The Expendables: Here to Save the Action Film
As part of childhood we develop quirks that manifest themselves in some way during our adult lives, most often in the things that we choose to like or follow.
Examples:
In elementary school I wore Spiderman pajamas underneath my clothes so that if need arise, at any moment, I could strip off my civie clothes and save the day.
I once modeled my haircut after Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator.
Over the past 10 years, my superhero sweet-tooth has been satiated to the point of overkill – but the fact remains:
You can never have too much “Action.”
After witnessing the trailer for Sylvester Stallone’s upcoming film, The Expendables, I am once again filled with the same levels of childhood glee comparable to when I saw the first trailer for Spiderman back in early 2002.
The Expendables cast includes a Who’s Who of the modern Action Film:
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Sylvester Stallone
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Jason Statham
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Jet Li
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Dolph Lundgren
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Steve Austin
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Mickey Rourke
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Bruce Willis
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and the Govenator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger
This looks too good to be true.
In one interview, Sylvester Stallone said of the fight sequence:
Man, it was seven guys, kicking each other’s ass, one guy tougher than the next. No joke, our stunt guys were begging for mercy. Actually, my fight with Stone Cold Steve Austin was so vicious that I ended up getting a hairline fracture in my neck. I’m not joking. I haven’t told anyone this, but I had to have a very serious operation afterwards. I now have a metal plate in my neck.
I can’t help but imagine Steve Austin offering a Stone Cold Stunner of epic proportions to the 63 year old Sylvester Stallone:
Stallone also told FHM magazine that:
Dolph Lundgren and I always went for it.
I gave him orders to try to knock me out while the cameras were rolling. At one point, he hit me so hard on the top of the head I felt my spine compress. He then hit me with an almighty uppercut.
That night my chest and heart started to swell, and I had to be helicopter-ambulanced from my hotel to a nearby emergency room. I was told that Dolph had punched my rib cage into my chest, compressing my heart. If it had swollen any more, I would have died.
After that, I was like, ‘Dolph, it’s only a movie, bro.’
Regardless of the stereotypical plot line which gives ample excuses to include senseless violence and action, this is the movie that every action fan has been waiting for since childhood – not because it does anything new (I still think it might), but because its cast includes the icons I once watched as a kid.
August 13, 2010 can’t come soon enough.
-Mike Fierce
