"KEEP BUSTIN'."

The internet’s only discussion of who should be in Expendables 3 and Expendables: The Women

I mean, who am I trying to fool? Of course we’re gonna discuss this. We already started, so let’s make it the official exploratory committee. We have been through 2 (two) Expendastallments, we know how it works. Knowing what we know now, who do we want to see in part 3? Any new ideas of who should direct?

Furthermore, there is this producer of THE GREY who is working on what is described as “a female riff on THE EXPENDABLES” – let’s figure out who they should put in that.

For 3XPENDthreeBL3S the challenge is finding actors who fit the bill and are worthy but haven’t done it yet or been involved in lawsuits with the producer (Steven Seagal). I also believe there is an imaginary rule banning anyone who has been in a FAST AND FURIOUS or MACHETE movie – if so that would rule out such worthy cast members as The Rock, Vin Diesel, Sonny Chiba, Gina Carano, Joe Taslim, Steven Seagal, Don Johnson, Mel Gibson and Marko Zaror. And that would explain why Lucas Black didn’t play the sniper.

We’ve heard the producer’s claim that Nic Cage will be in the movie, and that he wants Wesley Snipes when he gets out (July 19, 2013). Those are probly two of my top choices, actually, so I hope they really happen.

Of the big ’80s and ’90s guys, we got Kurt Russell, Carl Weathers, Roddy Piper and Jesse Ventura left. And I’ll throw in Sonny Landham, Bill Duke and Shane Black for the complete PREDATOR team. Am I missing anybody? Otherwise we gotta start dipping into the also-rans that I would be excited to see but that would not have the any-idiot-can-recognize-this-guy-and-his-catchphrase type of star power Stallone prefers: Don “The Dragon” Wilson, Michael Dudikoff, Jeff Speakman, Michael Wincott, Philip Rhee, Christopher Lambert, Sho Kosugi, Billy Blanks.

I would honestly love to see Brian Bosworth. Also Fred Dryer.

I would like to see Al Leong as a henchman who gets killed. And Ernie Reyes Jr.

Schwarzenegger could have a posse of bodybuilder guys: Ralf Moeller, Lou Ferrigno, the Barbarian Brothers.

There are the new blood, of course: Iko Uwais, Tony Jaa, Jeeja Yanin. People who would be completely wasted. Probly shouldn’t do it.

Speaking of which, I still think they should do a section of the movie that takes place in Hong Kong, which would have to feature Chow Yun Fat as a cop, plus other icons of Hong Kong action cinema like Jackie, Sammo, Yuen, Donnie, Gordon, etc.

Of course there are hundreds of MMA guys they could get if they wanted more of those. I think it would be cool if they went for the earlier guys from even before Randy Couture: Dan Severn, Don Frye, Tank Abbot, Ken Shamrock, any of the Gracies.

And an area that they haven’t gotten into at all is blaxploitation. I guess they already had their own (boring) EXPENDABLES super-team with Larry Cohen’s ORIGINAL GANGSTAS, but I still think they deserve some acknowledgment in this series. Fred Williamson, Jim Brown, Richard Roundtree, Jim Kelly.

And get an evil Lance Henriksen in there, for God’s sake. And Bolo.

“The female Expendables.”

This one is much harder. Action has been such a male dominated genre that there just isn’t the pantheon of icons to pull from. I’ve seen articles who list people like Angelina Jolie, Milla Jovovich and Kate Beckinsale. Nothing against those ladies, but it wouldn’t even seem that unusual for them to be in a movie together. That’s not a super-team. You gotta do better.

Alot of people have said Sigourney Weaver and Linda Hamilton. Yeah, I agree. And I insist on Pam Grier. And of course Cynthia Rothrock and Michelle Yeoh. I like the idea of having Carrie Anne Moss in there, just as an acknowledgment of how awesome she was in THE MATRIX. I wonder why she seemed to disappear after the early 2000s? And Lucy Lawless, if for no other reason than to say “LAWLESS” on the poster. (Also because she’s cool.)

For the new generation we need Gina Carano, Zoe Bell, Jeeja Yanin, and Maggie Q. They would probly provide the majority of the asskicking in the movie.

Directors for these movies? Man, it’s too bad Katherine Bigelow probly wouldn’t be into doing either one. She has the skills and the place in cinematic history to be perfect for either one.

Recent discussions here have convinced me that it would be awesome if Soderbergh for some reason wanted to do EXPENDABLES. I wouldn’t have thought of him because he’s so cerebral and not manly, but it’s true that he has many unique talents that would up the ante for this series:

-has already directed three whole movies containing a huge ensemble of mega-stars with egos, so he can handle it

-did a better job of balancing their characters and making them work together as a team of specialists than they did in the EXPENDABLES. Also was the original inspiration for Stallone to do a movie like this.

-knows how to shoot a movie for cheaper than an EXPENDABLES that looks better than an EXPENDABLES

-in HAYWIRE proved he’s a far better director of fight scenes than previous EXPENDABLES directors

-knows Bruce Willis (he was in OCEAN’S 12)

-all kinds of experience shooting movies of all sizes and budgets, independent and studio, in foreign countries, etc.

-one of his trademarks is getting great performances out of actors and non-actors. Made Clooney a movie star, got Julia Roberts an Oscar, got one of Benicio Del Toro’s best performances, made movies based around a porn star, an MMA fighter and a manager of a KFC. I would love to see what he could do with Dolph and Randy Couture.

Too bad Shane Black wouldn’t do it. He was in PREDATOR. Or maybe he’d do it. They should ask.

Like I said in the review, Couture should try to enlist David Mamet. That would be insane. He’s into special ops shit, martial arts, codes of honor, manly dialogue, ensembles. And he seems way out of the league of a movie like this. He could cause some spit takes.

More likely it will follow the pattern of part 2 and use a director who previously worked with Statham. (In fact, probly just Simon West again.) But if that’s the only criteria how about Boaz Yakin, who directed one of his best and most recent, SAFE? Yakin has action credentials as writer of Dolph’s THE PUNISHER and Clint’s THE ROOKIE, but then he kinda lost interest in the genre, so with SAFE he came to it with a good eye for sort of following the traditions but trying to tweak them a little and do things a little different. Strong but slightly odd. I think he’s good.

Let’s get this hashed out so we can let them know who we decided on and they can start scheduling.

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190 Responses to “The internet’s only discussion of who should be in Expendables 3 and Expendables: The Women”

  1. Damn, Vern. You took all the good ones. They were threatening Forest Whitaker for the first one, so I say they go ahead and make that happen. He’s no action legend, but he’s cool, and he’s frickin Ghost Dog.

    Alan Rickman as part of a terrorist conglomerate.

    LL Cool J in a cameo, getting sliced in half in the first scene.

    That really super angular looking dude from Cobra and the X-Files as a henchman.

    Udo Kier as part of the aforementioned conglomerate.

    Sam Elliott as Barney’s old gun-running buddy.

    Michael Keaton (since I’ve got Keaton on the brain) as Barney’s old CIA handler gone rogue and sworn enemy of Bruce.

  2. Tom Selleck as Lee Christmas’s American father (or Selleck can do a really bad British accent). Selleck is contractually obligated to (a) drive a jazzy at all times and/or (b) inexplicably wear a fanny pack and mesh tank top regardless of climate or circumstance.

    I’m obviously being a little facetious on this one, but otherwise think these are sound additions.

