The Expendables III (2014)

[johnnygobbs]

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I don't object to the idea of a female Expendables movie in principle. The problem I have with The Expendabelles (besides the silly title) is that the line-up of actresses they assembled doesn't meet the criteria used to assemble the male actors. The whole idea behind The Expendables was that these guys were all veterans of action movies made between the late seventies and the late nineties. The rookie Expendables in the latest film didn't qualify in that regard, which is one of the reasons I didn't like them. The only actress attached to The Expendabelles who qualifies as a veteran eighties action hero is Sigourney Weaver, and she's just announced she won't be involved in the project. Most of the other actresses they've got are people below the age of 40, none of whom ever appeared in any truly classic action films of the Expendables vintage. They're looking at young actress like Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez and Katee Sackhoff, when they should be looking at people like:

•   Sigourney Weaver
•   Cynthia Rothrock
•   Michelle Yeoh
•   Rachel Ticotin
•   Linda Hamilton
•   Geena Davis
•   Brigitte Nielsen
•   Cory Everson
•   María Conchita Alonso
•   Grace Jones
•   Adrienne Barbeau
•   Sandahl Bergman
•   Jenette Goldstein
•   Pam Grier
•   Tia Carrere
•   Cynthia Khan
•   Rene Russo
•   Nancy Allen
•   Tanya Roberts
•   Talisa Soto

Good list for a female 'Expendables', although you'd probably add Michelle Rodriguez and Milla Jovovich too (the male-led films have more current action stars like Jason Statham after all).

If you had to pick say six or seven stars for the first film who would you pick?

Also, would Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry fit onto your list?  And although Catwoman didn't work out well, how about Sharon Stone as the baddie?  She is usually good at those types of parts.

By the way, have you heard of a 2000 TV action movie called 'The Expendables' featuring a primarily female cast?  It features Cristi Conaway (the Ice Princess from 'Batman Returns') and Brett Cullen (who appeared as the senator who gets seduced and scammed by Catwoman in 'TDKR'), along with Mike Tyson's ex-wife, Robin Givens, but I can't find it to watch anywhere.  The interesting thing is that it sounds in premise an awful lot like the current 'Expendables' films

[Silver Nemesis]

Good list for a female 'Expendables', although you'd probably add Michelle Rodriguez and Milla Jovovich too (the male-led films have more current action stars like Jason Statham after all).

Statham's older than he looks. He'll be 48 next year. Jovovich and Rodriguez are both in their thirties and are both synonymous with more recent franchises such as The Fast and the Furious and Paul W S Anderson's awful – and seemingly unending – Resident Evil films. Personally, I wouldn't want to see either of them involved. If they must have a younger actress in the film, I'd rather they went for someone genuinely tough like Carano, Rousey or Zoë Bell. They may not have old school action movie credentials, but they have other real life credentials to show they can handle themselves.

If you had to pick say six or seven stars for the first film who would you pick?

Good question. If I could only have seven, I'd probably pick six veterans of eighties cinema and maybe one younger actress to play the rookie. For the vets, I'd have to go with:

•   Sigourney Weaver (brains/leader of the group)
•   Cynthia Rothrock (martial arts expert)
•   Linda Hamilton (weapons and demolitions expert)
•   Grace Jones (intimidation)
•   Michelle Yoeh (martial arts expert)
•   Rachel McLish or Cory Everson (muscle)

I'm not sure who I'd pick for the seventh. Maybe Zoë Bell. If nothing else, she could perform her own stunts. Do you have a different line-up in mind, gobbs?

I think they need to assemble teams of bad guys for these films instead of just having one villain. Gibson was good in the most recent film, but he didn't have any memorable henchmen. Van Damme had Scott Adkins, but it was just the two of them versus all the Expendables. The first movie fared slightly better in that regard, as Eric Roberts had Gary Daniels and Stone Cold Steve Austin on his side. I'd like to see a really tough team of heels gathered for the next film so they'll be more evenly matched against the heroes.

Also, would Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry fit onto your list?  And although Catwoman didn't work out well, how about Sharon Stone as the baddie?  She is usually good at those types of parts.

Sharon Stone definitely qualifies. King Solomon's Mines (1985), Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1987), Above the Law (1988), Action Jackson (1988), Total Recall (1990), Year of the Gun (1991), The Specialist (1994), The Quick and the Dead (1995). She's a veteran of the eighties/nineties action vintage.

I guess Pfeiffer would qualify too: Scarface (1983), Ladyhawke (1985), Tequila Sunrise (1988) and Batman Returns (1992). Her Catwoman performance in particular qualifies her. After all, she did train in yoga, martial arts and whipping for about 4 months in preparation for the role. She performed a lot of her own fight scenes (her martial arts skills were vastly superior to Keaton's IMO) and supposedly did 100% of the whipping scenes herself. She's earned her place.

