The Expendables (franchise): Difference between revisions

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[[File:Expendables_4204.jpg|frame|No, this is not a Fan Made Poster]]

 

{{quote|''If [[Rated "M" for Manly|testosterone]] [[X Meets Y|could mate with]] [[Stuff Blowing Up|an explosion]], this movie would be its offspring.''|'''IGN.com preview'''}}

What makes this film so unique is not the story, but the people involved. Alongside Stallone, [[Jason Statham]] and [[Jet Li]] play his closest friends [[Knife Nut|Lee Christmas]] and [[Bare-Fisted Monk|Yin Yang]]. Beyond that Mickey Rourke ([[Retired Badass|Tool]]), [[Dolph Lundgren]] ([[Ax Crazy|Gunnar]] [[Blood Knight|Jensen]]), [[Randy Couture]] ([[Real Men Wear Pink|Toll Road]]), [[Stone Cold Steve Austin]] ([[The Dragon|Paine]]), Eric Roberts (as, unsurprisingly, [[Smug Snake|a slimy bad guy]]) and Terry Crews ([[Boisterous Bruiser|Hale Caesar]]) all have major supporting roles. Even [[Bruce Willis]] ([[Line-of-Sight Name|Mr. Church]]) and [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] (Trench) have minor supporting roles. There were rumors and official reports of even more action heroes being offered roles, cause that was just what this movie was about.

 

 

 

 

{{tropelist}}

* [[Absurdly Sharp Blade]]: Ross chops off a guard's hand and ''beheads another'' with his knife.

* [[Actor Allusion]]: Lots:

** Ross notes that [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]]'s character wants to be president, referencing Schwarzenegger's political career and the old buzz about him running for president.

*** Then followed by this quip: "What's his problem?" "He wants to be president".

** Mickey Rouke still has [[Iron Man (film)|Vanko's haircut.]]

** 'Stone Cold' Steve Austin has his climactic fight showing nothing but wrestling moves, fighting UFC legend, Randy Couture.

* [[Advertised Extra]]: Commercials paid special attention to the scene between Stallone, Willis and Schwarzenegger, as it was the first time the trio had appeared on-screen together. Of course, that's the only scene that Willis and Schwarzenegger appear in.

** The sequel promises more action scenes for them, so... [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|yeah.]]

* [[Alternative Foreign Theme Song]]: The Japanese version uses the song [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xj9bjp_tsuyoshi-nagabuchi-kizuna_music "Kizuna"] by Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi.

* [[Always Save the Girl]]: "I didn't come here for you, dipshit! I came back for ''her!''"

* [[Audible Sharpness]]: All. The. Time.

* [[Awesome McCoolname]]: [[Punny Name|Hale Caesar]].

* [[Back-to-Back Badasses]]: Ross and Lee.

* [[Badass]]: Just about every character played by a "name" actor.

** Barney's "We are the shadow, the smoke in your eyes, the ghosts that hide in the night", which only appears in the trailers, and is the first line in the song "Diamond Eyes" by Shinedown, which was commissioned by Stallone himself. Too bad the song doesn't appear in the film, either (The extended cut fixes both issues, however).

** "If you fuck with us in any way... ''my'' people will come and get ''your'' people."

* [[Badass Crew]]: The Expendables.

** One of the first images of the movie was a shot of Stallone's character, [[Shirtless Scene|barechested]] and covered in tattoos. Nearly everyone was slack-jawed, saying, "''That'' guy is over 60?!"

* [[Bald of Awesome]]: Lee, Mr. Church, Paine, Toll Road and Hale Caesar. Apparently hair is for sissies.

* [[Banana Republic]]: Played straight as an arrow, with all the stereotypes in place. To the movie's credit, it goes back to the trope's real-world historical roots (not exactly a [[Deconstruction]], but still...): the island's regime is actually controlled by an [[Eagle Land|American profiteer]], which was very often [[Truth in Television]] when the Banana Republic trope originated [[Older Than They Think|in the late 19th century]]. See also the [[Meaningful Name]] section.

* [[Band of Brothers]]: {{spoiler|Why Gunnar is still with the crew at movie's end.}}

Yin: ''(nods)'' "It's not." }}

* [[Bang Bang BANG]]: Happens with all the gunfire, but particularly Caesar's automatic shotgun. He lays out why he loves his automatic shotgun, and it includes that hearing a shotgun spitting out 250 rounds a minute will scare the ''shit'' out of the enemy. Sure enough, after he uses it, he comments that the gun is frigging ''loud''.

** During the climax, while General Garza barks orders to his men, Caesar remarks, "He's saying we're dead with an accent."

* [[Chase Scene]]: Twice.

** Caesar's FRAG-12 rounds.

** How do you make an armored guard tower explode? Fire a few miniature warheads at it.

** Caesar describing the psychological effect of the sound of guns. He mentions that shotguns in particular scare the shit out of people. Later, when a couple of the team are pinned down...

* [[Chewing the Scenery]]: Monroe's final speech.

* [[Cluster F-Bomb]] - Church really likes swearing. Even when he's in a church.

* [[Cold-Blooded Torture]]: {{spoiler|Munroe has Sandra mercilessly water-boarded in an attempt to make her confess "What the Americans want." Whether the use of water-boarding was intended to be a topical statement on the unsavory intelligence gathering methods of the US Government or [[Ripped from the Headlines|an attempt at invoking recent news events that the audience might recognize]] [[Your Mileage May Vary|isn't clear.]]}}

** Paine on fire. The compositing is [[Incredibly Lame Pun|painfully]] obvious.

** The blood as well. And potentially even the blade on Gunnar's knife looks to have been at least touched up, if not wholly fabricated.

