# Osage's Home Theater Shack Review of...THE EXPENDABLES 2 (Blu-ray; Lionsgate)



## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

[img]http://www.cityonfire.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/ex2.png[/img] 
*Studio(s): Lionsgate
Disc Release Date:  November 20
Rating: R
Running Time: 103 Minutes
Disc/Transfer Information: Region "A" (U.S.) Disc Tested; 1080p High Definition 2.40:1 (Original Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1)
Video Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Tested Audio Track: English Dolby Digital 5.1
Director: Simon West
Starring Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Terry Crews, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Chuck Norris


BACK FOR WAR.


PLOT ANALYSIS:*

The notion behind Stallone’s brainchild that was the first _Expendables_ came off seemingly as an attempt to assemble some classic, vintage, out-of-shape and desperate-for-paycheck action stars in an almost _Avengers_-like answer to the _Rambo_-esque action genre – but this came in the wake of attempted resurgences of old franchise names including Stallone’s own _Rocky Balboa_ and _Rambo_, plus the likes of, perhaps, _Live Free or Die Hard_ and Harrison Ford’s last _Indiana Jones_ romp. It’s almost as if the strange-eye browed Stallone set off a trend in Hollywood to revive aging film series to compete against the modern slew of motion pictures geared towards teens and tweens throughout suburbia everywhere; at the very least, it seems Stallone himself has been desperate to get back in the action game, though looking tired and cock-diesel all at the same time. And while there’s a small part of me that actually applauds Stallone and the other filmmakers for attempting this concept – the idea that some awesomees from action flicks gone by get together like some superhero mercenary squad – the actual execution of these ideas never came to fruition well in the first _Expendables_. The film came off like a goofy laugh at these aging stars, albeit with a great final fight sequence featuring Stallone and over-the-top pyrotechnics – it even occurred to me that the inclusion of our friend “Ivan Drago” was merely a pathetic, obvious excuse to get Stallone back in the same film with the Russian he beats in his own _Rocky IV_. 

In my opinion, the one star that steals the show in both _Expendables_ films is Jason Statham – man, does this guy kick total butt, as he always does with every character he portrays. Stratham aside, Simon West decided to turn the heat up a couple of more notches for the inevitable sequel to _Expendables_ with the inclusion of The Terminator himself – yet, Arnie doesn’t get that much screen time for all the hype and hoopla that surrounded this film’s launch, and when he is on screen, his age and inability to really carry these action roles anymore becomes abundantly clear. Here, we also have the inclusion of martial arts legend Van Damme, who portrays a frightening scum bag villain that makes the mistake of brutally killing one of Stallone’s “Barney” character’s rookie guys fresh from the fields of Afghanistan (an odd-looking Chris Hemsworth). Yet, much like Stallone’s look and facial oddities in _Expendables 2_ and the first film (and, subsequently, all the films he has been in since and including _Rocky Balboa_), something looks wrong about Van Damme here – his eyebrows are weird like Stallone’s, his eyes are sunken in and appear swollen when his character’s sunglasses come off and he doesn’t look healthy. Still – there’s no denying the ridiculous physique these guys still have after all these years, and for that, they fit in the action mold still very well. Jet Li, who I normally love, has limited screen time here unfortunately, with a few great martial arts asskicking moves and some shootout sequences, but he wasn’t given nearly enough exposure in this one. Finally, we have the inclusion of the legendary Chuck Norris, who wields a machine gun as expertly as ever in this; from _Delta Force_ to infomercials, you gotta love Norris.