Halle Berry would possibly qualify. She was in The Last Boy Scout (1991) and Executive Decision (1996), but most of her action-oriented roles have been in 21st century films. So I'm not sure about her.

Speaking of future Expendables films, the franchise might not be quite as badly off as we all thought. Although it's tanked in the US, The Expendables 3 has been working up a surprisingly respectable gross overseas. Its global takings are now up to $189,734,318, and it's yet to open in Japan, where the previous two films earned around $10 million each. It should easily clear the 200 million mark. Compare that to Sin City 2's global earnings of just $27,907,434, and Ex3 really hasn't done that badly.

By the way, have you heard of a 2000 TV action movie called 'The Expendables' featuring a primarily female cast?  It features Cristi Conaway (the Ice Princess from 'Batman Returns') and Brett Cullen (who appeared as the senator who gets seduced and scammed by Catwoman in 'TDKR'), along with Mike Tyson's ex-wife, Robin Givens, but I can't find it to watch anywhere.  The interesting thing is that it sounds in premise an awful lot like the current 'Expendables' films

No, that's a new one on me. Have you seen it? It sounds like it could be entertaining, in a cheesy sort of way.

[johnnygobbs]

Statham's older than he looks. He'll be 48 next year. Jovovich and Rodriguez are both in their thirties and are both synonymous with more recent franchises such as The Fast and the Furious and Paul W S Anderson's awful – and seemingly unending – Resident Evil films. Personally, I wouldn't want to see either of them involved. If they must have a younger actress in the film, I'd rather they went for someone genuinely tough like Carano, Rousey or Zoë Bell. They may not have old school action movie credentials, but they have other real life credentials to show they can handle themselves.

I definitely agree about Carano.  I think she would have to be there as one of the younger female Expendables.

I've only see the first 'Resident Evil' and I don't get why they're still making those terrible films.  Like practically everything Paul W S Anderson is involved in the franchise seems pretty awful (he's like the anti-Paul Thomas Anderson, who only makes brilliant films).  The 'Underworld' franchise is another inexplicably lengthy franchise, which incidentally came about via a husband and wife, director-star team (Len Wiseman and Kate Beckinsale).

Good question. If I could only have seven, I'd probably pick six veterans of eighties cinema and maybe one younger actress to play the rookie. For the vets, I'd have to go with:

•   Sigourney Weaver (brains/leader of the group)
•   Cynthia Rothrock (martial arts expert)
•   Linda Hamilton (weapons and demolitions expert)
•   Grace Jones (intimidation)
•   Michelle Yoeh (martial arts expert)
•   Rachel McLish or Cory Everson (muscle)

I'm not sure who I'd pick for the seventh. Maybe Zoë Bell. If nothing else, she could perform her own stunts. Do you have a different line-up in mind, gobbs?

Good choices.  I think you'd definitely have to have Sigourney Weaver in there, as the leader like you say,  As I stated before, I'd also prefer to see Gina Carano as one of the younger team members.

But your overall list is really good.  I've always liked Michelle Yeoh, Hamilton is another recognisable 80s blockbuster star, and Grace Jones is simply awesome.  So yeah, that's a good team you've got there. 

If I was to add another former A-lister to the mix I'd probably go with Geena Davis as Sigourney's deputy, so to speak.

I think they need to assemble teams of bad guys for these films instead of just having one villain. Gibson was good in the most recent film, but he didn't have any memorable henchmen. Van Damme had Scott Adkins, but it was just the two of them versus all the Expendables. The first movie fared slightly better in that regard, as Eric Roberts had Gary Daniels and Stone Cold Steve Austin on his side. I'd like to see a really tough team of heels gathered for the next film so they'll be more evenly matched against the heroes.

I totally agree.  I'm bored of seeing one main villains and a bunch of anonymous backup (although the Chiatari in 'The Avengers' were admittedly decent threats, but in that case I think their alien nature was the key, and that film was more about the team assembling than the threat they were facing per se).  For these types of films you ideally want  three of four memorable bad guys to face against.

Now would you make the villains female in the so-called 'Expendabelles', or can they be guys again?  As long as the goodies are all women I'm not sure that it matters, and it might even be a positive step to feature male villains as the implication would be that women can take on and best men when put up against them.  However, across a franchise you'd probably want at least one or two juicy baddie parts for actresses.

Sharon Stone definitely qualifies. King Solomon's Mines (1985), Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold (1987), Above the Law (1988), Action Jackson (1988), Total Recall (1990), Year of the Gun (1991), The Specialist (1994), The Quick and the Dead (1995). She's a veteran of the eighties/nineties action vintage.

Agreed.  And she was very convincing during the fight sequences against Arnie and Rachel Ticotin in 'Total Recall'.  Plus, I mention her because she's another former 90s star and someone who plays a great baddie.

