The Expendables 2 [Blu-ray] [Includes Digital Copy]

Director: Simon West Simon West

Overview

The Expendables return with a vengeance in this follow-up to the 2010 surprise hit. Con Air's Simon West directed from a script by Sylvester Stallone and David Agosto. This time, Barney Ross (Stallone) and his merry band of mercentaries (including Jason Statham, Randy Couture, Dolph Lundgren, and Terry Crews) take on a mission from Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) to clear Ross' record. The mission in question involves acquiring a black box from a downed airplane, with the caveat that they bring along Maggie (Yu Nan), a military-trained soldier who throws a gendered wrench into the team's manly ranks. When another mercenary, Jean Vilain (Jean Claude Van Damme), ambushes the team and mess up their newest member (The Hunger Games' Liam Hemsworth), it's hunt and kill time for the Expendables. Jet Li returns in an extended cameo, as does Arnold Schwarzenegger, with fellow '80s action star Chuck Norris coming along for the ride. Undisputed III's Scott Adkins co-stars as Vilain's henchman, Hector.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/20/2012
UPC:	0031398160861
Original Release:	2012
Rating:	R
Source:	LIONS GATE
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:42:00
Sales rank:	30,050

Special Features

Audio commentary: with the director; Gods of War: assembling Earth's mightiest antiheroes; Big guns, bigger heroes: the 1980s and the rise ofthe action film; On the assault: the real-life weaponry of The Expendables; Guns for hire: the Real Expendables; Deleted scenes; Gag reel

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Sylvester Stallone	Barney 'The Schizo' Ross
Jason Statham	Lee Christmas
Jet Li	Yin Yang
Dolph Lundgren	Actor
Chuck Norris	Actor
Terry Crews	Hale Caesar
Randy Couture	Actor
Liam Hemsworth	Actor
Scott Adkins	Actor
Danny Lerner	Actor,Actor
Alexander Bachvarov	Actor
Kevin King Templeton	Actor
Les Weldon	Actor
Basil Iwanyk	Actor
Guymon Casady	Actor
Jason Constantine	Actor
Boaz Davidson	Actor
Danny Dimbort	Actor
Jon Feltheimer	Actor
Trevor Short	Actor
Nan Yu	Maggie
George Zlatarev	Bojan
Nikola Dodov	Sick Man
Dimo Alexiev	Sang Soldier
Denis Vasilev	Jarek
Anton Trendafilov	Miner #1
Mariy Grigorov	Miner #2
Brian Tyler	Composer
Shelly Johnson	Actor
Yu Nan	Actor

Technical Credits

Dave Callaham

David Agosto

Ken Kaufman

Jon Feltheimer	Executive Producer,Producer
Jason Constantine	Executive Producer,Producer
Basil Iwanyk	Executive Producer,Producer
Eda Kowan	Executive Producer
Guymon Casady	Executive Producer,Producer
Boaz Davidson	Executive Producer,Producer
Trevor Short	Executive Producer,Producer
Danny Dimbort	Executive Producer,Producer
Kate Dowd	Casting
Alexander Bachvarov	Sound Effects
Wade Barnett	Sound Effects
Miguel Menéndez de Zubillaga	Producer
Dave Callaham	Screenwriter
Robert Earl	Producer
Zygi Kamasa	Producer
Matthew O'Toole	Producer
Lonnie Ramati	Producer
David Varod	Producer
Boyan Anev	Stunts
David Agosto	Screenwriter
Kevin King	Producer
Sylvester Stallone	Producer
Ken Kaufman	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

The Expendables 2 is a shot to the arm of pure, silly action-movie fun, and it stars so many heavy hitters it might break your brain to keep up with what's happening onscreen at various points during its slim 103-minute run time. Sylvester Stallone has obviously worked to hone the chemistry of this particular team-up, as the sequel fires on more cylinders than the first one's engine could handle. This time, Jason Statham, Terry Crews, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, and Jet Li are given more individual moments to shine alongside Sly, as are glorified guest stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, and, yes, Chuck Norris. The icing on the cinematic cake comes in the form of Jean-Claude Van Damme, who hits a home run with his villainous character, Jean Vilain (get it?). Knowingly funny, yet still a little clunky, Expendables 2 is B-movie glee made by past-their-prime A-listers -- and anyone who knows what to expect will undoubtedly have a blast. This time, the mission for Stallone's ragtag group of mercenaries is to recover a secret box from a crashed airplane. Along for the ride is Maggie (Yu Nan), a military-trained soldier who throws a gendered wrench into the team's manly ranks. Cue Van Damme, who defeats a new member of the team and runs off with the mysterious box. From then on, it's hunt and kill for the crew, who are aided time and again by their liaison (Willis) and fellow mercenaries played by Schwarzenegger and Norris. Thousands of rounds of ammo are shot, along with bazookas and plane cannons, while a whole lot of bad guys explode in a cartoonish fountain of blood similar to the ending massacre in Stallone's fourth Rambo film. The movie has a lot for red-blooded audiences to chew on: Arnold blows away endless amounts of villain fodder with a giant thumping gun, Couture throws dudes around, Lundgren acts like a Frankenstein beast of a brawler, and Statham gets a fine moment in the spotlight with a fight in a church. Even Jet Li (underused in the first film) gets a kick-butt hand-to-hand (and cooking-pan-to-face) fight, expertly directed by Simon West (not usually known for being the tightest helmer in town). He wisely widens the lens and lets the audience see what's happening, with hardly any in-camera or post-production shaking added to the picture -- a definite improvement over the last film. The sequel raises the humor ante as well, with Terry Crews leading the pack in an amped-up role sure to tickle anyone who takes pleasure in this muscled genius' comedy style. For everything it gets right, the sequel can't help but stumble a bit. The few times the movie slows down, it's a noticeable drag. Much of the humor errs on the obviously corny side, but if you are wooed by the picture's mix of Cannon Films-style mayhem and Hollywood nostalgia, you'll most likely end up laughing along with it. Stallone has effectively raised his own bar for the geriatric team-up, yet it still feels like there are more milestones to hit. The Expendables 2 is not perfect by any normal rubric, but it more than makes up for it in delirious charm and macho gusto. For now, that is more than enough. Oh, and Van Damme is just fantastic as Vilain. He really gives it his all in a performance that must make him proud. Along with the rest of the celebrated cast, we, the action-movie crowd, salute you!