_Expendables 2_ has Bruce Willis’ CIA operative-type sending Stallone’s Barney character and his group of ragtag mercenaries on a mission that involves some kind of high-tech safe. Along for the ride is an equally asskickin’ Asian female agent as well as a fresh-out-of-the-military rookie kid, Billy (Hemsworth), who is desperate to join Barney’s notorious posse of outlaw justice-seekers. When they arrive in the country in which they need to begin their mission, they’re ambushed by a ruthless counterpart mercenary (Van Damme) and his band of nasty, evil miscreants who are after the same safe and its secrets. When Barney sends Billy to take point lead up a hill, the rookie kid is caught and abducted by Van Damme and his men, only to be brutally killed right in front of Barney and his guys – thus, the revenge fantasy subplot begins, which includes angering this already unstable group of expert mercenaries, hunting down the group responsible for the theft and teaming up with Barney’s old friend (Norris) and, eventually, Schwarzenegger’s character. Some of the most visually entertaining moments of the film come when a handful of Van Damme’s men meet their fate quite painfully at the hands of a knife-wielding Statham, who dispenses with the bad guys at a ridiculous pace, as well as some humorous banter between a few of these legendary action stars towards the end of the film. The problem is that the trailers for _Expendables 2_ gave away most of these funny scenes – for example, when Schwarzenegger gets into the Smart car with Willis and says to him “My shoe is bigger than this car!” or when Arnie announces “he’ll be back” as a nod to the _Terminator_ films and Willis answers back, at one point, “You’ve been back enough – I’ll be back!” before running off to finish a gunfight while Arnie says “Yippie-kay-ay!” in reference to the _Die Hard_ films. While a bit cheesy and obvious, the nods were cool. 

And so, as you can guess, the chunk of _Expendables 2_’s running time is spent depicting Stallone and his men fighting their way through Van Damme’s army to get to the man himself – and the highlight of this film comes when the inevitable hand-to-hand battle sequence between Stallone and Van Damme arrives in the final frame. If anything, the film was worth sitting through just to make it to this scene – the fearless, terrifying nature of Van Damme’s character as he does everything to dare Stallone’s Barney to get it on with him fused with the equally fearless, pumped-up, anger-fueled nature of Stallone’s character makes for a nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat final fight sequence experience. These guys beat the Pamela Anderson sillicone out of each other, as you can imagine – but with downright revenge for the death of his rookie soldier in his heart, Stallone’s character seems unbeatable and brimming with unbridled strength, no matter how sadistic Van Damme’s character comes across as being. This final scene was awesome, and makes up for the rather weak entertainment that came before it in the main chunk of _Expendables 2_.

As I said, I understand and appreciate the notion of attempting, at least, to bring together some of the action genre’s most celebrated, recognized names to kick some tail together – but for some reason, in both _Expendable_ films, this just wasn’t executed right; towards the end of this sequel, when all the guys get in the action including Willis, Arnie, Norris and Stallone, something just seems and feels goofy about these older fellas squeelin’ around in a Smart Car firing automatic weapons…even though they’ve done it hundreds of times before. Schwarzenegger, in particular, looks old and nearly decrepit, while Stallone continues to redefine the concept of “not aging well” especially around the face. I don’t know; I just don’t buy the final result of the _Expendable_ films, and outside of a quick rental, I don’t see a need to revisit these. 


[img]https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT63FLAd9869Axrk4pgvYKzqyHNv4cWscYQdqDP07EE8KtacLuYBg[/img] *VIDEO QUALITY ANALYSIS:*

I don’t know what happened here, but Lionsgate’s Blu-ray transfer of _Expendables 2_ looked downright awful for the most part – nasty grain littered most of the shots, and there were some darker scenes that decayed into noisy, dithering messes, as if I was looking at a snowy transmission of the film over broadcast TV. I’m not kidding. While not exhibiting these problems, literally, from beginning to end – some shots cleared up and looked serviceable especially those depicting outdoor, colorful elements – the transfer was riddled with this grain and noise in nearly every frame in some variation. I am unsure if this was a budgetary issue with the film, or something that went wrong with the encoding process during the Blu-ray Disc transfer, but this was not a pretty film to look at. 

