THE EXPENDABLES (Sylvester Stallone, 2010)

[Moltisanti]

Keep in mind I'm just going by my own speculation, but the fact that Stallone or anyone else involved with the film hasn't come out said it's gonna be an R leads me to think it'll be PG-13.

Obviously I'd prefer it be R but I'm also aware that the higher an action film's budget the greater chance there is that it will be PG-13. You look at what films like TAKEN or FAST AND FURIOUS make at the box office and it gets easier to understand why something like TERMINATOR: SALVATION went after a PG-13.

I wouldn't let the rating get in the way of being excited for THE EXPENDABLES. PG-13 or R this is still one of the greatest casts put together for an action film. That's the appeal for me.

[Tom]

I would hope that the rating is the last thing on Sly's mind at the moment. He should be concentrating on making the movie as good as possible. The rating should be decided by the ratings board when the films competely finished. I never buy into this whole ratings argument, because swearing and violence don't make for a good film. Some films just go for the R and forget everything else.

As much as I enjoyed Rambo, the film could have been better, and in the end relied too much on the heavy violence, more than imaginitive stunt work, or even a more engaging story and characters. Looking at Taken, Dark Knight, it's not unrealistic to have quite a hard action film on pg-13. To be honest, the film would probably be a mega hit if they released it to a wider spectrum.

You could possibly see the argument for Die Hard 4 in a way. MaClane was well known for his love of firing off F-bombs, so to remove all the hard swearing in the film, for the rating, angered many. The thing is, the uncut DVD, has a lot of stuff that seems have been added in post, thrown in. All the swearing seems tacked in, and the added violence, goes against the overall, tight editing, because shots have been extended. I still prefer the pg-13 version, because it flowed better, but that film they'd shot with the pg-13 in mind all the way through (they denied it though, but it's obvious). However the Expendables is new, fresh, has no previous to carry on from. This is the start of a story, and a tone.

[Billie]

Thanks for the info!

[Jack Caine]

Eh, this still has me worried up the ya-ya. I think the speculation of pg13 is annoying as sh*t--who gives a damn if it gets a wider spectrum from being lower rated--I've been watching R-rated action flicks since I was a wee child and would be truly, truly disappointed if it ended up being pg13 so other uninterested bastards in my high school can go see it on a friday night. Hell, even Speed had almost no violence and was a rated a solid R, yet today the damn company will let a long-running R series just go "ah what the hell" and go pg13 so children can see it. High number on my bullshit meter.

[Nathan]

I am betting it will be R rated...

[Jox]

I don't think it's worth debating this now even though there's a lot of gossiping about it. Plus with Sly we don't have to worry, he's kind of like Clint and keeps doing things his way in his own terms: just like he said he would keep shooting good old 35mm film and not HD, he's just gonna do the film he wants... then if companies or the MPAA demand a lower rating or trims it's another story but not now.

[Nathan]

Ahhh he's not doing it in HD? That's brilliant news!! I hate that overly-glossy, high contrast fake look of movies. Damn this is gonna rock in every way possible!!

[Jox]

I heard D say Nu Image suggested it and was to buy the new RED ONE camera and Sly said he was "just old-school" and would keep shooting film no matter what...

[Jack Caine]

Great for Sly! Shooting on classic film and not that HD poo! Plus, when it's not HD that means that they can't really digitally change squibs or anything (right?). With any luck and a bit of hope, Sly will indeed churn out the best action flick of the '10s. (man it felt wierd saying that)

[Jox]

Plus, when it's not HD that means that they can't really digitally change squibs or anything (right?).

NO, that's a different matter, otherwise there would have been no CGI! For instance most of the blood and gory stuff in the last RAMBO were done or enhanced in CGI by Worldwide FX (BG-based VFX company who does all the Nu Image visual effects)...

Dolph's in Joblo and not in the "Arrow" section this time! (don't think there are real spoilers unlike what they say, the stuff has already been revealed)
http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=26121

Dolph on Expendables
Apr. 20, 2009
Source: Wizard by: Dave Davis

WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILERS!

When Sly Stallone's action flick THE EXPENDABLES first started coming together, his ROCKY IV opponent Dolph Lundgren was mentioned as part of the ensemble, but his name slowly slipped down the list as more meat was thrown on the pile.

But Dolph is apparently still very much involved. And while early rumors claimed he'd be pitting his martial mass against diminutive wu shu whirlwind Jet Li in the movie, it sounds like he's also having a rematch with Rocky after a quarter-century.

As Lundgren tells Wizard, his character is "a mercenary who's part of Sly's team. He's kind of a victim of the violence. He ends up getting fired by Stallone. Later in the picture, some other sinister character trying to get back at Sly and his and people hires me to take him out. Because I need the money, I do it. There's a showdown between me, him and Jet Li."

As for why Dolph didn't get a call for Rocky's recent resurgence in ROCKY BALBOA? "Not sure," he says. "Drago is probably still stuck in Siberia for losing that first fight."

[MikeR]

Great for Sly! Shooting on classic film and not that HD poo! Plus, when it's not HD that means that they can't really digitally change squibs or anything (right?). With any luck and a bit of hope, Sly will indeed churn out the best action flick of the '10s. (man it felt wierd saying that)

Shooting on HD is generally better for any movie that uses any effects - physical, model or CGI as it means the data can be scanned directly into a computer to do things like changing exposure or removing wires. Film can be cleaned up the same way but it first needs to be scanned into the computer which causes degradation in the image quality.

Digital is the way to go, almost all big features are now being shot on it, and it's becoming the preferred way of distributing movies to theatres as well.

As for the look of digital mentioned above; actually that's a post-production process which is completely up to the director. There is no such thing as a 'digital look', rather a lot of younger directors who grew up shooting music videos and the like are asking for the post people to make their films look more like what has been shot on video to give it a more 'immediate' appearance, (ironically, people working on TV programmes are getting their stuff made to look like film). Personally if there's one thing I'd be glad to see the end of, it's that blue-bleached look to pictures that started with 'Saving Private Ryan'.

M.

[The_Canadian]

Holy shit, Dolph's getting write ups in WIZARD magazine? That's actually a pretty big magazine in North America...

[Jox]

The publicist posted the EXPENDABLES tatoo!

not exactly how it looks on the arm but very very close…Sly’s design

[Nathan]

Wooo, awesome!! Nick to see gimicky things like this in action movies. That's what's missing from them now!!

[MikeR]

As Lundgren tells Wizard, his character is "a mercenary who's part of Sly's team. He's kind of a victim of the violence. He ends up getting fired by Stallone. Later in the picture, some other sinister character trying to get back at Sly and his and people hires me to take him out. Because I need the money, I do it. There's a showdown between me, him and Jet Li."

Well he'd better beat one of them in that showdown, otherwise I reckon our friend Dolphage might get REALLY angry - and that's not something we want to see.

M.