The Expendables (2010) on Netflix
R20101h 43mActionAdventureThriller
Barney Ross leads a band of mercenaries who free hostages from Somali pirates. A man called Mr. Church offers them five million dollars to overthrow General Garza, the dictator of Vilena.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb6.4/10383,054 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes42%
Trailer
Plot summary
A team of mercenaries works out of New Orleans under Barney Ross. Among them are the blade specialist Lee Christmas, the martial artist Yin Yang, the weapons specialist Hale Caesar and the demolitions man Toll Road. Their latest job takes them to the Gulf of Aden, where they rescue hostages held by Somali pirates. Back home, a man called Mr. Church offers Barney five million dollars to remove General Garza, the dictator of Vilena. Barney and Christmas make the flight to the island to look over the opposition. They meet their contact there, Sandra, and when they are discovered, they have to leave. Sandra will not abandon her country.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Expendables (2010)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The role of Hale Caesar was conceived for Stallone's Demolition Man co-star Wesley Snipes, who turned it down because of tax issues that kept him from leaving the United States without the court's approval; it was rewritten for Forest Whitaker, who was replaced by 50 Cent over a scheduling conflict before the part went to former NFL player Terry Crews.
- Jean-Claude Van Damme was personally offered a role by Stallone but turned it down because he felt there was no substance or development to the character; Stallone said Van Damme told him that he should "be trying to save people in South Central".
- Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Ben Kingsley and Ray Liotta were all considered for the role of James Munroe before Stallone's The Specialist co-star Eric Roberts was eventually cast.
- The role was offered to Stallone's Tango & Cash co-star Kurt Russell, whose agent replied that he was not interested in "ensemble acting at the moment", and Stallone then spent several months after principal photography determined to find a big action name for the part.
- In 2011, writer Marcus Webb sued Stallone, Callaham and the producers for stealing elements from his similarly mercenary-themed script The Cordoba Caper; the following year, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff dismissed the case on summary judgement after Webb failed to provide sufficient evidence of "striking similarities".
- Knowing his filming location, Brazil, was home to many mixed martial arts fighters, Stallone called Ultimate Fighting Championship champions Anderson Silva and brothers Rogerio and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to make casting calls, and had the three cameo as well.
- Research by Lionsgate found that between 38% and 40% of the film's viewers were female, results that were unexpected for a film thought to have limited appeal to female filmgoers.
- On the day of its release the film earned $13.3 million, exceeding the $9.7 million taken by the debut of the previous summer's action film The A-Team, and it went on to $34.8 million in its opening weekend.