  3. No love for Michael Jai White?

  4. Let’s save Black Dynamite for part 4.

  5. Since they teased him in the 2nd one they should at least come good and get Clint actually.

    James Caan if they’re looking for a mentor figure.

    He might have been mentioned above but Mad Dod from The Raid would be cool.

  6. Apparently, though, you’ve opened up the manila folder in my brain labeled “kick-ass African-American dudes,” so I’m going to nominate Tiny Lister and Mr. T.

  7. William Sadler. I’m pretty much raiding the Die Hard villain cupboard.

    I also want to see Bill Pullman play someone who gets killed in the first scene along with LL.

  8. Vinnie Jones would play well against Statham.

  9. Vinnie Jones is always welcome. Speaking of which, I remember marginally enjoying the Big Bounce, largely on the steam of Vinnie’s intermittent appearances.

  10. I was just at the Redbox and saw a DTV film where De Niro is co-headlining with 50 Cent. So, he apparently, has finally hit bottom. And perhaps before he acknowledges he has a problem he’ll carve out the time for EX3.

    Which reminds me of Cop Land which leads me to suggest Robert Patrick as part of a form Aryan prison gang leader whose in cahoots w/ Kier and Rickman.

  11. In the Wrestling Henchman wing I would like to nominate Dave Bautista and Diamond Dallas Paige. I bet Seamus would be pretty good in movies with his crazy look and tough guy charisma. Roddy Piper can have a cameo as Toll Road’s older brother Toll Booth (they were raised in China or something so they put the family name first).

    Bolo and Al Leong would naturally work for James Hong as the evil HK triad boss.

    Johnny Hallyday can come in as a gun running rock singer. That would be cool.

  12. Ric Flair and LL Cool J are bodyguards of Sen. Bill Pullman whose limousine is blown up by Alan Rickman’s minions in the opening scene (or could be flashback; I’m flexible).

  13. I’d like to see Gene Simmons in a villain role. Specifically, I’d like him to be Alan Rickman’s life partner, but we won’t find that out until about 2/3 of the way through.

  14. I nominate Eli Roth to direct.

  15. Vern put together a really good list. I already put together a list of my suggestions for 3X in the questions section. MJW is the only name I left off I can’t believe I forgot.

    I wish the entire next film took place in Hong Kong. I was thinking about it the other day, but it would be cool if Nic Cage or Lance Henriksen as the villain hired a team of HK action stars headed by Sammo and a disgruntled Li who is moonlighting to make more money. JCVD is great in EX2 and steals the show, but they need to have a better over all line up of villains in 3X so that there can be better big fight mach ups in the film instead of just 2 like we got in EX2. Jackie & Yun-Fat could be HK cops or mercs the EXPENDABLES team up with.

    They would probably turn it into a self referential joke, but the team from PREDATOR (Duke, Ventura, Black, etc…) should be Arnie’s team.

    If they were to make a female style EXPENDABLES film I think you would have to include Yeoh, Grier, Carano, and Bell, but I would also add current Strikeforce champion and arm bar specialist Ronda Rousey. If you are not familiar with her, google her. She is a badass and is very easy on the eyes.

  16. skani, Ric Flair should be the president in 3X.

  17. Um, yeah, sure. I’ll consent to that.

  18. Can Bill Pullman be a motorcade onlooker who serves an expository function by saying to his son “Billy, that’s our President” like two seconds before they’re all blown up?

  19. Gotta have Mark Dacascos in there. And Michael Biehn. And Jeff Wincott so he could team up with and/or kill his brother. And the snipers, Tom Berenger and Billy Zane. And maybe that Sasha guy from those Kickboxer sequels and Substitute 2

  20. EX III-EX VII wishlist:

    Kurt Russell
    James Woods
    Mikey Jai White
    Ray Stevenson
    Val Kilmer
    Billy Zane
    Jackie Chan
    Christopher Lambert
    Mario Van Peebles
    Nick Nolte
    Michael Ironside
    Wes Studi
    Timothy Dalton
    Brian Benben
    KING COBRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH snake fight announcer from Rambo

  21. Obviously Clint Eastwood needs to be in the movie so Terry Crews can tell him to make his day.

  22. Michael Noonan

  23. Rutger Hauer as the villain…

  24. James Wong or John Lithgow for the next main bad guy.

    Michael Rooker as a cop that’s somehow mixed up in the plot.

    Michael Biehn as a new team member, maybe throw in Linda Hamilton for fun.

    Kane Hodder as a heavy.

    Donnie Yen as The token Asian.

  25. Get Renny Harlin to bring his A game (if that’s still possible) and direct with Isaac Florentine doing 2nd Unit (e.g. most of the action).

  26. Damn, you guys cleaned out all the good ones, so I’ll throw out my not so wild suggestion: JCVD, who should return as Villain’s twin brother. But is he there to exact revenge or is he the good twin? It’d kind of kick ass either way, and I don’t care how stupid it sounds since it involves more JCVD.

  27. Billy Dee Williams as an underworld contact
    Robert Englund as a wise cracking mechanic

    And another vote for Michael Ironside

  28. No love for Johnny Nguyen and Veronica Ngo? :) For this alone: http://youtu.be/e_PU_4NQbj8
    (Warning, if you haven’t seen their film The Rebel, this is the end and so one massive SPOILER). One of my favorite kickass films.

  29. For the female Expendables:

    As mentioned already by Charles and Vern:

    Michelle Yeoh, Milla Jovovich, Gina Carano (I think those three should be the headliners), Jeeja Yanin, Zoe Bell, Pam Grier, and Sigourney Weaver.

    Other options:

    Jiang Liu Xia is one of the most exciting new martial arts stars coming out of Hong Kong right now. Seriously, check out Bad Blood (Mit Moon/King of Triads) and Combat Web (CoWeb). She’s tough, acrobatic, and cute as a button. And from Vietnam, there’s Veronica Ngo from The Rebel. Not only is she a great screen fighter (a practitioner of an interesting style called Vovinam), she’s also incredibly hot.

    On a slightly less martial-artsy level, I think Summer Glau might not be a bad choice. She’s a decent actress, and she has that background in ballet (something she shares with Michelle Yeoh and Jean Claude Van Damme) so she can handle herself in a fight scene.

    You know who else would be great? Helen Mirren.

    Directors:

    Of course, Vern’s right about Kathryn Bigelow. She’d be absolutely the perfect choice, but she almost certainly wouldn’t do it. If the producers want to stick to a gimmick and insist on a female director, their second-best choice might be Lexi Alexander. The problem there is that, even though she seems to have some promise, her movies have been kind of bad.

    Are there any female action movie directors I’m forgetting? Maybe they could find a female fight choreographer and give her a promotion to the director’s chair? Any word on whether Nicola Berwick did a good job on the new Bond movie?

  30. Terry O’Quinn! Either as villlain or expendable. I don’t care, but he belongs in there.
    Too bad that Bob Hoskins recently retired for health reasons. He would be an awesome villain.
    Of course Rutger Hauer.
    And Ron Perlman!

  31. All the women Vern mentioned, with Maggie Cheung and Zhang Ziyi.

  32. Don The Dragon and other b guys are doing THE B TEAM. Why aren’t we talking About that?

    Thing about a female EXPENDABLES is most of the real female fighters aren’t well known. Rothrock, the RAGING PHOENIX/CHOCOLATE girl, etc. They probably still want big names.

  33. caruso_stalker217

    August 24th, 2012 at 11:55 pm

    Needs Thomas Rosales Jr. as a baddie who only yells and dies early. Preferably by getting stepped on by a T-Rex.