I guess Pfeiffer would qualify too: Scarface (1983), Ladyhawke (1985), Tequila Sunrise (1988) and Batman Returns (1992). Her Catwoman performance in particular qualifies her. After all, she did train in yoga, martial arts and whipping for about 4 months in preparation for the role. She performed a lot of her own fight scenes (her martial arts skills were vastly superior to Keaton's IMO) and supposedly did 100% of the whipping scenes herself. She's earned her place.

She's another one who's great at playing ice queen type villainesses if she wasn't part of the 'Expendabelles' team itself.  Admittedly, 'Batman Returns' is her only real action film, give-or-take 'Ladyhawke' but 'Catwoman' is such an iconic character and like you say, it was an incredibly physical role that she more than lived up to tackling.

Halle Berry would possibly qualify. She was in The Last Boy Scout (1991) and Executive Decision (1996), but most of her action-oriented roles have been in 21st century films. So I'm not sure about her.

I guess.  Berry tends to get a lot of stick, but I like her, and her last successful action role, 'Die Another Day' was over ten years ago.

Speaking of future Expendables films, the franchise might not be quite as badly off as we all thought. Although it's tanked in the US, The Expendables 3 has been working up a surprisingly respectable gross overseas. Its global takings are now up to $189,734,318, and it's yet to open in Japan, where the previous two films earned around $10 million each. It should easily clear the 200 million mark. Compare that to Sin City 2's global earnings of just $27,907,434, and Ex3 really hasn't done that badly.

Sure, but 'Sin City 2' has been a notorious flop, one of the biggest of the year, so I'm not sure it's a ringing endorsement to compare any film favourably by that standard alone. 

I hope you're right though because the female 'Expendables' idea is such a promising one.

By the way, have you heard of a 2000 TV action movie called 'The Expendables' featuring a primarily female cast?  It features Cristi Conaway (the Ice Princess from 'Batman Returns') and Brett Cullen (who appeared as the senator who gets seduced and scammed by Catwoman in 'TDKR'), along with Mike Tyson's ex-wife, Robin Givens, but I can't find it to watch anywhere.  The interesting thing is that it sounds in premise an awful lot like the current 'Expendables' films

No, that's a new one on me. Have you seen it? It sounds like it could be entertaining, in a cheesy sort of way.

No, sadly I haven't see it.  Which is why I lamented the fact that it seems impossible to find/obtain anywhere else, including online or even through Ebay.  I know it has been screened on British TV before but that was a long while ago (about twelve years ago) and I didn't have access to SKY TV at the time.

I doubt it's very good but I would love to see it. 

[Silver Nemesis]

If I was to add another former A-lister to the mix I'd probably go with Geena Davis as Sigourney's deputy, so to speak.

Well since Weaver is apparently no longer involved in the project, I might promote Geena Davis to team leader. She was awesome in The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996). If they'd made a Justice League movie back in the early nineties, with Reeve, Keaton and Shipp reprising their costumed roles, then Davis would have been one of my top picks for Wonder Woman.

That's what Wonder Woman's biceps should look like.

Now would you make the villains female in the so-called 'Expendabelles', or can they be guys again?  As long as the goodies are all women I'm not sure that it matters, and it might even be a positive step to feature male villains as the implication would be that women can take on and best men when put up against them.  However, across a franchise you'd probably want at least one or two juicy baddie parts for actresses.

I suppose the no-name goons who perish in an endless wave of heroic gunfire could be men. But if we're going to have an all-female line-up of heroes, then I think the main villains should be female too. Brigitte Nielsen was a sinister baddy in Rocky IV, so she'd be a solid choice for the head honcho.

Agreed.  And she was very convincing during the fight sequences against Arnie and Rachel Ticotin in 'Total Recall'.  Plus, I mention her because she's another former 90s star and someone who plays a great baddie.

Her martial arts scenes in Total Recall were excellent. My appreciation for that film has grown a lot in recent years.

One of the greatest one-liners ever.

No, sadly I haven't see it.  Which is why I lamented the fact that it seems impossible to find/obtain anywhere else, including online or even through Ebay.  I know it has been screened on British TV before but that was a long while ago (about twelve years ago) and I didn't have access to SKY TV at the time.

I doubt it's very good but I would love to see it. 

Pity it's so hard to get hold of. I love cheesy action films. It might be good in a so-bad-it's-good way.

[Silver Nemesis]

The Expendables 3 – Unrated Blu-ray announced.

Kind of ironic that the f-word is censored.

[riddler]

I just saw it today. Still enjoyable and all the new characters are welcome additions especially Banderas. I definitely do think it was the weakest of the 3. Sly ups his game which is good and bad, He carries the film but it didn't come off well as an ensemble cast; the first two films pulled off the ensemble aspect well, this one was more Stallone and friends.