775 replies to this topic

[dinovelvet]

How big is Li's role? From the advertising he's getting as much coverage as Sly and Statham, so I would think he'd have the third biggest role in the film, if what you say about Statham's role is true.

Edit: Ah what the hell, I'll be the one to ask this. Is it written with an R rating in mind? Aside from it being overtly violent, is there a lot of swearing in it too?

Yes I'd say he has the third biggest role. He's in all the major action scenes, and he gets a couple of solo moments, the best of which is probably going to be :

Spoiler

when he fights Dolph Lundgren.

As for the rating, there wasn't much swearing in it, and most of the action was your basic punching and shooting stuff. Nothing in the descriptions about eyeballs being ripped out of sockets or anything, so I assume it could be a Casino Royale/Terminator Salvation style PG13 and still work.

Everything. And nothing. I'm envious of you for having read the script, but at the same time I think I'll try to go into this one unspoilered (as wasn't the case with ROCKY BALBOA and RAMBO, for which I was as spoilered as it's possible to be).

Just one little question, though, just for fun. Shouldn't ruin the movie. Does the script explain why the Expendables have those flamboyant tattoos?

Hmm, no I don't think it ever says why, just points out that they all have them, and when the new guy gets inducted into the team, he gets the tattoo. But then again we've seen a photo of Mickey Rourke giving Sly a tattoo so this all may have changed.

[Matt_13]

My question is fairly straight forward: Will it be good?

[dinovelvet]

My question is fairly straight forward: Will it be good?

LOL. Well, yeah, I think so, if you enjoy 80s style Stallone/Ahnuld action movies. There's no attempt to reinvent the wheel here or to go gritty and provide a deep existential commentary on violence or anything like that. Its about a bunch of dudes kicking , no more, no less.

[Matt_13]

My question is fairly straight forward: Will it be good?

LOL. Well, yeah, I think so, if you enjoy 80s style Stallone/Ahnuld action movies. There's no attempt to reinvent the wheel here or to go gritty and provide a deep existential commentary on violence or anything like that. Its about a bunch of dudes kicking , no more, no less.

Thank. God.

[Captain Tightpants]

My question is fairly straight forward: Will it be good?

LOL. Well, yeah, I think so, if you enjoy 80s style Stallone/Ahnuld action movies. There's no attempt to reinvent the wheel here or to go gritty and provide a deep existential commentary on violence or anything like that. Its about a bunch of dudes kicking , no more, no less.

Yeah, but it's being constructed as a genre tribute (I think). And we all know what happened when Tarantino did that with KILL BILL. The ultra-violence of that film aside, it really did work as a tribute to Hong Kong action films, exploitation films and the revenge epic sub-genre.

[dinovelvet]

My question is fairly straight forward: Will it be good?

LOL. Well, yeah, I think so, if you enjoy 80s style Stallone/Ahnuld action movies. There's no attempt to reinvent the wheel here or to go gritty and provide a deep existential commentary on violence or anything like that. Its about a bunch of dudes kicking , no more, no less.

Yeah, but it's being constructed as a genre tribute (I think). And we all know what happened when Tarantino did that with KILL BILL. The ultra-violence of that film aside, it really did work as a tribute to Hong Kong action films, exploitation films and the revenge epic sub-genre.

I don't think the intent of The Expendables is to be a tribute or Tarantino style homage. At least on paper, there's nothing wink wink or self-conscious about it. It could easily be a lost script that Sly wrote in 1987 and only just got around to filming now.

[dinovelvet]

We're about to see some action! Sly is going to be honored at the Venice film festival (2-12th September), and rumor has it he will be bringing with him a certain teaser trailer...

[dodge]

We're about to see some action! Sly is going to be honored at the Venice film festival (2-12th September), and rumor has it he will be bringing with him a certain teaser trailer...

Well, that's hot news and I thank you for it. What about preview performances? Any chance that SS will grace his rabid fans with one?