* [[Covers Always Lie]]: Tool? Suited up and ready to roll out with the team? [[Non-Action Guy|Riiiiight.]] The bad photoshopping should have tipped you off there. Some posters even add Steve Austin and Bruce Willis to the lineup, but that's a lesser case. One should note that Tool and Church (Mickey Rourke and Bruce Willis, respectively) aren't in combat-appropriate uniforms.

* [[Curb Stomp Battle]]: Christmas against Lacy's abusive boyfriend and his basketball team. Guess who walks out without a scratch?

** Sandra.

** Lacy becomes this to Lee when her latest boyfriend [[Domestic Abuse|proves to be a jerk.]]

* [[David Versus Goliath]]: {{spoiler|Yang (Li) vs. Gunnar (Lundgren), who is about 1.5 times taller and at least twice as heavy. Subverting the norm, Gunnar would have killed Yang if Ross hadn't intervened.}}

** Used tactically by Yang during the fight. {{spoiler|By moving the fight under a walkway where Gunnar can barely stand up straight.}}

'''Caesar''': He's saying we're dead with an accent. }}

* [[Disney Death]]: {{spoiler|Gunnar.}}

* [[Dueling Stars Movie]] May just displace ''[[Face Off]]'' and ''[[Ocean's Eleven]]''.

** Not so much Dueling as [[Battle Royale With Cheese]]. And [[Large Ham|ham]].

* [[Eagle Land]]: Type 2 for the ex-CIA guys (Munroe and his baddies) who represent the nastier aspects of American activity in Central America.

* [[Easily Forgiven]]: {{spoiler|Gunnar}}

* [[Establishing Character Moment]]: Most everyone gets one, but Gunnar's in the opening scene really sets the tone for the entire movie.

** "Warning shot!"

** {{spoiler|"It's good to hang pirates!"}}

** The opening scene is basically the ''film'''s [[Establishing Character Moment]]. It lets you know this is a movie where the heroes kick ass and take names, and isn't going to muddy the waters with things like [[Reality Ensues|realism]].

** {{spoiler|Garza turns on Munroe}} because of this, and the fact Munroe isn't keeping his promises.

** Munroe alludes to it, saying that he was raised not to hit a woman...but he employs people who don't have "that moral dilemma."

* [[Kick the Son of a Bitch]]: What Lee does to Lacy's boyfriend.

* [[Kill It with Fire]]: How {{spoiler|Paine}} is killed.

** Tool as well, with whom Christmas has throwing knife competitions.

* [[Leeroy Jenkins]]: Gunnar. It gets him kicked off the team.

* [[Let Me Get This Straight...]]: Lee to Ross.

* [[Ruthless Modern Pirates]]: The African pirates at the beginning.

* [[Same Story, Different Names]]: The story has invited comparisons to ''[[The Dogs of War]]'' and [[Dolph Lundgren]]'s earlier film ''Men of War.''

* [[Shell Shocked Senior]]: Tool, when he reveals his guilt to Barney.

* [[Shirtless Scene]]: [[Badass Grandpa|Sylvester Stallone]]'s character and his ''insane'' abs.

* [[Summer Blockbuster]]

* [[Take That]]: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fncp0sQvBM0 This trailer].

** One could see the Austin/Couture fight as a Take That from MMA to pro wrestling.

* [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill]]: The guys' motto, it seems.

* [[Token Evil Teammate]]: Gunnar.

* [[Token Romance]]: Averted. Nothing between Stallone and Sandra, which is nice considering how tempting it must have been. And while Statham also has a [[Love Interest]], most of their interactions concern the fact that she dislikes his lifestyle.

* [[Torture Always Works]]: Subverted. Sandra is waterboarded for information on the Expendables but does not give in. Instead, Monroe needs to get his information from {{spoiler|Gunnar}}.

* [[Trailers Always Spoil]]: {{spoiler|Gunnar is clearly seen lifting Ying over his head and over a sharp spike, which makes it obvious from the beginning he betrays the team. They try cheating by making his face blurrier and speeding up the action, but it doesn't work.}}

* [[Troperiffic]]: It even provides the page image.

** {{spoiler|Gunnar.}} Lampshaded by Barney.

* [[Underside Ride]]

* [[The Unfair Sex]]: Nicely averted. Lacey's cheating isn't portrayed sympathetically at all, and {{spoiler|while Lee saves her from her abusive boyfriend, it doesn't look like he takes her back}}.

** Caesar: [[BFG|Automatic shotgun with explosive rounds]], [[Improbable Weapon User|straight razor]].

** Road: [[Stuff Blowing Up|Explosives]].

* [[World of Badass]]: Everyone but the girl fits.

* [[World of Ham]]: Considering it's a movie with [[Sylvester Stallone]], [[Dolph Lundgren]], Stone Cold [[Steve Austin]] and [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]], this trope was pretty much unavoidable.

** Also, Lacy's new boyfriend.

* [[Wrestler in All of Us]]: A lot of wrestling moves are used, even though only one actor is a (professional) wrestler.

* [[You All Look Familiar]]: The soldiers' black war paint allowed the director to keep re-using the same stuntmen and actors in close-up fights. Knowing bad 80s movies, this was intentional.

* [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness]]: Gunnar gets upset with the Mook he's stuck with during his [[Chase Scene|high-speed ambush]] of Ross and Yang, up to the point he crushes the [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Mook's head against the dashboard with his boot]].

** Munroe, to General Garza {{spoiler|after the dictator decides to kick his ex-CIA partners as well as the Expendables out of his country.}}

* [[Your Mom]]: Let it not be said that Stallone [[Totally Radical|is not down with what the kids are into]].

[[Category:The Expendables]]

[[Category:Film]]