Ultimate Dolph

Dolph Lundgren gets all the best quips, and everyone else is saddled with groanworthy one-liners from the direct-to-video leftover bin.

Yeah, I prefer the longer cut. It gives pretty much all the guys more room to breathe as characters. The opening sequence plays better longer. Feels like a battle of some scale now. This next film is looking like it is crazy awesome. At least I hope so. If you’re a fan, you won’t even question the double dip. We did mention there would be an extended cut, so we all kinda knew it was coming. More is better in this film’s case. The film has been completely put back together from scratch. The result is a far better film I feel. I liked the original, but it felt rough, this is a better cut. Sly did great work putting this together. I’ve decided that I’m going to hold on to both versions though.

Of course Dolph Ludgren was the real star of the show for me, the real surprise. Even on the theatrical run he stood out; he’s an actor who I’d heard was actually quite adept at making competent, efficient action films, albeit on DTV – and of a far higher standard than the likes I was used to enduring from my own personal favourite action star, Steven Seagal. And yet because I wasn’t Dolph’s biggest follower (beyond Universal Soldier), I didn’t really realise what he was capable of. Both Universal Soldier: Regeneration and The Expendables changed that. His characters in both films just had more depth and layers to them than many of the other cardboard cut-out heroes, like he had actually put some thought into the role.

Of course Dolph Ludgren was the real star of the show for me, the real surprise. Even on the theatrical run he stood out; he’s an actor who I’d heard was actually quite adept at making competent, efficient action films, albeit on DTV – and of a far higher standard than the likes I was used to enduring from my own personal favourite action star, Steven Seagal. And yet because I wasn’t Dolph’s biggest follower (beyond Universal Soldier), I didn’t really realise what he was capable of. Both Universal Soldier: Regeneration and The Expendables changed that. His characters in both films just had more depth and layers to them than many of the other cardboard cut-out heroes, like he had actually put some thought into the role.

"This summer will bring two four-packs of 2-inch minifigures, one exclusively at comic shops and specialty stores, the other exclusively at Toys “R” Us. Specialty will get Lee Christmas, Hale Caesar, Mr. Church and Tool, while TRU will get Barney Ross, Trent Mauser, James Munroe and Paine. Don’t see your favorite Expendables team member? Well, there will be two more sets coming out this fall with the rest of the team, plus a few of the movie’s new villains! We’ll reveal those soon, but look for the first two sets in early June!"

Sylvester Stallone Defeats Lawsuit Claiming 'The Expendables' Was Ripped Off
A judge grants the writer-director's motion to dismiss allegations he stole a copyrighted script to craft his 2010 action film.

Sylvester Stallone has delivered a knockout punch to an author who claimed to be the real writer behind The Expendables.

Marcus Webb sued Stallone last October and claimed that the 2010 film was "strikingly similar" to his own copyrighted work, from the opening sequence to the plot to the character of the villain.

But a judge has ruled his claims to be expandable, tossing the lawsuit on summary judgment on Monday.
Webb's own script was called The Cordoba Caper about "a team of elite, highly-trained mercenaries" and the author said that Stallone and co-writer David Callaham may have had access since it was shopped around Hollywood for several years late last decade.

Stallone denied the charges.

In a motion to dismiss, Stallone's lawyers pointed out that Webb wrote his script after Callaham had already written three drafts of the screenplay and that Webb had no information that Stallone or Callaham had ever seen Cordoba.

The judge was also urged to grant a motion to dismiss because the alleged similarities were merely ideas and that the overall concept and feel of the two works was vastly different. The Expendables is classic action, wrote Tom Perber and James Janowitz at Pryor Cashman , while Webb's script was a complex caper.
Judge Jed Rakoff apparently agrees the claims are meritless. On Monday, he wrote a short order that grants defendants' motion "in all respects," promising a fuller written opinion soon.

Millennium Films, Nu Image Films and Lions Gate were co-defendants in the case.
According to court papers, Callaham developed the script for Warner Bros. before Stallone saw it, got Nu Image to acquire it. Once in Stallone's hands, the script dropped subplots, characters, and scenes so as to be as action-oriented as possible and had characters renamed to be Paine, General Garza, and Lee Christmas so as to be memorable.