Directed by:
Sylvester StalloneCinematography:
Jeffrey L. KimballComposer:
Brian TylerCast:
Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, David Zayas, Giselle Itié, Charisma Carpenter (more)VOD (4)
Plots(1)
Every movie has a hero. This one has them all. Sylvester Stallone directs and stars in this action-packed thriller with a cast that will take you straight back to the 80’s. Stallone plays Barney Ross, the leader of an elite team of mercenaries, The Expendables, who have been sent on a mission that no one else would take, to South America to overthrow a dictator. Barney and partner Lee Christmas (Jason Statham) travel to their destination undercover as photographers on a reconnaissance mission and upon arrival meet their contact Sandra. When everything goes awry they decide to flee and Sandra gets left behind. Racked with guilt Barney decides to go back to save Sandra and his devoted team join him! (Lionsgate Home Entertainment)
(more)Videos (5)
Reviews (11)
I can understand people who give The Expendables full stars, as well as those who write it off, wave their hand, throw one star or a Boo! at it, and move on... See, this film was not made for them. I, however, belong to the first group and I'm damn happy about it. As a fan of good old action movies where one word spoken equaled ten cartridges fired, I am in seventh heaven. "Action movie of the year," I want to say. I don't know exactly where Stallone got the time machine, but he deserves admiration, applause, and admiration a second time for bringing this 1980's flick to us. The film is literally packed with action, there is no shortage of humor and some suspense, the whole muscular spectacle is further enhanced by Tyler's good soundtrack... The cast of heroes is superbly acted and they work well together, you would have little to criticize the villains for if you came face to face with them, the action scenes are raw, sometimes beautifully overwrought, and especially towards the end so explosive that you can only stare at the screen and watch the action either mute or with occasional cries of amazement. Sly made it happen, what more do you want? You could feel the good old days when these gentlemen were serious about everything, and when you look at them you have to smile nostalgically... __P.S. I’d like to see the sequel as soon as possible, please.__P.P.S. I with Chuck, Steven and Jean-Claude.
()
Arnold’s back... It worked! Stallone proved that a bunch of action legends won’t get in each other’s way, they can work together as a team in a movie about guys, for guys. The action is some top-notch, good, honest work that cost a lot of blood, sweat and broken bones, and the end result is totally worth it. The bombastic finale, the brawls and the brilliant old-style car chase. It’s beautiful. The cast is a whole other chapter of its own. THAT scene is milked to the last one-liner, every wink, every little jab is a sight to sore eyes for someone who was brought up on these old guys. Jason Statham has broken the jinx of co-starring fails with Jet Li. And Jet’s grumbling little squirt is such an impossibly nice guy, it’s incredible. Dolph Lundgren, one word – awesome. Ok, I’ll cut it short, but I must mention Eric Roberts who, if you don’t count the bad guy monolog, had almost exclusively snappy lines. And Tyler’s music rumbled away in all the right ways. A heartfelt matter. ...Arnold left. Now Sly’s here. Warning shot!
()
Paradoxically, it should have been even duller and more straightforward. The film is particularly damaging by the pursuit of a sophisticated motivation for a lifelong killer who wants to save at least a piece of his empty soul. In Rambo IV, Stallone drowned it in blood and bulldog focus, here the film struggles with it and has trouble explaining to the viewer why the characters are where they are and why they do what they do. Regardless, The Expendables looks like disparate testosterone action sketches and a spelling-book of "meta-movie" catchphrases (the more you know the map of the 80s, the more you enjoy them). The event is solidly physical, but confusing in places for my taste – those attempts at "Greengrass kinetics" – and rushed. The film is also lacking the 80’s drive in the style of "you killed my uncle, so I’m going to hurt you now". I had a good time, but I couldn't shake the feeling that Stallone didn't cross the magic line and fall into that retro river completely. Sometimes he seems to try to "talk" his way into it unnecessarily when the door needs to be kicked in. That's why I'm hesitating about giving it a fourth star.
()
Films of this kind can never excite me, already from their very basic nature – heroes that only rely on their muscles can never be heroes to me (and they aren’t). The Expendables are a celebration of dumb brute force – and a pretty expendable film as far as I’m concerned. Long live modern action films that rely on something other than how long and how often a hero on ‘roids can drop “funny” wisecracks. Back in the 80s, that may have had its charm (which I can feel even today when I watch those old films), but I don’t see any reason to go back to that. PS: The church scene was incredibly artificial and forced, like the rest of the film. PS2: The inferno at the end is pretty cool in the details but utterly confusing as a whole.
()
The ultimate action carnage led by the fighting elite turned out pretty decent IMHO. The action scenes were pretty brutal, the soundtrack was pretty pumped up and the cast was really badass. Some of the effects were glaring, as was the point of a few scenes, but as a whole it stood at 75% for me. In short, a parade of action stars who came together in one film to give you a good beating.
()
Ads