The Expendables

As voted for by you, the site visitor, I watched the Blu-Ray of The Expendables and so here's the review...

The Expendables are a group of elite mercenaries led by Ross (Sylvester Stallone) with knifeman Christmas (Jason Statham), martial artist Yin Yang (Jet Li), Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) and Toll Road (Randy Couture).
They are hired to overthrow dictator, General Garza (David Zayas), military leader of the South American island of Vilena, who is backed by the shadowy Munroe (Eric Roberts) and his henchmen Paine (Steve Austin) and The Brit (Gary Daniels).

OK, from the off I will admit there are a lot of justifiable criticisms of The Expendables, pretty much all of which I did note, either mentally or actually jot down whilst I was watching. Since they really can't be avoided in a review I'll just dive right in with a few;

• The subplot about Statham and hgis girlfriend (Buffy's Charisma Carpenter) adds nothing really to the main plot
• The reasons for taking and continuing with the mission are slim at best
• The big names Arnie and Bruce Willis are only in the film for about 5 minutes in cameo roles (and aren't even credited)... 

my replies are

• So what, it's a bit of background character and what's not to like when the nice girl gets punched by her new fella and so his arse gets kicked?
• So what, the reasons are slim but that doesn't really detract... you know it's gonna happen anyway. any reason is good enough!
• Annoying if you were expecting more but now you know so you won't be :)

A few small things that did annoy me a bit more were the Hale Caesar and Toll Road characters not really getting enough 'individuality', which shouldn't have been that hard in such a small group. Also there are a few to many coincidences and illogical actions but mostly they were small enough to ignore... and the reveal at the end (you'll know what I mean when you get there) is obviously purely to set up for Expendables 2 and didn't really feel like it worked with what had happened earlier.. but still

To be honest my main pressing criticism is a technical one - the camera work on quite a few of the fight scenes was too close in and fast cut, especially when also cutting between multiple hand-to-hand fights; it all got a bit confusing and hard to see the action. This is a massive shame in a film with so much close-up fighting action (especially disappointing when Jet Li is doing his thing... which doesn't happen often enough IMO) but it isn't the first and won't be the last to make the mistake, and it's still shot a lot better than many others I could mention.

The shooting and knife throwing action (oooh, lots and lots of knife throwing) on the other hand is well shot even though it's still fast, frenetic and very bloody... though some may say they actually overdid the CGI blood (which happened on every wound), especially since it seems to almost glow red even in the dark... but it's just a stylistic touch and works especially well on the victims losing limbs or blown in half!

Not all the good stuff is action-related either; characters on both sides often aren't just ciphers, they have their own agendas and change their minds, their plans and even sides to a certain extent - all pretty logically too! Micky Rourke, as the Expendables' 'fixer/mission planner' is fine as the 'conscience and wisdom' of the group, Eric Roberts is a great cold-as-ice bad guy and Statham stands out in what is practically a leading role, even though Sly is producing, directing and starring (which shows some good grace on his part if nothing else).

Even the very simple plot is fine; a few small twists here and there but nothing that's going to get in the way of the action is really just what the film demands.

And when it comes to the finalé and you think they've already thrown in the kitchen sink they find another even bigger sink... fists, feet, knives, pistols, submachine guns, assault rifles, automatic shotguns (oh, check out what damage those explosive shotgun shells do; awesome), masses of grenades, a rocket launcher or two and more plastic explosives than a grown man should be able to carry... they certainly try to give you your money's worth on this one!

Yes, it's all very 80s macho and "good mates are better than any girl" attitude but did you really read the line-up and the plot and think otherwise... The Expendables is obviously exactly what they intended - an 80s style, over-the-top action film with 80s (and more recent) action stars combined with modern SFX... and that's exactly what they deliver, so sit back, take a deep breath of the testosterone filled air and enjoy the action packed, explosive ride.
I for one will be back for The Expendables 2.

The Blu-Ray (UK, Region B only):
Most important (to my mind) is that the small cut made for the UK cinema to get it a 15 rating has been restored so the Blu-Ray is uncut (and now rated 18)

As you'd expect the high-definition 2.40:1 picture is top notch (some said they had trouble in the night scenes but so long as I avoided strong light reflections on the screen I had no trouble at all).

Sound is 7.1 DTS-MA and uses all the speakers well for sound effects and musical score, keeping the speech clear through the front channels whilst using the rears for immersion... the sub-woofer gets a pretty good workout too!

No time to watch the extras (as you may have guessed, given my limited solo time on the home kit) but in my 'Bulletproof Edition' (steelbook case) on the Blu-Ray:

• Audio commentary by Sly
• Picture-in-Picture seamless branching expanded video commentary by Sly 
• From the Ashes: Post-Production documentary (27 mins in High Def)
• Gag Reel (5 mins) 
• Deleted Scene
• Theatrical Trailer, 2 TV Spots, Poster Gallery
• BD-Live  
• D-Box

In this set there's also an exclusive "Inferno: The Making of The Expendables" documentary (on a separate Blu-Ray disc) lasting about 88 minutes and the DVD of the film (2.35:1, 5.1 Dolby Surround), however I believe this is the UK cinema version and does have the cut in that the Blu-Ray reinstated. The DVD does have most of the extras from the Blu-Ray disc repeated (not the PiP and Blu-Ray only stuff) and also "Before the Battle" a different, smaller, making of documentary (15 minutes).

Other options are the regular Blu-Ray release (as per the Blu-Ray in this set so you won't get any making of documentaries) and the regular DVD release (the slightly cut 15 version, also as described above).

Some other countries have got some extra extras but the Blu-Ray is region locked in all territories so watch out!

Hint: It took an age to load up on my machine and has an unskippable trailer so I suggest putting it into the machine before you go and make that cup of coffee or pour that drink.