THE EXPENDABLES (Sylvester Stallone, 2010)

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Re: THE EXPENDABLES (Sylvester Stallone, 2010)

Postby Jox on 22 Dec 2013, 17:24

"Sinner's Prayer" by Sully Erna, it's song that was commissioned for the movie, just like Shinedown's "Diamond Eyes". Since the sequence was deleted from the theatrical cut the song also disappeared, and then of course appeared publicly for the first time for the release of the extended director's cut.
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Re: THE EXPENDABLES (Sylvester Stallone, 2010)

Postby TEMIRLAN on 22 Dec 2013, 19:17

Thanks, Jox. This song gives more serious tone to the movie. A man who did cut the theatrical version did stupid.
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Re: THE EXPENDABLES (Sylvester Stallone, 2010)

Postby Jox on 22 Dec 2013, 20:35

Yes it was dumb but you know I think it was a collective decision (just like most of the "politics" going on on American movies), the were two editors on the movie and I'm sure neither of them had power to deleted any big sequence like that. This was between Sly, the producers (Nu Image/Millennium) and the domestic distributor (Lionsgate) to make demand those cuts. They ran test screenings and made adjustments based on people's responses to their questionnaire and also I believe Lionsgate/Millennium wanted to movie to run less than 105 mins...
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Re: THE EXPENDABLES (Sylvester Stallone, 2010)

Postby viendammage on 23 Dec 2013, 00:51

Jox wrote:"Sinner's Prayer" by Sully Erna, it's song that was commissioned for the movie, just like Shinedown's "Diamond Eyes". Since the sequence was deleted from the theatrical cut the song also disappeared, and then of course appeared publicly for the first time for the release of the extended director's cut.


Wait this is seriously the opening for the Director's Cut? I haven't seen it but that sequence is so cheesy to me, it's like a fan made music video that takes itself too seriously. I mean Terry Crews looking at photos of his kids? That should be a sign that he's gonna die later! If I recall correctly, theatrical cut is just credits over the first few minutes on the boat etc which I think works better because it flows and gives you a sense of geography and tone leading up to the first scenes.
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Re: THE EXPENDABLES (Sylvester Stallone, 2010)

Postby Jox on 23 Dec 2013, 01:47

It may sound cheesy taken out of context, but it works very well if you watch it in the flow of the movie, and also probably would better if you hadn't seen a different cut first. I think this sequence prepares the audience with what Sly was going for in the first film, which was kind of an intimate account of these tough guys flaws and vulnerability (with more or less success hence the "half and half" / "auteur action" tone of the movie which he avoided at all cost in the second one for better and for worse).
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Re: THE EXPENDABLES (Sylvester Stallone, 2010)

Postby Jox on 31 Jan 2014, 19:58

The legal battle between Sly and writer Dave Callaham over script authorship (with Nu Image in the middle) is getting really ugly...

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-es ... sty-675350
Sylvester Stallone's 'Expendables' Launches Nasty Writers Battle

A legal dispute over the hit action franchise -- in which Stallone has been taking punches from writers who claim their work was stolen -- exposes the whole messy system of who gets credit for what.


In an unusually contentious example of how murky authorship can be in Hollywood, Stallone, who is credited as the co-writer of Expendables, has gone to battle against one writer in arbitration and another in federal court. He's been flagged by a judge for making two conflicting arguments. And lately, the situation has become so heated that an appeals court intervened and a new lawsuit was filed that threatens to undercut the traditional screenwriter credit process.

The story dates back to 2002, when writer David Callaham signed a two-picture agreement with Warner Bros. The first script was for a movie based on the video game Doom, which Universal ended up releasing in 2005. The second was Barrow, which Callaham wrote after reading about the U.S. government's hiring of Blackwater military contractors in Iraq. That script went unproduced until 2008, when Stallone -- who had become interested in exploring the "mercenary theme," according to court documents -- was sent Barrow by his William Morris agent.

Soon after, Stallone got to work on Expendables, which triggered a claim by Callaham that Barrow was being used without permission. A WGA arbitration commenced, and in 2009, Callaham prevailed and was given "co-writer" and "story by" credits and $102,250 in bonus payments.

Expendables then became a huge hit, prompting Stallone and producers, including Nu Image, Millennium Films and Alta Vista Productions, to begin work on a sequel. But because Callaham was credited on the first film, he owns what's called "separated rights," requiring producers to pay him on all sequels. Nu Image's Avi Lerner, one of Hollywood's most notoriously litigious executives, wasn't happy about this situation, so on Dec. 23, the producers sued Callaham and the WGA for fraud. They allege Callaham committed "subterfuge" during the arbitration process and fraudulently gained the "co-writer" and sole "story by" credits. They also claimed they have uncovered old emails from Callaham where he says the Expendables script is "nothing like" what he originally wrote. The producers are demanding Callaham return money and are asking a judge to declare that Stallone be given sole screenplay credit (and sole rights to the franchise). They also ran to court to stop a new WGA arbitration scheduled for Jan. 31 over $175,000 in bonus money (plus interest) that Callaham is owed for Expendables 2, which grossed $305.4 million worldwide in 2012. A judge refused to stop it, and the lawsuit proceeds.