Click here for a peek at the first real action footage:

http://www.aceshowbi...w/00026492.html

[dinovelvet]

I guess this is more or less confirmation that Bruce Willis will appear in The Expendables :

http://moviesblog.mt...he-expendables/

There has long been a rumor that Willis will play the mysterious "Church", and with Ahnuld in the mix, it could be interesting. SPOILERS and speculation about Bruce and Ahnuld's roles (at least based on an early script draft) follow :

Spoiler

CHURCH is the villain of the piece. He hires Sly and The Expendables to take down the South American dictator General Garza, supposedly for benevolent reasons, but Church has his own ulterior motives. In the script, Church has a silent partner who appears in the 'hiring' scene with Sly, but says and does nothing. Now I'm wondering, could this be Ahnuld? Maybe Sly pencilled that role in without fleshing it out, not knowing for sure whether they'd be able to land him for the role. So, putting 2 and 2 together, it seems that Bruce and Ahnuld may be on opposite sides of Da Law from Sly.

[Loomis]

Well, well.

[Blofeld's Cat]

Could the photo of "The Austrian Oak" brandishing that large knife that's caused bad press for him be related to this movie, I wonder?

[Safari Suit]

Good, but as I said before not mind-droppingly-jaw-blowing like Sly promised.

[dodge]

Good, but as I said before not mind-droppingly-jaw-blowing like Sly promised.

The nose tells me that more surprises still await.

[Agent 76]

My question is fairly straight forward: Will it be good?

LOL. Well, yeah, I think so, if you enjoy 80s style Stallone/Ahnuld action movies. There's no attempt to reinvent the wheel here or to go gritty and provide a deep existential commentary on violence or anything like that. Its about a bunch of dudes kicking , no more, no less.

Amen brother!

[dodge]

How big is Li's role? From the advertising he's getting as much coverage as Sly and Statham, so I would think he'd have the third biggest role in the film, if what you say about Statham's role is true.

Edit: Ah what the hell, I'll be the one to ask this. Is it written with an R rating in mind? Aside from it being overtly violent, is there a lot of swearing in it too?

Yes I'd say he has the third biggest role. He's in all the major action scenes, and he gets a couple of solo moments, the best of which is probably going to be :

Spoiler

when he fights Dolph Lundgren.

As for the rating, there wasn't much swearing in it, and most of the action was your basic punching and shooting stuff. Nothing in the descriptions about eyeballs being ripped out of sockets or anything, so I assume it could be a Casino Royale/Terminator Salvation style PG13 and still work.

Everything. And nothing. I'm envious of you for having read the script, but at the same time I think I'll try to go into this one unspoilered (as wasn't the case with ROCKY BALBOA and RAMBO, for which I was as spoilered as it's possible to be).

Just one little question, though, just for fun. Shouldn't ruin the movie. Does the script explain why the Expendables have those flamboyant tattoos?

Hmm, no I don't think it ever says why, just points out that they all have them, and when the new guy gets inducted into the team, he gets the tattoo. But then again we've seen a photo of Mickey Rourke giving Sly a tattoo so this all may have changed.

Reportedly, Li has two fights with DL. If rumor's right, he gets badly beaten in #1. I'd expect the second fight to be at least in part homage to Bruce Lee's fight with Kareem Abdul Jabbar in GAME OF DEATH. About the same difference in size, don't you think?

[dodge]

Some way-cool shots of Sly and the Governator...plus Sly's vintage car:

http://www.dailymail...Terminator.html

[Safari Suit]

"One of the longest-lasting friendships in Tinsel Town"; given they were the bitterest of rivals less than two decades ago, that doesn't speak well of Tinsel Town.

[dinovelvet]

We might be getting the trailer NEXT WEEK, or at least the Venice film festival will. Can't imagine it won't end up on the internet in some form, blurry cam or otherwise.

And in other Expendables-esque news, there's this :

[Safari Suit]

If it airs in the UK, that will be the first reality TV series I never miss. Looks awesome if disturbing.

[Loomis]

"One of the longest-lasting friendships in Tinsel Town"; given they were the bitterest of rivals less than two decades ago

Indeed. I remember Schwarzenegger appearing on Wogan to promote COMMANDO and slagging Stallone off. When Wogan asked him whether he thought Stallone could have made it as a professional bodybuilder, Schwarzenegger chuckled and said "No, not really."