  34. Gina Gershon for the female expendables! She has a few action movies under her belt and can pull off tough badass pretty well.

    I hate that you put in the Fast an Furious rule, because Michelle Rodriguez would be perfect for an Expendables-type movie. I’m taking this from a Girlfight point of view. Speaking of girl fighting, Hilary Swank would be a good fit. She was, after all, the Next Karate Kid.

    For Expendables 3, I’m going to be inspired by the previous thread and throw out Keaton as a WTF?! cameo. He was, after all, the best Batman. And he does a good slimeball when given the chance.

  35. I forgot to put in my vote for Carla Gugino, too, aka the best Karen Sisco.

  36. And dammit, someone mentioned Renny Harlen, so I have to suggest seeing what Geena Davis is up to these days.

  37. “And he seems way out of the league of a movie like this. He could cause some spit takes.”

    This line was so funny by itself it almost conjured a spit take.

  38. Dammit just release McTiernan from prison and make directing this movie part of his parole. Also, is Louis Gossett Jr. still alive? Toss his ass in there somewhere.

  39. I second heimp. Berenger and Dacascos seems landmarky (or hallmarky, not good with my adverbs).
    William Sadler, John Amos (Skani’s idea about DH villains is good, but we remember those two ones also for Rush and Hunter, etc…) it’s too bad Sadler’s already in Ironman 3. Tony Todd (Marc Dacascos’ Sabotage’s) can be great too as a henchman.

  40. I would love to see Thomas Ian Griffith be on THE B-TEAM. Easily the most underrated actionstar of the early 90´s. He´s a good actor as well, something Don” The non-dragon” Wilson isn´t.

  41. When they say “Female Expendables” I’m hoping they mean a collection of awesome female martial arts stars and not a collection of great, iconic actors. Of course I’d love to see a movie with Pam Grier, Sigourney Weaver, Geena Davis and the rest. But my dream for years has been to see an international team-up of a bunch of the young female martial artist/actors currently working. A Fox Force Five (or Six, or Seven, no need to be forced into a corner by alliteration) team with each member being a different nationality. JeeJa Yanin from Thailand, Gina Carano from the U.S., Luxia Jiang from Hong Kong, Rina Takeda from Japan, Thanh Van Ngo from Vietnam, Semra Turan from Denmark. It seems like there should be someone from Korea as well though I don’t know of any actresses that are actual martial artists. There must be someone though.

    Obviously this will never happen. If it does you’ll know I’ve won the lottery. Don’t come to me for handouts though. I’ll be too busy blowing my winnings funding ESCAPE FROM EARTH and KING SHOT and that Hou Hsiao-Hsien wuxia movie.

  42. Remember the guys in Training Day that Denzel referred to as “The Three Wise Men”? (Harris Yulin, Tom Berenger, and that other guy; dunno his name). Expendables 3 could use something like that. Stallone and Co. wreak havoc on the baddies, open many cans of whupass, kill a bunch of dudes, blow shit up. You know the drill. Finally (let’s call it aroung the 3/4 mark of the movie), they’re getting ready for their Last Big Push to reach whatever their goal is, and Stallone gets called in for a sitdown with the Men Behind The Bad Men— the head honchos who realize Stallone & Pals are causing them more trouble than it’s worth, and they’re looking to buy off The Expendables, or placate them in some way.

    The new & improved Three Wise Men: Lance Henricksen, Michael Ironside, and Powers Boothe. Henricksen being top dog.

    It would revolve around a tense dramatic scene where they’re trying to appeal to Stallone’s better (from their POV) judgement, but without seeming weak or yielding. Of course, Barney Don’t Play That, and upon his refusal they just kinda shake their heads, and issue a very solemn threat/warning that the shit’s about to hit the fan. And the last dialogue in the scene:

    Stallone (laconic): “It’s like that, then?”
    Henriksen (stern): “It’s like that.”

    Stallone turns and walks out. And then… IT’S ON.

  43. Has anybody mentioned Gerald Okamura, Robin Shou and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa yet?
    Donald Gibb? Robert Z’Dar? Sven-Ole Thorsen?

  44. As for a female EXPENSABLES movie cat options, i already said my piece before in the EPDNABLES 2 forum, but i’m going to paste in here what i had writen. Feedback would be fun.

    LES FEMMES EXPENDABLES

    Gwendoline Christie, the tall actress from GAME OF THRONES who played Brienne, who is one of the shows top badasses. She’s so tall she makes Arnold short and small in comparison.

    Hell, Sigourney Weaver is taller then Arnold. And nobody doubts her badass credentials.

    And as CHUCK showed us, Hamilton can still play a very believable badass asskicker.

    And Michelle Yeoh, well, besides her impecable asskicking credentials, she is a damn good actress too.

    Carrano is quite a beauty, and very believable as a screen badass because, well, d’uhhh!

    Helen Mirren was also quite the badass in RED, i think she was responsible for more shooting and deaths then the rest of her male collegues combined. And she is everybody’s favorite GILF.

    Gena Davis proved she can play badass very well, sadly it was in her then husband’s terrible action bullshitfiests. But she has the skills, and she is taller then Arnold.

    Uma Truman has proved to be quite the badass.

    Milla Jovovitch has been doing nothing but badass since her mid 20s, she is now in her late 30s, so she has creed already.

    I’m convinced if anybody puts a gun to Joan Allen’s hands, she would play a mean badass lady of war.

    Julianne Moore, she’s a terrific actress she could play anything and make it look easy. Action hero? She can do that in her sleep, while looking ravishing doing it!

    Jodie Foster. Don’t laugh, she is far more physically capable then most would think if you only know her just from the dramas. And she’s a great actress, and great actors can play anything.

    Annette Bening. Tall, very talented and still damn good looking!

    Yes, i’m only focusing mostly on the older gals, with Gwendoline the sole exception (she’s still in her 20s… probably), but that’s the point of the EXPENDABLES premise, isn’t it, to allow the older guys to shine as action heroes, right?

    I just thought, they could also have Saoirse Ronan in the team, as the badass kid of the group. Ronan more then proved she badass credentials with HANNA, and she could be the infliltrating expert, like, nobody expecting much from a small pale looking teen girl, right? All this stories about veteran badasses always have the younger kid in the group, correct? Only she could also be a veteran as well since she could be doing this thing since she was 10.

  45. “Get Renny Harlin to bring his A game”

    That mediocre hack never had an A game, and he should stay in whatever hellhole pitt he’s now, far from proper cinema. Detestable hack that Harlin loser is. Never again.

  46. New veteran action guys for EXPENSABLES 3? How about Scott Glenn, Fred Ward, William Dafoe, Tom Berenger, James Woods, Michael Duncan Clarke, Rutger Hauer (he once made a movie with Stallone called NIGHTHAWKS), Frank Nero, Brian Dennehy(meta casting!), Craig T. Nelson, Adam Baldwin (he’s relatively young at only 50 but there are younger guys in this movies), and the best for last, R. Lee “Fucking Marine” Ermey!! Who wouldn’t want to see R. Lee Ermey pulling a Sargent Hartmann on the expenables? And then show the guys how things are done? Oh yeah!

    There could also be guys like Donald Sutherland, Max Von Sydow, William Shatner, David Warner, Christopher Plumer, Elliott Gould, Robert Duvall, Michael Caine or Anthony Hopkins (don’t laugh at the mention of Hopkins, he has said repeatley that he’s in the business for the money – but you pay he will deliver the goods and do it spectaculary). This guys could play mentor figures, the Obi-Wan Kenobi of the movie, or former mercenaries who are now retired and are now more like information/intelligence brokers then actual fighters.