If Callaham loses, it could throw into question the validity of the WGA arbitration process, exposing writers to claims of fraud if their personal feelings about the evolution of their scripts later are used against them. "The WGA credit process is one of the least understood and most important," says litigator Joe Taylor at Liner Llp., who often represents talent in credit disputes. "If you get credit, you get hooked into royalties forever."

But the Expendables fight doesn't end there. In October 2011, writer Marcus Webb sued Nu Image, Stallone, Callaham and others, claiming that Expendables wasn't based on Barrow but rather on Webb's own mercenaries script titled The Cordoba Caper. In response, Stallone's lawyers -- in an apparent contradict­ion of the producers' argument in the Callaham case -- pointed out that Callaham's script predated Webb's and thus, Expendables was independently created. Stallone offered a sworn declaration that described how he liked Barrow and maintained its structure while writing a new version. "In those rewrites, I kept Callaham's story about a group of highly trained mercenaries overthrowing the dictator of a Latin America island," Stallone said.

The problem, of course, was that Nu Image already had tried to minimize Callaham's contributions. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff noticed the inconsistency, and in a December 2012 ruling, he slammed Stallone. "Indeed, the admission smacks more than a little of hypocrisy," the judge wrote. "Stallone previously asserted in a signed letter submitted in his [WGA arbitration] that although he read Barrow, he 'set it aside' and that Expendables was 'an original … and doesn't use one word, one comma, one iota from [Barrow].' " Nonetheless, even after expressing reservations about Stallone's credibility, the judge found that Webb had failed to show that his work was "so strikingly similar" to Expendables "as to permit a reasonable juror to infer access."

But that's not the end to this mercenary tale. Webb appealed, and on Jan. 15 -- only weeks after Nu Image sued Callaham and the WGA for fraud -- the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held oral arguments. Webb's attorneys made sure the judges were aware that producers simultaneously held up proof that Expendables was and wasn't based on Callaham's script.

The producers now say the arguments aren't inconsistent, legally speaking. But what the dispute means for writers like Callaham -- and for the future of what could soon be a billion-dollar franchise -- isn't settled.
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Re: THE EXPENDABLES (Sylvester Stallone, 2010)

Postby GeneralMcFaiL on 31 Jan 2014, 21:12

Ah good ole lawsuits... the American way. One of the things I hate most about this country... too many lawsuits... too many lawyers.

I'm not fan of this process at all... Stallone liked a concept and borrowed from it to make his own movie. The guy has been doing it since his career took off way back in the 70's. It just goes to show you how greedy people can be.

As if the story of mercenaries taking on some foreign dictator is a unique story..gimme a break. To think I once liked D. Callahan's stuff to... welp not anymore.
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Re: THE EXPENDABLES (Sylvester Stallone, 2010)

Postby Jox on 25 Sep 2014, 13:16

Mike Fury's uncut interview with Gary Daniels on THE EXPENDABLES:
http://host24.qnop.net/~mikefury/wp-con ... ry_web.pdf
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Re: THE EXPENDABLES (Sylvester Stallone, 2010)

Postby Jox on 22 Apr 2015, 12:49

Besides physical preparation, can you tell us about preparing for the Gunnar character in the Expendables franchise?
Sure. That was a great role because it was well-written and it had a lot of color. I play a tough guy who is very loyal in one way, but he is also crazy, he has some substance abuse problems and a kind of emotional imbalance. So it’s fun to work on a character like that because you have a lot of things to work with. Sometimes I try to find a monologue. Film dialogue is short, usually. Not always, not with Tarantino (laughs), where you have big monologues! But in most film scenes I only say one or two lines at a time. In order to warm up the character you want to have more dialogue, so I would try to find a monologue. For instance with Gunnar, it was from a play called Hurlyburly, of which I had seen (the movie) with Sean Penn many years ago. He plays a drugged-out, coked-out, crazy guy. It’s about three guys in an apartment and basically all they do is smoke pot, do coke, and talk about chicks. So I found a little monologue that I could do to get me in that kind of wild crazed state. I used that for some of the scenes, and for other scenes I would find some other contrasts for the guy when he is very still, doesn’t move much at all and kind of just sulks. Because he was very, very verbal and kind of crazy: “arrgghhhh!” [Dolph plays the guy getting crazy], but in other scenes I tried to keep him where he is just, « you don’t trust me? » [Dolph plays bland, stoned Gunnar] and he is very soft. So that was a fun character to work on, sometimes they are not that well-written. It’s hard to find a role that excites you and makes you think it’s fun to play the character. Whether he is a bad guy or a good guy, or a tragic character, it has to be fun for the actor. You could do a crazy accent or something, that would be fun.