Even facial close-ups of characters didn’t look that riddled with detail, as they should via 1080p, colors weren’t that oversaturated or nearly as rich as they should have been, darker interior shots came off as being ridiculously soft and non impactful and the entire presentation just wasn’t satisfying. There was a higher injection of film grain here than I’m comfortable with, and I’m not even sure if this was film grain mixed with digital or ISO camera noise, or if it wasn’t film stock grain and instead _just_ noise marring the visuals; whatever it was, the video presentation of _Expendables 2_ on Blu-ray made the title even less appealing than the acting and goofy dialogue. 


[img]https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR-EaOpV0sZbq2z6hMXmG4kUSwFB06VtYk7DRJLtF1Fc7UrNIgf[/img] *AUDIO QUALITY ANALYSIS:*

The sample review copy of _Expendables 2_ I received was equipped with a _lossy_ Dolby Digital 5.1 track – no lossless high-resolution audio to be found. Curiously enough, I couldn’t believe when I got to the setup menu of the disc and found that there was only a Dolby Digital track; I had to turn the light on and look at the back of the box to make sure I didn’t actually get a DVD by mistake. But, no – lo and behold, my copy only came equipped with a Dolby Digital mix. While this was weird enough, I found myself just letting it go and accepting the fact that many Dolby tracks can sound wickedly explosive – especially those on Blu-rays due to the enhanced bitrate design.

While ridiculously and viscerally _loud_, the audio accompanying the Blu-ray of _Expendables 2_ I sampled wasn’t that hefty or “heady” in terms of sheer dynamics or bass response – the mix was loud, aggressive, and in-your-face, yes, but it lacked a “weight” of conviction that kind of felt like this was a budgetary problem much like the video transfer. Sheer volume was off the charts, requiring me to actually _lower_ my master volume levels throughout, something that normally never happens, while action sequences were accompanied by appropriate support by the surround channels for the prerequisite stand-bys of fly-overs, bullets, speeding vehicles and directional cues. Still, something was definitely missing from this track. 

*UPDATE:* Apparently, I have learned, Lionsgate is "dumbing down" their non-purchase variants of their titles (i.e. rentals) to include lossy, legacy audio tracks for some odd, ridiculously head-scratching reason, and not lossless high-resolution mixes -- some say this is a cheap shot way of getting enthusiasts to really buy the titles rather than rent them, but there are still plenty of people that would prefer renting before blind-buying anyway, so why should they be left in the cold in the form of audio? The supposed tactic makes zero sense, but that's the rumor -- for what it's worth, this disc was sent to me by an editor of a publication I freelance for so I am uncertain if they were given a rental disc by Lionsgate, or if Lionsgate's publicity department sends out non-lossless-audio-equipped versions to the media to sample; I'm looking into it. 


[img]https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRAJTQHEZfD8w-7pd05ZdUTaI0tNM6yJ8UpkBCxckL0QLoQY1Er[/img] *SUMMARY/RECOMMENDATIONS:*

This is a rental, at best. If you liked the first one, you’ll most likely enjoy this one; for me, this was a one-time-only deal and not a buy. I like the idea of getting all these vintage guys into one action fest for a shootout of a good time, but something just doesn’t work…it’s almost as if it’s just too campy and stupid for its own good, like what I said about Stallone’s attempt at re-energizing the tired _Rocky_ and _Rambo_ franchises. Still, it was goosebump-inducing when Stallone and Van Damme stand before each other in the final fight sequence and Van Damme asks him if he wants to beat him “like a man” while he puts his guns down, and Stallone calmly answers “You wanna man up? I’ll man you up….” just before the punches start flying. Just awesome.

I will have my review of _The Watch_ up next. *If any of you have seen Expendables 2 or have any pre-viewing sentiments, let's discuss here!

I'd also like to say HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all my HTS bretheren in the U.S.! *


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Update made to audio quality section of the review.


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## bxbigpipi (Feb 2, 2012)

Nice review Osage, I want to see this one. To bad the transfer wasn't the best.