    None of this names are absurd because every one of them have been in action movies made from the 60s to the 90s or even 2000s.

  47. And what is “proper cinema”,exactly?

  48. Wasn’t the Gracies in the first Expendables? They most of the time just extras, but they are present in one of the video blogs Sly did before the first was released, and they are in the film a few places as Garza guards. I think one of them had a few lines in Portuguese.

  49. As far as I can see nobody’s mentioned Burt Reynolds, Lewis Collins or Bill Paxton yet. What the hell’s wrong with you people?

    And what about one of the Bonds; Dalton, Lazenby or Brosnan?

    asimov, Harlin made The Long Kiss Goddnight, and that’s cred enough for me.

  50. Robert Rodriguez would be cool but it looks like he might be busy with Machete Kills. Ben Affleck would probably do a good job (directing, although he was great in The Town so fuck it let him cast himself if he wants). Obviously in a perfect world QT would be directing (imho) but that ain’t gonna happen.

  51. Renny Harlin also made DEEP BLUE SEA,DIE HARDER and CLIFFHANGER. All classics in my book. Hell I even enjoyed 12 BLOCKS. I´d say leave him the fuck alone.

  52. Just throwing an idea. Ashley Judd as a leader of the female Expendables.

    She both beautiful and tough to boot.

  53. Not much more to add really. Robert Z’Dar is a good call. And Van Damme should return playing the two remaining of a set of triplets; one good, one bad.

  54. But no one is allowed quip “double the impact”.

  55. ShootMcKay, what is proper cinema, you ask? Easy: good movies.

  56. What is a “good movie” then?

  57. pegsman, The Long Kiss My Ass Goodbye is a supid idiotic bad movie. Harlin never made one good movie, ever. He was the Michael Bay before Michel Bay came up on the scene. Cinema without Renny Harlin polluting it is a small bliss.

  58. I do second the notion of Bill Paxton and the old Bond guys. I just din’t mentioned the Bond guys because i feared with would be a bit too much on the nose, but it is a good idea, nontheless. Specially Timothy Dalton, one of the most underrated Bond ever and one of the best.

  59. ShootMcKay, a good movie is one that is not between commas. Easy description? A fairly smart honest movie that doesn’t presume audiences are made of morons. From that simple premise a whole world of good cinema cames about.

  60. I though DH2 was pretty good, and there some inspired moments in ANOES4. Both Harlin. But I agree that he’s never done anything particularly great.

    I’m not too jazzed about a female Expendables, just because I don’t think there’s that same nostalgia or bench strength. The 80s-90s female action star was not really a thing. That said, if they do this, agree that Linda Hamilton is a must.

  61. Timothy Dalton is a great idea! I would just add him for diversity and kill off some of the existing Expendables. The actual team is a little bit redundant in the muscleman department. Then add Nicholas Cage as bad guy, hire a competent screenwriter and director and I’m already happy.

  62. Anyone who watched the last season of Chuck knows that Dalton still has that great presence to pull of a bad guy or a good guy in badass mode.

  63. Timothy Dalton was a great bad guy in HOT FUZZ.Before that I don´t recall seen many movies with him as a villain.With the exception of ROCKETEER. I support wholeheartedly the idea ofDalton as a villain in ANY movie.

  64. asimov, you fancy yourself as being smarter than any of us – hell, smarter than the rest of the globe – and I know I’m going to regret this, but please tell us what’s wrong with THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT. You’re messing with SCANDINAVIA now, so this better be good.

    Shoot, Dalton was a really cool bad guy in MADE MEN too, even if his Texas drawl didn’t do him any favours.

    I think George Lazenby would make a really cool villain in EXP 3. He as bonkers Van Damme and in pretty good shape for his age.

  65. As for Asian stars, yun-fat Chow and Donnie Yen are of course given.

  66. Since all the major ones have been mentioned, I’ll suggest Brian Thompson and Jeff Kober as disposable henchmen. If Brion James were still alive, he’d be joining them.

    And if for some reason Helen Mirren is not available for a villain role, she could be replaced by Cate Blanchett (Hanna) or Janet McTeer (Cat Run).

    Why Janet McTeer? She was probably the best thing about that ridiculous movie.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hrp-LHzXqME

  67. I just realized that THE EXPENDABLES is THE WALKING DEAD (TV show) of action movies. Everbody was disappointed or even completely pissed off by it, but everybody is waiting for the next movie (season) and hopes that it finally lives up to its potential.

  68. CJ-What is this “potential” you are talking about? The reason I´m asking because I think THE WALKING DEAD is great as it is. Sure the second season wasn´t perfect, but damn much more watchable and entertaining than most shows out there ( the exception being JUSTIFIED,of course. that shit can´t be beat.)

  69. You guys covered the actor wish list pretty well, though I might add Chibs from Sons of Anarchy (or anyone from Sons for that matter) Not much to add to it, but as for director… Isaac Florentine is the obvious choice, but I say let Dolph take a crack at it. I’ve liked all the movies he’s directed so far that I’ve seen. Hell, Command Performance alone shouldn’t have been nearly as watchable as it was.

    Actually bringing up Sons, I think 3X would be a good one for Kurt Sutter to write and direct. Maybe Sutter writes, Dolph directs. Yeah. That could work.

  70. Shoot: Let’s just say that a show like THE WALKING DEAD or ANY kind of high profile zombie apocalypse Cable TV show, shouldn’t waste more than 2/3 of its run so far with lame bottle episodes about characters who doesn’t make any sense and shoehorning one gory zombie kill into each episode, just to satisfy the gore hounds.

  71. Shoot, I’m afraid I’m with CJ on this. The second season were twice as long as the material they had. There was just to much talk and too little action. BUT, the last episode of season 2 is the best of both series, so I have a lot of confidence in season 3.

  72. I also think Forest Whitaker would be a great 3X villain.

  73. As for EX3: Nick Nolte would be good. He’s kind of already done that in Tropic Thunder but maybe he can play this one straight.

  74. Antonio Banderas
    Graham McTavish (he played the bald ex-SAS guy from RAMBO who was constantly belittling him, aslo plays one of the dwarves in The Hobbit)
    I second the Michael Rooker suggestion. He’d make a great sleazy ruthless main villain or lieutenant to one.
    Idris Elba and/or Chiwetel Ejiofor as old buddy or rival of Lee Christmas from “back home”
    As a nod to DOUBLE IMPACT and MAXIMUM RISK, can I suggest bringing Van Damme back as Jean Vilain’s twin brother?
    Given all the Snake Eater love, I was surprised there was no Lorenzo Lamas suggestion yet
    Speaking of, may I suggest getting David “Solid Snake” Hayter to WRITE the damn thing? He worked on the scripts for the first two X-Men, and The Scorpion King, so I think he’s got a handle for action/adventure plotting.

    Expendshebles-
    Lena Heady did a good job as Sarah Conner on tv, and her real life personality seems really suited to this sort of buddy action movie
    Demi Moore. She was a ridiculously fun villain in Charlie’s Angels 2, and GI Jane showed she can pull off being tough

  75. Josh Holloway might work too. He didn’t get a whole lot to do in MI:3, sadly.

  76. Skani: Since you mentioned TROPIC THUNDER. Call me crazy, but I wouldn’t mind Ben Stiller directing EX3. He proved that he can direct over the top action scenes and he probably would even get the one liners and banter between the team members right. Unfortunately his image would mislead way too many audience members into thinking that this movie (And the first two) were meant to be parodies.

