Big Picture Big Sound

The Film

When Sylvester Stallone announced he'd be directing The Expendables, a film designed to bring together some of the biggest badasses in Hollywood for a testosterone-fueled love letter to the action movies of yesteryear, every child of the 80's - including yours truly - dared to dream. Could Sly, the man who recently closed the books on his two most iconic film characters with a pair of surprisingly satisfying swan songs (Rocky Balboa and Rambo), really pull off a hat trick of this magnitude? Could Stallone really take the fallen and much-maligned genre that made him a star and restore it to its former glory?

Sadly, no. Not even close.

The Expendables may be the biggest missed opportunity since Stuart Sutcliffe walked away from a little band called "The Beatles." Seriously, how do you miss the boat when you've got a cast including Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Steve Austin, and Mickey Rourke? (Not to mention a pair of distracting and woefully disappointing cameos from action superheroes Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger.) Jet Li is one of Hollywood's most accomplished martial artists and instead you give him a gun and make him a whiner? Ivan Drago and Balboa stand toe to toe once more and neither one throws a punch? Come on!

You don't watch a film like The Expendables for its dialogue or dramatic tension - not surprisingly, this film has neither - but for you story sticklers, here's the nutshell: Stallone and his band of mercenaries are charged with taking down a rogue South American dictator. The locals are oppressed, a brave and beautiful woman is involved, many men in berets travel around in Jeeps - you've seen it all before. What you haven't seen before is this much star power taking swings at one another in one movie. In short, the primary reason to watch The Expendables is for the "action - good old American action," to quote Ray Tango (Stallone) from Tango & Cash. And amazingly enough, it's the action that Stallone fumbles so completely. (There is one very cool sequence with an airplane and a pier. I'll give him that much.)

Unfortunately, the vast majority of The Expendables' lengthy climax takes place at night. That's fine for a horror movie, but it's not exactly desirable when you're trying to take in the blood-soaked mayhem. When the action shifts indoors, things improve only marginally with candles and dim bulbs providing the bulk of the illumination. Stallone compounds the problem by filming the close-quarters fighting with shaky, handheld cameras and a frustrating combination of quick cuts and hyper editing that would make Michael Bay proud. All of this means that fight geography is nearly impossible to ascertain, with everything culminating in a bullet-riddled foot chase through an incomprehensible maze of explosions that's chock full of sound and fury ultimately signifying, well, you know. There may be some cool action happening on screen, but good luck figuring out who's kicking whose ass or how he did it.

The Picture

Considering the film's pervasive darkness and Stallone's frustrating proclivity for nighttime action, it's a testament to the folks at Lionsgate that The Expendables looks as good as it does on Blu-ray. Although some scenes do suffer from occasional murkiness in the shadows, black levels are predominantly deep with visible delineation in the steely nighttime blues and plenty of visible detail in the dimly-lit corridors of the palace during Act Three. Exterior shots during day time reveal a natural and lifelike color palette, with facial close-ups of Stallone, Statham and crew revealing the requisite grizzle and grease.

The Sound

Poor stylistic choices and wasted opportunities aside, one thing The Expendables gets absolutely right is its lossless 7.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. Bones crunch with authority, bullets whiz with clear directionality, and make sure the kids aren't home when Terry Crews breaks out his fully automatic cannon. Oh. my. goodness. Dialogue is crisp throughout, though Mickey Rourke (in the film's one scene of commendable dramatic acting) is occasionally hard to make out. Overall, this is a stellar soundtrack befitting the film's high octane ambitions.

The Extras

Lionsgate bundles a bonus DVD and Digital Copy alongside the Blu-ray Disc, but that's just the beginning. "The Inferno" gives fans a lengthy and in-depth look at the making of the film, while "Ultimate Recon Mode" offers a PiP-style viewing mode featuring Stallone commentary and behind-the-scenes footage. You also get a fun gag reel, a deleted scene, and the film's 2010 Comic Con panel featuring a lively and entertaining Q&A session. Rest assured, if you enjoyed the film, there's plenty more to see and do when the end credits roll.

Final Thoughts

Any one of the nine names above the title is capable of carrying an action film on his broad and ripped shoulders. Unfortunately, putting all nine guys in the same film, though a great idea on paper, never quite adds up to the sum of its parts. And while the film itself may feature an all-too-fitting title, it's hard to find fault with this Blu-ray's superb technical presentation.

Product Details

• Actors: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Mickey Rourke, Dolph Lundgren, Steve Austin
• Director: Sylvester Stallone
• Audio/Languages: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (English), Dolby Digital 5.1 (French)
• Subtitles: English SDH, English, Spanish
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Region: A
• Number of Discs: 1
• Rating: R
• Studio: Lionsgate Home Entertainment
• Blu-ray Disc Release Date: November 23, 2010
• Run Time: 103 minutes
• List Price: $39.99
• Extras:
  • Making-of Documentary: "Inferno"
  • Featurette: "From the Ashes"
  • PiP interactive viewing mode
  • Deleted scene
  • Gag reel
  • Comic Con 2010 footage
  • Marketing archive
  • Bonus DVD
  • Digital Copy