Expend4bles

pixelburp · 24-09-2023 3:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121150934#Comment_121150934

I'm still genuinely surprised this even got a cinema release; I'd have just presumed it was a cheap àss VoD churn itrm

Agent Coulson · 24-09-2023 3:48pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121150946#Comment_121150946

Worldwide cinema release probaly gets it to just about break even and then onto VOD and then its onto streaming and TV over the next few years will see it make a nice profit.

MisterAnarchy · 24-09-2023 5:20pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121023586#Comment_121023586

Well grabbed him in the grotch it seems, not rape, surprised Crews didnt make smithereens of him, he is a huge guy.

Big Gerry · 24-09-2023 11:32pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121149683#Comment_121149683

It looks like it's going to be an even bigger flop than Judge Dredd that almost destroyed Stallone's career.

B.A._Baracus · 25-09-2023 9:40am

Going to see this on Tuesday (Vodafone free cinema tickets - yay!) Don't think I would bother otherwise. Feels like a movie you would stream if anything.

TheIrishGrover · 25-09-2023 12:00pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121150946#Comment_121150946

I barely got about 20 mins into the 3rd one. Once I saw a cheap-ass CGI explosion of a helicopter near the start I knew where it was going. These really do smack of VOD cheapy. Statham is probably the highest profile actor there at the moment (Hence top-billing now). I mean all of these individually are heavily in the bargain-bin tier.

pixelburp · 25-09-2023 12:06pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121154224#Comment_121154224

It's ultimately a shame 'cos getting Arnie, Sly and Willis all in the same film should or could have been a Top Gun: Maverick moment in reviving an old thrill; but these films have had a weird combination of both presumably being expensive to get their ageing stars together, while looking like cheap shít at the same time.

Big Gerry · 26-09-2023 12:58am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121154247#Comment_121154247

The Expendables concept would of worked a lot better if each actor played the character they were most famous for.

Like having the T800, John McClane and Rambo etc in the one film would have been so cool.

TheIrishGrover · 26-09-2023 10:52am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121157542#Comment_121157542

But copyright-wise a nightmare 😀. Plus, I don't know, would sound like a early 2000s Blackhorse comic: John McClain, Robocop & Rambo Vs Terminator, Alien & Predator,

I found the first two to be enjoyable hokum. As someone who grew up in the 80s it was always a dream to see Arnie, Sly and Willis in a movie together so it did exactly what it said on the tin. But, yeah, 2 was enough.

Big Gerry · 27-09-2023 2:35am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121158206#Comment_121158206

Tango and cash was supposed to star Arnie and Sly but for whatever reason it didn't work out.

That film has a massive budget for its time but it only looks like a mid budget 80s action film.

B.A._Baracus · 27-09-2023 7:12am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121162031#Comment_121162031

Never heard that about Tango and Cash. I doubt it.

Actually... decided to look that up as I write this and it turns out it was a false rumor. However, accordingly the first draft of Face/Off was written for both. Interesting if true. Not sure how that would have worked with both men being totally different sizes height and weight.

The idea of a team-up movie kinda makes sense tho as by 1997 both mens action careers were winding down. Sure Stallone had success with CopLand and Arnold become the highest paid actor by being Mr Freeze tho but the heyday was the 80s. A team up to bolster ones status again eh.

pixelburp · 27-09-2023 7:20am

In fairness, a LOT of stuff was written in the 80s through into the 90s with the intention of it starring Arnie and Sly. Throw a stone and a script probably started that way; makes sense as they were the biggest stars in blockbuster cinema.

Brief_Lives · 27-09-2023 8:59am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121162031#Comment_121162031

that stupid van has a lot of explaining to do.

Big Gerry · 28-09-2023 1:19am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121162131#Comment_121162131

Face off would have worked the same way the Mission Impossible films do i.e once you put on a mask you become the same body size as the person in the mask.

CastorTroy · 13-10-2023 11:31am

I see this was released digitally today.

I wonder at what point they make the decision with this and the quick digital release of the new Exorcist.

B.A._Baracus · 14-10-2023 10:32pm

Watched it and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Is it a great movie? Hell no. Is it even the best expendables movie? Absolutely not.

Check your brain at the door, expect a movie shot ALOT in front of green screen and just get entertained for 90 minutes.

Best way to describe this is that If Schindler's List was to be compared to a fine dining 5 star Michelin experience this is some dingy, greasy backalley burger joint. You know what it is.

Atlantic Dawn · 15-10-2023 2:58am

Prime example of go woke, go broke. I also wonder did the basket case SFX team on Die Another Day get roles here, it's like their work.

ancapailldorcha · 16-10-2023 11:41am

I quite enjoyed the original. I feel like a film starring ageing action stars of yesteryear could actually be quite interesting but they seem to have tried to broaden its appeal by diluting what made the original stand out so now we have this absolute tripe. I may have said this before but I remember when a DVD-quality copy of the third film leaked onto the internet. I got 20 minutes in and just gave up. Nothing but superficial drivel.

There was potential but talk of this as a franchise on the same lines as Marvel, DCEU, Mission Impossible and so on is just pathetic.

dubstepper · 19-10-2023 3:37pm

Watched it. It's Ok.Statham has a good screen presence and can do both action and humour quite well. CGI is woeful. Megan Fox is so made up she actually looks like a doll. She could do the action fairly well. Couple of new actors the best of which is probably Iko Uwais.

If you like dumb action movies, which I do, this isn't bad.

Homelander · 22-10-2023 1:10am

So I watched this expecting nothing given it has a 12% rating on RT and honestly I really enjoyed it.

I think the problem, in so far as critics go, is that the film is actively trying to be as corny, over the top, ridiculous, and self-aware as possible rather than be a semi-credible action film.

And for me it worked. It's a masterpiece in b-movie film-making. Hilarious dialogue, corny action, illogical explosions, excessive violence, the whole works.

It's not a patch on the original movie which is genuinely a fantastic time. But it's really not bad and I'd certainly put it above Expendables 3, if not 2 as well.

In terms of critique, the CGI is god-awful at times, looks more like a 500K movie than a $50m movie. Also I have no issue with Megan Fox as an actress, Jennifer's Body is one of my guilty pleasures and I love her in it. But I'm not sure why they decided that the trowel-makeup look was the best approach for this, she's supposed to be a gritty spec-ops leader and looks, and dresses, like she's hitting a rave, with a literal inch of makeup on in every scene.

Anyway, overall for me this was an easy 7/10. I laughed my way through it, it was just so massively entertaining in the most ridiculous way. I'm shocked at the reviews, I genuinely think they assessed it on what they thought it should be rather than what it is.

It's a nonseniscal, very violent, piss-take of an 80's buddy-star action movie. And it's just a hilarious good time.

Expend4bles

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