  77. I demand Martin Kove as a villain

  78. But you know, actually I gotta say as much fun as it is to create a wish list of badasses, I thought Part 2 was overstuffed with cameos which actually slowed the pace and fucked up the teamwork dynamics. They have a good core group, they should focus on that, and only bring in the other classic action icons in roles that make sense to the plot. Van Damme’s use in Part 2 worked great — but there was no reason to shoehorn Chuck Norris’ character into it, and his inclusion just ended up a distraction and a momentum-killer.

  79. Agree with Subtlety. I’m actually naming off various fragments of separate scenarios. If all the guys I’ve mentioned were actually in this movie, I think it would be a mess. Still dig the Gene Simmons idea. He was a pretty serious bad ass in the tom selleck one with the robot bugs, and he has proven he can go camp with Extract (worth seeing btw).

    Also, CJ, Ben Stiller is very talented as an actor and director period. I generally agree that a good comedic actor probably has a better bet of succeeding in a “serious” (if you could call this that) role than the opposite kind of cross over.

    I actually didn’t really get Tropic Thunder. I just didn’t see what all the fuss was about. I thought the whole Tom Cruise role was an over the top inside thing (and I really actually like Tom Cruise, regardless of how crazy he may be), Robert Downey Jr. in the blackface thing was okay I guess. Just not a ton of laughs for me. Kind of like the Original Expendables of Comedy.

  80. I am also on the Timothy Dalton bandwagon. Not necessarily for Expendables per se, but I think a lot of people have kind of wised up that he’s actually a lot of fun and a bit dark vs. all the hatorade he got as James Bond. I dug him on Chuck and on Tales from the Crypt (I think he was a werewolf or something).

  81. Rehydrated Dehydrated Pirate Paul

    August 25th, 2012 at 1:03 pm

    And not a single person has brought up Tom Cruise yet? Shame on you. Keanu as well. Too “mainstream” for you guys?

    If Bolo Yeung or Al Leong are in E3, I want to see them in the same kind of role as Dolph had in E1. Let’s not have them relegated to “tough henchman” roles yet again please.

  82. Yeah, I definitely don’t want to see Keanu Reeves in this one. I have nothing against him, I just don’t think he’s a match. Tom Cruise would be wicked distracting. My basic rule is bona fide marquee (including the marquee of a DTV box) straight up action hero badass or scenery chewing character actor. Keanu Reeves has played bad asses, but he is not a bad ass. Same w/ Tom Cruise.

  83. Paul, Tom & Keanu are everything that is wrong with modern action films. They are actors first and action stars second. The EXPENDABLES franchise is about honoring action stars not the actors that replaced them.

  84. Tom and Keanu raped my childhood.

    Not really. Keanu is cool on the strength of Bill and Ted alone. Tom Cruise gets past the bouncer by virtue of Magnolia. I have no idea what drives Tom Cruise (actually, I have an idea, but I’m not sure it’s right), but in addition to being dreamy and what not, I think he is tremendously talented and committed. You can’t hate on Collateral, or the Mission Impossible 2 spoof w/ Ben Stiller.

    True confessions: I am a big fan of Vanilla Sky. That’s going to join Get Carter on the movies for which I’m beaned w/ tomatoes when I admit I liked that. Cruise’s performance when his surgeons are showing him facial prosthetics is epic.

  85. Hell, yes, Tom Jane. Seconded.

  86. Michael Ironside and Sven Ole-Thorsen.

  87. Skeet Ulrich.

  88. Definitely Michael Biehn as a new Expendable. If Michael Rooker is a corrupt cop I would like to see Clancy Brown as the only honest guy in the department. Also Keith David taking on a wrestler again. I second the call for Fred Ward, an Expendable who gave it up to do something blue collar and low profile. If Clint were going to be in the movie you’d have to have someone who could reasonably try and stare him down – the only person I wanna see in a close-up/long-range Leone style stand-off with Clint is Johnny Hallyday. Imagine that beady gaze in widescreen.

    Jamie Lee Curtis for the female Expendables, is the only one I got that hasn’t been mentioned. Maybe Sandahl Bergman too, or she could pop up causing trouble for Arnie in E3, an old flame with a complicated history.

  89. Psych. Just funnin with ya.

  90. Dave R, those are all very solid and inspired additions.

    Ving Rhames?

  91. Al Leong as a good guy would be awesome. Then Expendables 3 would be legitimately groundbreaking, they could put it on the poster.

  92. Skani, Ving Rhames is a good one.

  93. He was mentioned before in another thread when we were talking about an EXPENDABLES line up with action stars from the 70’s, but Burt Reynolds would also make a great addition to the cast. It would be sweet if he was the team’s driver/pilot. Also, I don’t think anybody has nominated him yet (and if I missed it sorry) but Brion James would make a great EXPENDABLES villain.

  94. Brion James has been dead for about 18 years, so that’s gonna be a problem unless we crank up the Forrest Gump technology.

    Burt Reynolds gets a thumbs up.

  95. Ving Rhames, definitely, and Tiny Lister can call him shorty. Then with Lister that’s another Universal Soldier ticked off the list, bringing them ever closer to Adkins.

  96. Ok, make that 13 years. He would have been friggin awesome though.

  97. Okay, it’s my duty as concerned citizen to nominate Michael Clarke Duncan to join Tiny Lister and Ving Rhames as part of a trifecta of monstrous tough cool black dudes from the last 15 years.

  98. Gina Carano and Randy Couture fight scene!

    Kurt Russell as villain and Chris Hemsworth as henchman/2nd in command!

    Pam Grier as a “church” like character.

  99. Also, didn’t check every comment, but Tom Hardy would be excellent.

    And Tony Jaa.

    There aren’t very many other working action heros other than the ones that have been listed so we have to move on to badass leading men.

  100. Oh shit, for the younger generation in Expendables: The Women they have to genre hop and have The Woman. Wilderness specialist. Shit will be destroyed.

    Failing that, okay, I know she’s retired from acting but it would be awesome to see a shotgun-toting Jeanette Goldstein lined up alongside Weaver and Hamilton on the poster.

  101. Having JCVD return as his twin brother would be an inspired idea!

  102. keith mother fucking david

  103. As long as he can be killed by David Keith.

  104. I’d agree with Mr. S and others in that Ex2 felt bloated and overstuffed, and I also found the Norris cameo to be largely flat and far too self-referential. Same with a lot of the Arnie banter. I think they should trim the fat and not add a lot more characters for 3. I’d even go so far as to bring Jet Li back as the villain. Have him return seeking vengeance against his old crew for some reason, and play him against type as the cold ruthless bad guy, ala his Lethal Weapon 4 performance. I’d love to see an all out showcase of his speed and technique against his former partners. He’s been probably the most under-used actor in the franchise, you have one of the best fighters in the world in your movie and you shoot him with quick cuts and unflattering angles, and his two scenes are over seconds after they’ve begun? Bullshit.

  105. My sense is that Jet Li didn’t want or have time for a larger role. Initially, they were speculating that he wouldn’t even come back for part 2.