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

I will be watching this movie today, been waiting for this one as I really had a fun time with the first one.


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

bxbigpipi said:


> Nice review Osage, I want to see this one. To bad the transfer wasn't the best.


Hey bxb,

Thanks, as always, for reading and for the kind words! Indeed, the video quality on this was horrible -- Lionsgate should be ashamed of themselves if it was the fault of the home video engineering department. I get the distinct feeling, as with the audio, that this had trace elements of budgetary issues...

Let me know what you think when you watch it!


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Savjac said:


> I will be watching this movie today, been waiting for this one as I really had a fun time with the first one.


Hey Sav,

Let us know what you think of this one; I didn't really care for the first one either to be honest, but I suppose they're good rental material...


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

I wanted to also say to Jack and bxb: Happy Thanksgiving to you and your entire families...:T


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

Thank You for the well wishes and please note I had a wonderful day, I hope you did as well.

I saw this movie tonight and while I enjoyed the mindless action and story line, I was truly let down by the visual side and not overly enthused with the sonic side either. Then again maybe I should be less picky when discussing a movie that allows cell phone calls from the US to somewhere in Asia as well as several thousand feet in the air without losing the call. I can barely keep connected from one end of my house to the other. Maybe I need the carrier Lee Christmas had.

None the less as I mentioned in another thread the video side had some huge swings from very clear and spiffy to down right Doris Day soft focus looking. I did not mind the color or the grain so much as this is just that kind of movie, but for me the soft focus was a bit distracting. 

Aurally I think it was as you say loud, clear and raucous but never really moved my pants legs. Maybe I am missing something as many folks do say the bottom end was quite moving, but alas, not in my little corner of the world. Near the end when Trench came through the....well I guess I cant say without giving something away, but the bottom end seemed much more powerful in the last quarter of the movie. Maybe my house was short on electricity and I could not keep the amps up to full power, who knows.

I enjoyed the movie as an action movie that requires nothing of me beyond being present, beyond that I am glad it was a rental.


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Savjac said:


> Thank You for the well wishes and please note I had a wonderful day, I hope you did as well.


Thank you very much, Jack -- indeed it was a good day of watching the Macy's parade in New York, some football (Lions game and then the Patriots/Jets massacre; I'm a New England fan) and being stuffed with a multitude of dishes my wife made...



> I saw this movie tonight and while I enjoyed the mindless action and story line, I was truly let down by the visual side and not overly enthused with the sonic side either.


Precisely my sentiments in the review...



> Then again maybe I should be less picky when discussing a movie that allows cell phone calls from the US to somewhere in Asia as well as several thousand feet in the air without losing the call. I can barely keep connected from one end of my house to the other. Maybe I need the carrier Lee Christmas had.


LOL...:T



> None the less as I mentioned in another thread the video side had some huge swings from very clear and spiffy to down right Doris Day soft focus looking.


Again, my findings precisely in the review -- though I thought when the picture dipped into "bad" territory, it was spectacularly bad...so much so a couple of darker sequences exhibited, on my display, a noisy, dithered mess that made the scene look like it was cut from a bad broadcast transmission of the film. I don't know what happened with this one, but it was one of the more cruddy-looking Blu-ray transfers of the past few years -- if not the worst. 



> I did not mind the color or the grain so much as this is just that kind of movie, but for me the soft focus was a bit distracting.


I wouldn't have minded the grain -- or color structure for that matter -- for this kind of film either, as the gritty edge and overtones would have been appropriate...but what I saw on my screen when viewing this critically went far beyond "appropriate film grain" to support a style. The grain dipped into the "high ISO camera noise" territory in which the visuals were smeared with distracting flickering sheets of gritty, grainy interference...at any rate, this wasn't a pretty disc to look at, and I think you can agree with me there. 