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Re: THE EXPENDABLES (Sylvester Stallone, 2010)

Postby Jox on 09 May 2015, 12:48

Wow, there are a lot of funny stories.
I think that - it was funny. The first scene that I did, in EXPENDABLES 1, was with Stallone. In the garage. And it was the first time I'd worked with him in 25 years.
And I'd take off the medallion, I hand it to him, because I got fired. And when I gave it to him, I decided to push him a little bit. And the crew thought I was fighting him, like in Rocky! The people in the crew didn't know me, they thought it was the staredown from ROCKY 4. And when the scene was over, he turned to me and said "Push me harder next time."
And that kind of sums up our onscreen relationship.

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Re: THE EXPENDABLES (Sylvester Stallone, 2010)

Postby Jox on 11 Nov 2015, 11:30

Stallone/Robert Rodriguez interview on Sly as a writer and director in "The Director's chair" (50 mins)
https://www.facebook.com/ElReyNetwork/v ... =2&theater
tackles ROCKY IV and THE EXPENDABLES
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Re: THE EXPENDABLES (Sylvester Stallone, 2010)

Postby Jox on 28 Jan 2016, 13:02

Apparently Sly wanted Michael Jai White in EX1 but that didn't even get through to him thanks to his middleman ex-agent...
@Cmiro2254
@MichaelJaiWhite that is a very good point. You wouldn't want to be in an expendable movie? I think you be perfect for the movie!

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Hell yes! Met @TheSlyStallone 3 months ago & found out he wanted me 4 the 1st one BT my Xagent screwd up. FigersX'd!

Maybe in the fourth...
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Re: THE EXPENDABLES (Sylvester Stallone, 2010)

Postby JUNKBOX on 02 Nov 2016, 00:03

Dolph is truly a great fighter. I first saw Dolph in Red Scorpion and followed his career since. He is truly a Martial Arts Legend. My hats off to Dolph Lundgren. I even saw him on BLACK BELT TV | THE MARTIAL ARTS NETWORK: http://www.BlackBeltTV.com
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Re: THE EXPENDABLES (Sylvester Stallone, 2010)

Postby Jox on 22 Feb 2017, 01:44

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=20823
http://www.mikethefanboy.com/the-expend ... arrive-4k/

The Expendables and The Expendables 2 both arrive on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack (plus Blu-ray™ and Digital HD) on May 2

On 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack for the First Time!

Street Date: 5/2/2017


PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Experience the explosive adventures of Sylvester Stallone and his tight-knit team of rogue mercenaries in the most amazing picture quality available today when The Expendables and The Expendables 2 both arrive on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack (plus Blu-ray™ and Digital HD) on May 2 from Lionsgate. The Expendables features an all-star cast including Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lungren and Terry Crews. Together, the elite team embarks on a mission to overthrow a Latin American dictator, but they soon discover a more formidable threat.

Image

The crew returns with a vengeance in the film’s sequel, The Expendables 2. Action icons Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger join the franchise. In this second chapter, the team accepts a seemingly simple mission, but it soon evolves into a quest for revenge against a rival mercenary who threatens the world with a deadly weapon.

Both movies are available for the first time on 4K Ultra HD, which provides over four times the resolution of Full HD and includes High Dynamic Range (HDR) to deliver the brightest, most vivid and realistic color with the greatest contrast. The Expendables 3 is currently available on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack. The action-packed thrillers The Expendables and The Expendables 2 will be available on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack for the suggested retail price of $22.99 each.

Image


THE EXPENDABLES BLU-RAY/DIGITAL HD SPECIAL FEATURES

· Comic-Con 2010 Panel
· “Inferno: The Making of The Expendables” Featurette
· “From the Ashes: Post Production” Documentary
· Gag Reel
· Deleted Scene
· Audio Commentary with Director Sylvester Stallone
· Marketing Archive (Blu-ray™ Only)
· Audio: English Dolby Atmos, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, English 2.0 Dolby Digital Optimized for Late-Night Listening



THE EXPENDABLES 2 BLU-RAY/DIGITAL HD SPECIAL FEATURES

· “Gods of War: Assembling Earth’s Mightiest Antiheroes” Featurette
· “Big Guns, Bigger Heroes: The 1980s and the Rise of the Action Film” Featurette
· “On the Assault: The Real-Life Weaponry of The Expendables 2” Featurette
· “Guns for Hire: The Real Expendables” Featurette
· Deleted Scenes
· Gag Reel
· Audio Commentary with Director Simon West
· Audio: English Dolby Atmos, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, English 2.0 Dolby Digital Optimized for Late-Night Listening






Compared to THE EXPENDABLES 3 which was shot on HD, this would be more worth it to get EX1 & 2 in 4K since they were on shot on 35mm film...
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