  106. (note: accidentally posted in the Expendables 2 thread already)
    I originally wasn’t going to voice my disagreement with Vern about Soderbergh handling Ex3, but since it’s a thing now, I do have to say I think HAYWIRE gets WAY too much of a pass round here just because the way the HANDFULL of MOSTLY LESS THAN A MINUTE LONG hand to hand action scenes were shot in a pretty clear and coherent manner. Not that I think HAYWIRE is “bad”, per se, just a movie that could have been great, but for me, was more of an interesting letdown.
    My disappointments with that movie were in the ways it failed to actually deliver anything climactic in it’s climax, and kept it’s action limited to foot chases, the aforementioned brief fight scenes(the best and longest of which comes halfway through the movie), one car chase, and a blink and you’ll miss it firefight. This is hardly in the wheelhouse of the sort of OTT, traditional 80s style blockbuster action the Expendables series is meant to be trading in. I also don’t think his overall style is at all suitable for The Expendables. It’s way too classy and understated. Expendables needs to be a bit more kinetic and high energy, just without being a fucking mess. Like with a Hyams of Florentine.

  107. I think Soderbergh could work if he was into it because genre change always seems to intrigue him. With the right screenwriting partner he gets into his “fun” mode, most typified by Ocean’s 11. For those worried about the already bloated cast but wanting fresh blood my scenario would be one where the (good) Expendables are tasked with retrieving something from some sort of castle (allowing initial planning and smaller room one-on-one fights) with the main bad guy, but plans go awry when the (bad) Expendables team led by Jean-Claude’s twin brother shows up after the same thing. Riffing off the Ocean’s setup you have a half hour planning/camaraderie start then an hour of non-stop action. Plus Soderbergh rarely gets to handle a heavy body count, that might be a motivating factor to keep him out of his supposed retirement.

  108. Don’t call it “getting a pass.” The Expendables movies “get a pass” because I enjoy them (at least the first time) despite numerous flaws. Haywire I love and it just gets better the more I watch it. Yes, it’s a different tone than you’d want in an Expendables movie, yet for me it delivers about seven times the action thrills just because the fights and the chases are executed so much better, even if on a smaller scale.

  109. My dream team would be:
    Nic Cage
    Wesley Snipes
    Diamond Dallas Page
    Danny Trejo
    Donnie Yen
    Michael Jai White
    Roddy Piper
    Maybe they could be Swarzenegger’s team that we’ve never seen.

    Exfemables: Some or all of the following, in order of preference:
    Rhona Mitra
    Catherine Zeta Jones
    Brooke Elliott
    Amanda Peet
    Uma Thurman
    Jessica Biel
    Kate Beckinsdale
    Jennifer Garner
    A. Jolie

  110. How could no one have mentioned Hulk Hogan or Peter Weller?

    Hogan would be fantastic, not only because we know that Stallone and Terry are friends in real life, but we could finally get to see ol’ Thunder Lips go up against the ‘Ultimate Meatball’ once again. And as for Weller–He’s a God Damned Action Icon…

    As for the aforementioned, the only one’s I’d personally be jazzed to see would be Rothrock as Barney’s ex-wife, Nic Cage as the/a villain, Jackie Chan/Yuen Biao/Sammo as a members of Ying-Yang’s “family” and Chow Yun-Fat playing anything in which he kills a crowd of people with dual 45’s.

    And for The Expenda-Belles, I agree with Cynthia (of course), Zoe Bell, Michelle Yeoh, Jee-Ja, Jenette Goldstein and Pam Grier…as well as Weaver and Hamilton–but where is the love for Cheng Pei-pei, Etsuko Shihomi, Sharon Stone, María Conchita Alonso, and Dina ‘Diz’ Meyer? They are Female-Action-Movie Royalty…

  111. Van Damme as triplets would be a first. He’s played twins four times, double Van Dammage, but never triple Van Dammage.

    Agree on Haywire, no pass involved. It’s a thrilling movie. That gunfight in a single locked off shot is the most thrilling gunfight in the last 10 years. I guess that’s faint praise but it is really good.

    CLIFFHANGER and NIGHTMARE 4 rule. And FORD FAIRLANE!!!

    EX3 only needs to add Cage, Snipes and work it out with Seagal. Anyone else is clutter.

  112. The Original... Paul

    August 26th, 2012 at 5:28 am

    I love the Ving Rhames suggestion. Like I said in another thread, he’s a serial saviour of bad or indifferent movies. He could be just what the franchise needs. I also love Van Damme as triplets. But why stop there? Would quads be overkill?

    And yeah, I was joking about Cruise and Keanu.

    I was critical of Haywire myself, but I’m kinda more where Vern is on this one. I don’t think that film needs a “pass”. There were definitely aspects of it that disappointed me in the movie as a whole (in particular the climax doesn’t have anybody for Carano to fight) but I also thought that the action scenes, and much of the directing, were really well done. That one five-minute scene where Carano leaves the hotel in particular might be the single best scene I’ve ever seen Soderbergh shoot.

    Did anybody mention Michelle Rodriguez yet?

  113. I still say Haywire suffers from poor sound design causing the fights to lose their impact.

  114. Sternshein, i think it’s quite the contrary, HAYWRE

  115. Sorry, i ht enter by mistake.

    As i was saying, Sternshein, i think it’s quite the contrary, HAYWRE’s sound design strive to go for a more naturalistic type, and this is why the fights do not that usual very loud sound associated to fights since even the earlys days of sound cinema. There’s a place for all that type of sound design for fights, both the over-the-top and the more naturalistic, depending on the intention of the filmmakers. With HAYWIRE, the intention was to make a more down to earth actioneer. So, the sound matches the intent.

  116. What Vern said about HAYWIRE. He puts all the movie’s strongest qualities in a nutshell.

  117. ASIMOV !!!
    are you the real asimovlives from AICN, the most beloved Portuguese Abrams/NuTrek hater?

  118. KilliK, I don’t read the talkbacks on AICN, but that sounds like asimov.

  119. The all female version of the Expendable, as it is being described in the press, might actually have some potential. Some of the most interesting action films of the last decade or so have starred females. At the same time, since there’s less of a history of ass kicking women, we might be able to avoid all of the not so subtle references and winking towards the camera. Of course, it could also turn out like Bandidas (which, despite the awesome premise of having both Salma Hayek and Penelope Crus wearing skimpy outfits, I heard wasn’t all that good).

  120. KilliK, i am indeed, good sir. How’s everything in ol’ Greece? I hope you had better cacations then me, for i had a back problem that lasted for the whole of my vacations. Not fun at all.

  121. cacations = vacations

  122. I just rewatched HAYWIRE, and indeed it’s damn good. As Vern says, it gets better with repeated viewing. It was a stoke of genious to hire Gina Carrano to play the lead, because that woman is very believable as a asskcker. And that she loks like an angel doesn’t hurt either. And i have no idea why some people criticised her acting, because she is very good in all her scenes, be they action or dialogue. Probably the hand of Soderbergh has anything to do with it, since he’s very good in getting good performances from any and every actor, even when non-professionals. But she’s good in the movie, quite good, the people who think otherwise must had their head so stuck up in the popcorn bucket they failed to watch the movie proper.

    And Soderbergh, in his first action movie, shows he knows more about making action movies then most so called veterans of the genre. If somebody ever make a LES FEMMES EXPENDABLES movie, he should do it, or at least be in the top choice of directors.

  123. So, I finally saw EX2. Posted my thoughts in the EX2 thread.

  124. I haven0t noticed if anybody has said this before, but how about Zoe Bell for Les Femmes Expendables? And not as a stuntwoman, but has an actress.

  125. I understand your point and I agree with your statement about the purpose. However, the approach to that for fight scenes isnt that interesting to me. If they took that approach to The Raid it would lose a ton of the impact, for example. Thats just my opinion. I wont plan on seeing Haywire again anytime soon.