Bear in mind that Sly had just made RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II and ROCKY IV, so I somehow doubt that most bodybuilders would have poured scorn on him.

[JimmyBond]

I'm loving it that Sly and Arnie will finally be together onscreen. But part of me wishes they had teamed up when they were in their prime. Maybe the mid 90s?

[Loomis]

We might be getting the trailer NEXT WEEK, or at least the Venice film festival will.

Stallone is to receive an award at Venice. From AFP:

Stallone to be honoured at Venice Film Festival
(AFP) – Aug 12, 2009

ROME — US actor and film director Sylvester Stallone will receive a top prize at next month's Venice Film Festival, organisers said Wednesday.

The "Glory to the Filmmaker" award will honour a "very original filmmaker" whose films are "capable of tenderness even when dripping with blood," the festival organisers said in a statement. His work "has explored the brightest and darkest areas of the American dream," they said.

"Being honoured at the Venice Film Festival is something I have always hoped would become a reality and now that it?s actually happened it?s been well worth the wait," said the legendary star of films such as Rocky and Rambo.

Extracts from Stallone's new film The Expendables will be shown during the award handover, which will be held during the closing ceremony of the festival.

The prize, which is given "to a person who has left a mark on contemporary cinema", has been won in the past by Japan's Takeshi Kitano, Iranian Abbas Kiarostami and France's Agnes Varda.

The jury at the 66th Venice Film Festival, which runs from 2 to 12 September, will be headed by Taiwanese director Ang Lee.

This is richly deserved. While this news may cause some people to think that April Fool's Day has come early, Stallone merits recognition for being completely unique in the annals of film history. Consider:

- He became one of the biggest box office stars in the world. In 1985, there was no one bigger.

- He has created not one but two of the most iconic characters ever, Rocky and Rambo. (Okay, so technically David Morrell "created" Rambo, but was Rambo an icon before he was played by Stallone? No, he wasn't.)

- ROCKY is just as much a work of personal vision as any high-minded auteur film you care to name.

- He is not just an A-list actor but an enormously accomplished athlete and bodybuilder.

- As well as an accomplished writer and director.

Really, the guy is a polymath, as well as one of the last of the old-time Hollywood giants. In his sixties, he is still headlining major action movies and also looks as though he's about to enjoy an Eastwoodian second career as a director that will doubtless result in some remarkable films. We've seen only the tip of the iceberg that is Stallone's talent and I can only hope for the sake of the United States and the civilised world that he'll some day run for President.

Well done, y'all at Venice, and here's looking forward to that EXPENDABLES teaser.

[dinovelvet]

If it airs in the UK, that will be the first reality TV series I never miss. Looks awesome if disturbing.

LOL yeah it certainly is more interesting looking than yer average reality show. I hope he makes quips when he arrests people, as we all know from movies that that's what cops do. And then his Captain will tell him that he's a maverick and he'd better play by the book or he's off the case.

[Loomis]

Will Seagal's cop be haunted by having once shot a kid by mistake in his early days on the force?

[dinovelvet]

Will Seagal's cop be haunted by having once shot a kid by mistake in his early days on the force?

No doubt. And he sure as hell isn't going to get along with his new rookie partner!

[Loomis]

It goes without saying that he had about fifty confirmed kills in Vietnam and that he's currently trying to get back with his ex-wife.

[JimmyBond]

Don't forget that his Captain will dislike Seagals off the wall methods but learn to tolerate them because they yield results.

[Tarl_Cabot]

still no trailor?

[dodge]

If it airs in the UK, that will be the first reality TV series I never miss. Looks awesome if disturbing.

LOL yeah it certainly is more interesting looking than yer average reality show. I hope he makes quips when he arrests people, as we all know from movies that that's what cops do. And then his Captain will tell him that he's a maverick and he'd better play by the book or he's off the case.

Is it my imagination or has SS put on still more weight? And what's with the beaver he wears on his head?

[Safari Suit]

Put on weight since when? Since he went full time DTV six years ago his weight has fluctuated like nobody's business, going up and down all the time but never getting anywhere near what anybody would describe as slim, bless him.