People weren’t convinced of the potential of The Expendables because of its rehashed action movie plot or promise of explosions; those are pretty basic promises that just about anything with Steven Seagal in it can fulfill. The thing that excited people about The Expendables was the seemingly endless list of action star names that trickled out as it filmed and then later when posters hit theaters. It seemed impossible that one film could have Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, and Mickey Rourke crammed in. Then, as if to top it off, it had cameos from Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis. In concept, The Expendables was the kind of testosterone-fueled fantasy that you were more likely to read as some fan’s fantasy than as an actual cast listing. But there it was. Maybe the hype was just too much, or maybe it was ultimately impossible to appease the fans of every action star in the typical 100-minute runtime; whatever the case, The Expendables didn’t deliver in bone-crushing fights between the action film titans, and the fans walked out of theaters understandably a bit disappointed.
So when an extended cut is announced, it’s a fair assumption that what people hope has been added in the extra 10-minutes isn’t further development of the flimsy plot, but more scenes of Stallone, Li, Statham, and others kicking even more ass. Prepare to be disappointed, again.
The story of The Expendables is fun, as it tells the story of mercenaries who decide to liberate an island-state from an oppressive dictator (David Zayas) while going up against the team of commandos the ruthless ruler has assembled with the help of a shadowy advisor (Eric Roberts), but it’s also incredibly basic and clichéd. Although, who was expecting a mind blowing story? Anyone? No. Everyone showed up at the theaters for the promise of a collection of badassery the likes of which the action genre had ever known. Even the Predator commandos suddenly seemed poorly equipped. The film managed to blend the action styles of Stallone and Crews (straightforward bashing), Jet Li (clever environment manipulation and aerobics), and Statham (a mix of all of the above), and do so in a way that gave just enough time to make their marks on the film, but not enough to truly satisfy fans. The addition of 10 minutes could have gone a long way towards that, but sadly much of that time pads the “deep” scenes where Stallone develops the relationships between the teammates.
There was only one conceivable way that an Extended Director’s Cut could have enticed double-dipping from an audience that bought the film the first time around, and this isn’t it. So if you’re really hungry for more of what The Expendables is all about, wait for the sequel. This re-release is a bust (and not in a fun, skull-crunching kind of way).
Blu-ray Bonus Features
The combo pack has the extended film on Blu-ray and as a digital copy. Impressively, there is a new slate of extras in this release, and they include a spotlight on Stallone as a director, two behind-the-scenes pieces (one from Spike TV), a new introduction for the film by Stallone, and a music video by Sully Erna.
"The Expendables - Extended Director's Cut" is on sale December 13, 2011 and is rated R. Action. Directed by Sylvester Stallone. Written by Dave Callaham, Sylvester Stallone. Starring Dolph Lundgren, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Sylvester Stallone.