  126. Asimov.
    Hey man, how have you been? I am sorry to hear that you still have the problem with your back and how it ruined your vacation. I hope that you will eventually recover from that ordeal. Back pain is a bitch.
    As for me,I had good,relaxed vacations,thanks for asking.

    So it was a real big surprise to see you here on Vern. Did you discover this excellent movie site recently or do you happen an old visitor?
    And does this mean that $%#$ ginger from AICN, banned you permanently like he did with me and a lot of other people?

    I am asking because despite my continuous banning there,i keep visiting that site with different nicknames and i saw you in the talkbacks a couple of weeks ago.
    At first i thought that your ban was lifted and i was happy for that but then i didn’t see you again in the talkbacks and i was wondering if it was because of your known health problem or that you got banned again.

    And another thing. I dont know if you remember this but when you visited AICN the last time, someone gave you his email to send him your facebook link. It was me but with a different nickname. :)
    I got your email but i forgot about contacting you, sorry. i just sent you a friend request, if you want accept it.

    Cheers man, glad to see you here.

  127. Sternshein, i haven’t seen THE RAID yet, so are you saying that the fight and action scenes in that movie are difficult to understand with no sense of the geography of the scene and who’s doing what to whom? Because for me, HAYWIRE is almost a text book case on how fights and action scenes should be displayed onscreen, with total full clarity. Yeah, i really liked that movie.

  128. KilliK

    I have visited this site quite some years already, since Vern created it. I know of Vern since he posted for AICN. Yeah, this is a cool joint. It does invite a lot of cool people to post in here. Met many interesting people here. Mostly they are action junkies who take aggravation that i don’t like movies like COMMANDO, but it’s all in good spirits. All part of the fun.

    Yeah, i’m banned at AICN. I don’t know if i could return with another nick, because i’m banned by my IP, i believe. I don’t know if it was Knowles who banned me, but i think not him, i doubt he could be arsed to even acknowledge my existence. But some f his minions, some of his most zealous might had been. Who, i haven’t the cluest. If i had to venture a guess, probably Capone.

    I’m recuperating from by back problem. Thanks for the concern.

    I mannaged, goodness knows how that happened, to post about THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, where i praised the movie, and where i comented about Knowles’ very strange review f that movie. It must had done me no favours. I keep an eye on the site, reading the reviewsd and articles, and The Kidd’s latest review of COSMOPOLIS is… well, to say he missed the mark is an understatement. It’s not the easiest movie to watch for some crowds, for sure, but it’s an undeniably very smart movie with layers of meanings to it. It upsetted me that Kidd called it pseudo-intellectual, when no, COMOPOLIS is REALLY an intelelctual movie. It seems to me so many people really do not understand what psuedo-intelelctual means. They seem to use it to mean “intelelctual” and use it as their own anti-intellectual reaction to any display of intellectualism. Because god forbid a movie trying to be smart and profound, right? Perfect definotion of what is a pseudo-intellectual is PROMETHEUS, one where the writer clearly has no idea of what the themes he’s supposed to be introducing actually are. Hell, that movie didn’t evne know what faith realy means, for christ’s sakes.

    I wrote too much already about subjects that is not of this thread. Vern doesn’t like that type of tangents. Tell me which name your request for friend was and i’ll check it out and we can correspond. See ya laters, all the best.

  129. hey asimov

    i sent you my facebook friend request as Elias.

  130. Killik, i haven’t found your friend request on my facebok page. I send you the link to my facebook page, just in case you want to send another one. I’ll wait for an Elias from Greece.

    http://www.facebook.com/carlos.saraiva.1694#!/carlos.saraiva.1694

  131. Asimov, that’s strange, facebook says that my request is pending. anyway,i resent it again.
    here is my fb account http://www.facebook.com/elias.ntarlas to see who i am.

  132. Nicolas Cage and Wesley Snipes seem plausible. I’ll also throw out Ray Liotta and Robert Patrick as suggestions. Between Cop Land and T2, both already have a history with Sly and Arnold.

    Now that Expendables 2 appears headed for a lower gross (at least domestically), they’ll probably try to shake things up for a sequel. Sly has already hinted at switching genres and “ripping off one of Arnold’s old films”, which could be interpreted as reviving the discarded Rambo 5 script, “The Savage Hunt”.

    It could also mean Arnold will finally get equal screentime and his own team. Sly has to know there’s only so many times audiences will fall for the brief cameo gimmick.

  133. Nicolas Cage in an Expendables movie is absolutly not out of the question, since he has filled for bankrupcy he can’t be too picky about the movies he’s given. So, guys, expect ol’ Nick Cage in an Expendables movie soon. The only question is, will he play Fu Manchu (this is directed to all those few who watched the fake trailers for the GRINDHOUSE movies).

    You guys should be hopeful about EXPENDABLES 2 comemrcial sucess in that it’s a fair bet that movie will make mucho bucks in the foreign markets. Star power is very important in the selling of action movies in forieng markets, and THE EXPENDABLES 2 is chockful of that. Foreing audiences are quite faithful to their movie stars, and with the exception of the wrestlers, all other action veterans in that movie are very well known movie stars with a very dedicated fanbase and even average mainstream audience appeal.

    Besides, Holywood movies with bigger box office results overseas then domestic is now more the rule then the exception.

  134. Hey asimov, did you see my facebook friend request?

  135. KilliK, i’m at work, but as soon i return home, i’ll check it out. The idea we can chat away and not being limited to the bans imposed by AICN pleases me immensely.

  136. Asimov, the geography is very clear in The Raid. I’m referring to the sound only. I felt the natural sound hurt the impact of the fights in Haywire rendering them boring. I want to feel the hits and the impact. I didn’t feel it during Haywire. For the record I think the final fight in The Raid is the greatest thing ever and how I prefer my fight scenes. Please watch it so I can read your opinion.

  137. Seriously, get John Woo to direct part 3. Not like he’s doing anything better…

    Just give him free reign on the action scenes for the first time ever in the US.

    And we know he can get an awesome performance out of Nic Cage.

  138. Sternshein, i actually prefer realistic naturalistic sounds in gunfights in movies. This is why i think the gunfights in WAY OF THE GUN and HEAT are the best i ever seen on film. I do believe that the closer to reality the better a gunfight looks on film. When an action or thriller movie plays closer to reality, it makes me feel more closer to the story and have it more impact, the stakes feel higher and the danger palpable. Basically, it makes it better.

  139. Bobby Lupo, i think John Woo returned to China for good and has no intention to go back to Holywood, where he has few good memory of.

  140. Jareth Cutestory

    August 27th, 2012 at 8:56 am

    I saw Patrick Swayze’s brother in an X-FILES re-run recently. He seems to embody the sensibility and aesthetic of this kind of project. Rae Dawn Chong too. And of course Carl Weathers has to be the team’s cook, Stewie.

    But really, I’d be more interested in watching AsimovLives have a debate with Fred Willard about what constitutes “proper cinema.”

  141. Jareth Cutestory: proper cinema = good movies. Easy, isn’t it?

  142. Has there been any kind of “official” statement from Cage or his management on this? So far, I’ve heard confirmations from an Expendables producer, but that’s it.

  143. There aren’t even confirmations from the producers. So far it was just “Sly would like to have Cage in EX3” and over the course of one day it became “Nic Cage is playing the villain in EX3!”
    Modern online journalism is just a telephone game…

  144. The producer said in an interview that Cage was going to be in the movie. I think it will happen, but I doubt any contracts have been signed. He was also rumored for part 2.