> Aurally I think it was as you say loud, clear and raucous but never really moved my pants legs. Maybe I am missing something as many folks do say the bottom end was quite moving, but alas, not in my little corner of the world. Near the end when Trench came through the....well I guess I cant say without giving something away, but the bottom end seemed much more powerful in the last quarter of the movie. Maybe my house was short on electricity and I could not keep the amps up to full power, who knows.


LOL...indeed, I agree about the audio 100 percent...



> I enjoyed the movie as an action movie that requires nothing of me beyond being present, beyond that I am glad it was a rental.


So, this isn't a must-own for you? :blink:


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

No rental only. You know at one time I would have bought it, but with instant watch on the various internet sites and the ability of Netfix to deliver it again in a couple days, no need to own so many movies on disc. Besides, I am not sure I will watch it again, unless family or friend wants to see it. 
It was funny, after the first few minutes, my wife and I started guessing what would happen next in the action sequences and we guessed the correct direction of the movie about 8 times out of 10. Not too predictable. 

I wonder actually, based upon the middle of the road quality video and somewhat better quality in audio, if watching the movie from Amazon, iTunes or some other service might be almost as good. :scratch:

I do understand that the film makers have choices and while I did not see this in the theater, I would imagine that it may not be too different from the road show. Never the less, I do not understand why they would release their blockbusters on Blu Ray with such wild swings in quality.


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## bxbigpipi (Feb 2, 2012)

Osage_Winter said:


> I wanted to also say to Jack and bxb: Happy Thanksgiving to you and your entire families...:T


Likewise Osage and thank you very much!!!!


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

Nice review. I suppose if I watched it without watching Expendables I first, I would be totally lost, right?:huh:


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

I was surprised at how the varied the the video quality is on this release. One shot is crystal clear, the next is waxy and crushed, the next is snowy... 

Did anyone see this in the theater? Was it similar?


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

AudiocRaver said:


> Nice review. I suppose if I watched it without watching Expendables I first, I would be totally lost, right?:huh:


I dont think so, the story is more or less independent of the first one other than we meet the players a bit more in the first movie. Nothing in depth just some ideas as to how they work together but nothing in depth.


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## Todd Anderson (Jul 24, 2009)

AudiocRaver said:


> Nice review. I suppose if I watched it without watching Expendables I first, I would be totally lost, right?:huh:


I would actually go straight for the first flick... much better, IMO


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

Savjac said:


> No rental only. You know at one time I would have bought it, but with instant watch on the various internet sites and the ability of Netfix to deliver it again in a couple days, no need to own so many movies on disc. Besides, I am not sure I will watch it again, unless family or friend wants to see it.
> It was funny, after the first few minutes, my wife and I started guessing what would happen next in the action sequences and we guessed the correct direction of the movie about 8 times out of 10. Not too predictable.
> 
> I wonder actually, based upon the middle of the road quality video and somewhat better quality in audio, if watching the movie from Amazon, iTunes or some other service might be almost as good. :scratch:
> ...


What do you mean by "not that different from the road show"?

I am also at a loss for why this title was so erratic in terms of video quality; I am thinking of reaching out to my press contact at Lionsgate when I have any free time (rare these days)...


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

bxbigpipi said:


> Likewise Osage and thank you very much!!!!


:T:T


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

AudiocRaver said:


> Nice review.


Thank you! 



> I suppose if I watched it without watching Expendables I first, I would be totally lost, right?:huh:


As was mentioned, no, not really as they are kind of independent of one another -- you'd know the characters better by seeing the first one, but it's not essentially necessary. Why don't you give the first one a rental?


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## Osage_Winter (Apr 8, 2010)

27dnast said:


> I was surprised at how the varied the the video quality is on this release. One shot is crystal clear, the next is waxy and crushed, the next is snowy...


I'm in total agreement, nast -- did you see where I pointed that out in the Video Quality Analysis?

However, I didn't think the "clear" shots were that "crystal" clear...



> Did anyone see this in the theater? Was it similar?


Good question -- I did not, so it would be interesting to hear from anyone who did see it theatrically...


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