# The Expendables



## wbassett (Feb 8, 2007)

_A team of mercenaries head to South America on a mission to overthrow a dictator._​Is anyone else waiting for this one to come out? Doesn't sound like much of a plot synopsis, but this just may be the mother of all modern day war action flicks! 

It is written and directed by Stallone. Many people under rate Sly as an actor, but at one time he was compared to the likes of Brando and Pacino. Of course the '80s came and he 'sold out'. Even Stallone himself is pretty candid about the '80s and said he got caught up in the fame and money and if he could go back he would have taken a different path.

I personally think he did a lot to redeem himself with the latest Rambo, but this movie has the potential to be something the likes we haven't seen before.

Take a look at the cast and I think most will agree this really has some potential:

Mickey Rourke ... Emanuel 
Jason Statham ... Lee Christmas 
Sandra Bullock ... (rumored) 
Sylvester Stallone ... Barney Ross 
Jet Li ... Kong Kao 
Ben Kingsley ... Monroe (rumored) 
Dolph Lundgren ... Gunnar Jensen 
Robert Knepper ... Richard (rumored) 
Forest Whitaker ... Agent Will Sands
Randy Couture ... Dan Paine 
Dax Ravina ... Clay (rumored)

Stallone, Rourke, Statham, Li, and Lundgren all in the same billing! Then throw in some class like Whitaker and Kingsley and this hasn't been seen since the likes of Wild Geese. Unlike Wild Geese, Expendables is guaranteed to be more brutal and gritty and action oriented.

Stallone really is a good writer, in fact he may be one of the best on Hollywood, that is when he is being true to his sole and writing character driven stories that have enough action to satisfy even the hard core macho action fans.

I think we're going to start seeing more projects from Stallone that are of higher quality style. Stallone is seeing his own mortality now and admits he's not the same guy from all those sell out '80s no brainer action flicks he was pumping out. My opinion is he is starting to look at his legacy. Eastwood has always been very popular, but it wasn't until Clint was 62 when Hollywood finally started to look at him as Oscar material and finally accepted him. I believe Stallone will take this same path.

Of course he's doing action flicks right now, but that's what everyone expects out of him. If he can accomplish another Wild Geese, Apocalypse Now, or Platoon, and get some respect, then we may see some unexpected things from him.

For now though I can't wait for this one to come out!


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## wbassett (Feb 8, 2007)

Wow, with all the action fans on here I can't believe no comments on this one!

If there is any doubt in anyone's minds that Stallone can pull this off and actually write a decent screenplay, keep in mind he wrote Rocky, which won an Oscar for best picture. He may not have written the novel First Blood, but he wrote the screenplay for the movie. Stallone also wrote the screenplay for Cliffhanger... He did write some stinkers though too, 'Over the Top' anyone? Or how about Cobra? Driven may not have done well State side, but it was written primarily for a European audience since they are more into Indy racing and Stallone is still a huge box office draw over there.

If this were the 80's I probably wouldn't be expecting much from him, but Stallone has done a lot of self reflection in the past few years and is trying to get back to the art and creativity of crafting a good story and screenplay like he used to do. He's the only action star to write screenplays as well as direct movies. As incredible of a director as Eastwood turned out to be, even Clint can't say he's written a story or screenplay. Another item that may shock people is as awesome as Clint is, he didn't get his first Oscar until 1993, and although Sly didn't win an Oscar for the screenplay, the movie he wrote did win one for best picture back in 1976. 



IMDB said:


> Sylvester Stallone becomes the third person to be nominated for both acting and writing in the same year, following Charles Chaplin for The Great Dictator (1940) and Orson Welles for Citizen Kane (1941).



The Expendables really could shock a lot of people, even those in the movie industry. If Sly pulls off something the caliber of The Deer Hunter or others classic war flicks I mentioned previously I think you'll start seeing people in Hollywood and even critics start gushing over him. Hollywood is a cruel industry, one minute they love you, the next minute an actor can't get a job as a extra. Stallone at one time was one of their golden boys that they expected a lot from, but he went for the easy bucks as a one dimensional action star and it really did ruin his credibiity. With just a few different career choices, Sly could have been another Pacino, so don't sell the Expendables short just because Stallone is stereotyped as a bad actor, any actor playing one dimensional characters in a bad movie is going to look like a bad actor. Any doubt about him as an actor just watch Cop Land. Sly held his own on screen against a bunch of Hollywood elites like Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, and even De Niro!

Don't count the guy out... as Rocky would say, "It ain't over until it's over."


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## nova (Apr 30, 2006)

I don't count him out,... I remember:
Rocky
First Blood
F.I.S.T.
Paradise Alley
Cop Land
The Lord's of Flatbush

Talent and ability is there,... maybe some poor decisions in the past :hide:, well, ok, no maybe about it. I look forward to to him making up for what he did in the '80's.


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## wbassett (Feb 8, 2007)

That's why I don't count him out either... the talent is there and also what sounds like honest intents to go back to his roots. Let's face it though, he did get the big paydays but now is getting way too old to continue playing the tough guy so he really has to start changing his projects and roles.

Rambo (the last one) was a relatively low budget flick compared to other action movies, but this one looks like it has some backing and money behind it. Let's hope it doesn't go over the top though. I'm kinda interested to see what he's going to do with Jet Li's character in this one as well as what Rourke's character is going to be like.


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