The Expendables is a 2010 American ensemble action-war film written by David Callaham and Sylvester Stallone, and directed by Stallone. Filming began on March 28, 2009, in Rio de Janeiro, New Orleans, and Los Angeles, and the film was released on August 13, 2010.
The film
A group of elite mercenaries, the Expendables, has been deployed to the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Somalia to halt local pirates from executing the hostages. The team consists of Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), former SAS soldier and blades specialist, Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), martial artist Yin Yang (Jet Li), sniper Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), weapons specialist Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) and demolitions expert Toll Road (Randy Couture). Ross pays the original agreement of $3 million to secure the release of the hostages. However, the leader demands $5 million, and Jensen instigates a firefight, causing casualties for the pirates. With moral disagreements over hanging a pirate, Yang and Jensen have a brief fight, only for Ross to intervene. In the aftermath, Ross reluctantly releases Jensen from the Expendables due to psychological problems.
Ross then goes to a church, where he and his rival, Trench (Arnold Schwarzenegger) meet "Mr. Church" (Bruce Willis), who offers them a mission in Vilena, a fictional South American country, to overthrow a brutal dictator, General Garza (David Zayas). Busy with other things, Trench gives the contract to Ross. Ross and Lee Christmas do initial reconnaissance after meeting with their contact, Sandra (Gisele Itié), only for the mission to go awry. Ross learns that Garza is backed by ex-CIA agent James Munroe (Eric Roberts), and henchmen Paine (Steve Austin) and Wickham, a.k.a. The Brit (Gary Daniels), who control Garza by making his people fear him. Sandra is revealed to be Garza's daughter. Ross then decides to abort, and causes casualties among the army as they escape, but feels guilt for leaving Sandra behind. Meanwhile, Jensen approaches Garza and Munroe, identifying his former comrades.
Ross, Yang, and Christmas find information about Munroe, and Ross guesses that "Mr. Church" is a member of the CIA. He thinks that Church hired them to kill Garza and Munroe, since the CIA could not. Ross has a conversation with former teammate and now mission coordinator, Tool (Mickey Rourke), about why he can't stop thinking about Sandra. Tool makes an emotional revelation about an experience in Bosnia where, after killing tons of Serbian fighters, he had decided not to stop a woman from killing herself, an action that he regrets as he feels if he had saved her, he could've saved what was left of his soul. After hearing Tool's story, Ross decides to go back for Sandra. Ross initially decides to go alone, but Yang tags along. Munroe's men and Jensen tail Ross and Yang, instigating a shootout during a car chase. Just as the pursuit ends in an abandoned warehouse, Yang and Jensen fight each other a second time. Jensen eventually gets the upper hand and attempts to impale Yang on a pipe, only for Ross to shoot Jensen before he does. Believing that he is going to die from his gunshot wound, Jensen gives the layout of Garza's palace to Ross in an attempt to make amends. Ross and Yang board the team's plane where they find Christmas, Ceaser, and Road, who've decided to fight alongside Ross.
The Expendables then infiltrate Garza's compound, with Ross bent on rescuing Sandra, while Christmas, Yang, Caesar, and Toll Road plant explosive charges throughout the site and prepare for battle. When Garza has a change of heart after hearing of the team's reputation, Munroe kills him. Ross briefly rescues Sandra, but she is re-captured by Munroe. The entire team fights and shoots their way through scores of Garza's soldiers. Ross and Caesar manage to destroy the helicopter Munroe was to escape on, and Christmas, Yang and Road kill Paine and The Brit. Ross and Christmas catch up to Munroe and kill him, while also managing to save Sandra. Instead of taking the payment of $5 million, Ross decides to give it to Sandra in order to help restore Vilena.
The film ends with the team celebrating their victory at the team headquarters, disguised as Tool's Tatoo Parlor, with former teammate, Tool, aswell as the reformed Jensen and Yang having reconciled with each other. Lee and Tool challenge each other to a game of knife throwing. Before his final throw, Lee recites a poem about his respect for Tool, who he claims cannot beat him in knife throwing as he walks outside of the bar before turning to make his throw, which lands perfectly in the center of the board. As the credits role, The Expendables ride off on their motorcycles into the night.
is about a group of elite mercenaries is tasked with a mission to overthrow a South American dictator. When their informant is arrested in the process due to the team leader's initial denial, the team eventually decides to gain redemption by completing the mission. It pays tribute to the blockbuster action films of the 1980s and early 1990s, and stars an array of action veterans from those decades, including Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Jet Li, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger (the latter two in cameo roles), as well as more recent stars such as Jason Statham, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, and Steve Austin.
Although the film received mixed reviews from critics, it was commercially successful, opening at number one at the U.S. box office.
Production
Film production began on March 3, 2009, with a budget of $82 million.[3] Filming commenced 25 days later in Rio de Janeiro and other locations in Brazil, including Mangaratiba, Niteroi, Guanabara Bay, Colônia Juliano Moreira and Parque Lage. Filming originally ended on April 25 but was continued on May 11, in Elmwood and New Orleans, Louisana, including the French Quarter, St. Peter Street, Fort Macomb, Claiborne Avenue and the Interstate 10 overpass. Filming officially ended on July 1, but on October 27 there was a pick-up scene at a church in Hollywood featuring Stallone, Schwarzenegger and Willis. On June 2, West Coast Customs Street Customs built three customized 1955 Ford F100s for Sylvester Stallone for the film. One was built for a crash scene, the second for green screen and the third for Stallone to keep. "The Expendables has a seventy million-dollar budget," says Stallone's co-star Dolph Lundgren, adding, "It's an old-school, kick-ass action movie where people are fighting with knives and shooting at each other."[4]
In summer 2010, Brazilian company O2 Filmes released a statement saying it was still owed more than $2 million US for its work on the film.[5]
Casting
Jean-Claude Van Damme was personally offered a role by Stallone, but turned it down because he felt there was no substance to the character.[6] Stallone said that Van Damme told him that he should "be trying to save people in South Central."[7] Dolph Lundgren was then cast as Jensen.
The role of Hale Caesar was initially conceived as a role for Stallone's Demolition Man co-star Wesley Snipes, but later rewritten for Forest Whitaker.[8] Due to a scheduling conflict prior to filming, Whitaker was then replaced by 50 Cent[9] before the part of Hale Caesar finally went to former NFL player Terry Crews.[10]
Steven Seagal was asked to make a cameo appearance, but turned down the offer due to negative experiences with producer Avi Lerner.[11]
By May 2009, the script had undergone a number of rewrites. Stallone's Demolition Man co-star Sandra Bullock was rumored to have a role in the film, but revealed that she did not even know about the project. Despite the news, she did express interest in working in another action film and would have liked to appear in the film, depending on the storyline.[12]
The role of the man who hires the Expendables, Mr. Church, was difficult to cast. Schwarzenegger was offered that role, but instead made a cameo appearance in the film due to his political responsibilities as California's governor.[13] The role was then offered to Kurt Russell, whose agent replied that he was not interested in "ensemble acting at the moment."[14] Stallone spent several months after principal photography determined to find a big action name for the part. Rumors suggested that the role had been offered to friend and fellow former Planet Hollywood co-owner Bruce Willis, who was busy filming Cop Out. Willis's casting as Mr. Church was confirmed by August 2009, as was the fact that he would appear in a scene with both Stallone and Schwarzenegger.[15]
