some of those other Cannon guys.

Sounds like Van Damme has changed his mind on "The Expendables". According to Stallone who talked to Van Damme like a couple of days ago, he regrets not saying yes. 

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTkFbjj-19I&feature=player_embedded

 

If there is an Expendables 2 .... sounds like JCVD could be in. 

I really enjoyed this movie for the most part but did so floating on 80's nostalgia.  A sequel will need to work harder to get the same joy.   A-TEAM, THE LOSERS  and hell, even SCOTT PILGRIM were better directed, acted but most importantly choreographed movies.  I can live without the first two criteria for a movie like this but a return to shaky-cam/quick cut fight scenes  leaves me cold.  PILGRIM, like the MATRIX before it, shows that even non-fighting actors can look cool in hand to hand combat.  EXPENDABLES  was a movie with  ACTUAL FIGHTING PEOPLE in it and you never saw a punch originate and land...only one or the other...if that.   Jet Li was much better used the the all-ages  FORBIDDEN KINGDOM than this.    Even the 80's movies had some better stuff than this when it comes to the point of the movie...fighting!  They had some inspired bits, though. I loved the  opening shoot out and  the underground shootout was fun but I can't think of a single hand to hand fight worth anything.  Even the Li one which should have taken the cake. 

 

That said, I really had to say I liked the Couture conversations.  They were so weird and off the cuff  that the movie needed more of that and less bonding between  Statham and Sly.  In fact,  Statham was too young for this... they should have gotten some other 80's icon (or 80's extra... where was  Al Leong or other iconic henchman?).  Where is Roddy Piper?    I agree that Russell would be a great get for this movie.  He can do ensemble stuff...he was a supporting dude in  SKY HIGH and was great in that.  

 

I agree with above poster...Drago needed to fight Rocky in this one...even if to a draw.  I am glad they didn't kill him off as he will be fun in a sequel.  They need to get a bit better writing  (maybe get Shane Black who wrote the late 80's iconic  LETHAL WEAPON to do what he did with his own genre in KISS KISS BANG BANG) to liven up the between fighting scenes OR just let people like Couture and Rourke ramble on some more.

 

I finally got around to seeing Expendables as an unofficial "double feature" with Scott Pilgrim (which I loved).  I didn't think much of the Expendables, and I LOVE action movies.  There are 3 specific things I didn't like about it:

 

- CGI blood.  The action looked horrible, and the CGI blood was distracting.  (I noticed the same thing in Machete, but it wasn't as glaring.)

- No good guys died.  The movie is called The Expendables -- that means they're expendable, and should be dying in the movie, preferably in some gigantic, explosion, blood and bullet filled, f-you to the bad guys.

- Why are they called the "Expendables"?  There was never a backstory or reason for it.  It would have been so much more effective if one of the name actors had died in the first minute and told Sly in a manly death "It's OK, man.  We're all expendable, it's what we signed up for."  Anything like that would have set it up in the first minute of the movie, and let you know that none of the good guys was safe.  If anything they should have used Bruce Willis or Arnold for that, then they could have been big and bold on the movie poster.

 

I just thought that it was really weak.  Eric Roberts was the best in his role, followed by Lundgren.  Looking at Sly's bloated face was hard, especially with the Demolition Man era beret.  Statham normally looks and acts like a total badass, but he was kind of a pussy in this movie -- well, compared to the Transporter anyway.

 

I was just really disappointed with it.  I don't normally bitch about movies, but I went in expecting too much I guess.

 

Doug

Thought I'd post here rather then start a new thread. Just saw in the news that Arnold and Sly were both unknowingly in the same hospital at the same time for shoulder surgery after filming Expendables 2. They tweeted a pic of them in the hospital. I'm sure you guys have seen it.

It will be interesting to see the 64 year old Arnold back in the genre.

I thought the first film was okay, had a few moments, but nothing special. A nice mindless way to spend a little time. I thought Roberts was a terrible villain. I actually just got the blu ray of The Expendables, it was on sale at Best Buy. So I'll watch it again, maybe I'll like it more! I really liked Sly's truck.

The extended cut of this film takes it to a whole new level. They chopped the heck out of the theatrical, and Stallone was wise to get this director's cut out there on blu-ray. it's a much better movie.

Also...

Thanks for posting the pic.

I didn't know the blu ray was an extended cut! I didn't see any mention of it on the case art. I must have gotten the theatrical cut.

Edit: okay, I see the Extended Cut now on Amazon. Now I'm curious to see it! Oh well, I guess I'll have to get that disc now.