  145. Well, if Nicolas Cage will be in the next movie, that’s good news. The man is a walking entertaiment machine. And your guys better carry slices of bread with you to the theaters, because Cage will deliver a lot of ham.

  146. Hey, I just came up with a name, that doesn’t seem to be on any list for EX3 yet: Sasha Mitchell, mostly known as sitcom star from the 90’s, but also black belt wearing protagonist of KICKBOXER 3 & 4.

  147. I’ve got an even better idea, Sasha Grey killing bad guys in the buff

  148. I second the notion of hot women kicking ass in the nude. Best of both worlds would be TWO hot naked women kicking the shit out of each other.

  149. Asimov, you won’t get an argument out of me about the Heat gunfight. But you vannot compare guns to fists. If i cant hear the impact I cant feel the impact. I didnt feel anything during Haywire except boredom. I have enjoyed our discussion.

  150. Sternshein, point taken. Likewise, this has been a fun discussion for me as well.

    Risking berating the subject beyond the point of it’s welcome, let me just say that i prefer action movies to have a more naturalistic sound, be it gunfights or fistfights. The way i understand it, the impact of a fight on the character it all depends on how invested you are in his/her plight, and no amount of explosive sound effects on the punches can make me sympathise with the protagonist if i find him unlikable or unsympathetic or devoid of interest. But in HAYWIRE, i was so caught up in the story and the main character’s plight, i felt every punch he took, and the naturalistic sound just made it more involving. and that’s because those sounded like real fists hitting bodyparts sounds as they happen in real life. A stronger association with real life made me feel more involved. You know what i mean? That’s my point, anyway.

    More explosive fist sound designs can be effective for me if they are used in a way that helps drama, like, for example, in the movie RAGING BULL, in which, one can say almost for sure, all modern day sound designs in regard to fights have their origin. But Raging Bull used it for dramatic effect in a character driven drama story. As it is all too often, many times action movies co-op stuff that was created for drama movies and misuse them for empty spectacle.

  151. Sternshein – haven’t you ever watched boxing or MMA or anything like that? I’m not against the phony sound effects in 99% of movie fights, but I don’t need a loud bang to tell me when somebody’s getting their block knocked off.

    This reminds me – I think I mentioned it in the review, but there was a woman in the theater when I saw it who kept saying “Jesus!” every time there was a painful looking hit. So she was just saying it over and over again through all of the fights! It was crazy.

  152. The Original... Paul

    August 28th, 2012 at 2:47 pm

    “As it is all too often, many times action movies co-op stuff that was created for drama movies and misuse them for empty spectacle.”

    Asimov speaks the truth. Wasn’t one of the earliest really famous uses of Shakycam the Spielberg war film “Saving Private Ryan”? I seem to remember it working really well there.

  153. The Original… Paul

    Spielerg hismelf admited that the use of shaky cam was inspired by prevous works done y Kubrick i DR STRANGEOVE and Orso Welles in CHIMES OF MIDNIGHT, which both i saw befre SAVING PRVITE RYAN, so when i saw that move, i relaied where spielberg had taken his inspirain from. That Spielberg admited it himself in public only adds to hs class act.

    As fr i can tell, one of the very few times where the use of shaky cam after SCINDLER’S LIST was done well ws by David Fincher in SEVEN. And still that’s a dramatic movie where the haky am was used ONLY FOR ONE SCENE for full dramatic effect in a relatively simple shotout. The point was to show that simply havng one person shootin at you, unlike in many actio n movies, is a very serious and very scay situation, quite deadly.

    Unfortunatly, being co-op by so many action movie filmmakers today, shaky cam lost it’sower to enthrall and provide an unconfortable see of danger and now just became anoying and off-putting. I knew shacky cam was going down to hell when Michael Bay used in it in THE ISLAND. That’s when it all fell apart.

  154. Vern, i completly second what you said above. It alwauyswok forme that wheenver a action movielays more realistic and naturalistic,even in he sound design, the more enthralling it is fo me. Something about having fiction close to reality makes it workso much bette for me, no matter what genre. I believe any fool can make fancy exagerated fantsy action stuff, but only true talent can pull off the more naturalistic type. I often think that super-exagerated fantasy stuff from so many action movies are clutches to disguise lack of talent to be able to pull true thrills.

  155. The Original... Paul

    August 28th, 2012 at 5:28 pm

    Asimov – not arguing with you buddy, but SPR was when the technique really got some serious attention. And it was only really used extensively in two major scenes in that movie, as far as I recall.

  156. I wish I saw Haywire when Vern did because all I heard were yawns. :( I think when I watch an MMA fight you can see and feel the impact because there is real actual impact. Plus crowd noise and an excitable announcer help make it feel more exciting. It also just might be the case that if I liked the stuff around the fights in Haywire I might have gotten more excited about the fights. For my money The Raid is still the best action martial arts movie of the year.

  157. The Original… Paul, if i’m not too mistaken, i think about half of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN was shot with handheld cameras. But in keeping with the notion of filmed documentary, the cameramen tried their best to not look like it handheld, as documentarists do. Some of the shackiness was done not by handheld but with a special mechanism mounted on the tripods that create shakes on the camera, mostly done in the beach assault sequence. and as yu well said, it was done quite well. One feels that SAVING PRIVATE RYAN couldn’t had been done any other way. not the same can be said about many of the movies that came after it, can we?

  158. Sternshein, that’s the thing, HAYWIRE is not a martials arts movie. It’s an action movie, heavily inspired by the thrillers made in 1970s and done in it’s image (emphasis on tention and mood and with character development), with some of today’s juice.

  159. Good news! Netflix streaming is streaming Haywire so I’m going to watch it again. However, there are numerous fight scenes using mixed MARTIAL ARTS therefore one can clasify it as action martial arts which is what I called The Raid. I’ll let you know if I liked it better the second time around.

  160. Oh shit, why didn’t we think of Brigitte Nielsen?

  161. Hologram Patrick Swayze for the EXPENDAFELLAS III.

    For the ladies version:

    Daryl Hannah has been known to do somersaults and to choke dudes out with her thighs.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE4HWJzBXUI

    Carrie Fisher has been known to do some things with a shotgun.
    http://i.chzbgr.com/completestore/2010/8/30/cdc63630-30ea-45f8-b4ab-2598512b5ab2.jpg

    Nicki Minaj seems like she’d be really into an major filmatistic asskicking role.

    Vanessa Hudgens probably had the highest body count in SUCKER PUNCH, bless her.

    http://www.nextmovie.com//wp-content/uploads/nggallery/hot-girls-huge-guns/sucker_punch_vanessa-hudgens.jpg

    She can man a gunship’s primary aft weapon while slinging our favorite expletive at dragons
    http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m99puerCac1rzh1a3o1_500.gif ,

    or rock a hatchet,
    [see the goddamn movie, it’s awesome]

    and then she can do a duet with Minaj. Maybe a brief, bloody Zac Efron death scene cameo would be in order.

  162. I’m sorry, but I find it hard to garner much sympathy for anyone responsible for fostering awful reality shows on the public

    but it’s still pretty sad to see a once hot woman reduced to that

  163. Mouth: I’m not sold on Vanessa Hudgens because all of the casualties that she racked up in SUCKER PUNCH were the result of her lethal duckface. Pouting isn’t a martial art.

  164. I never thought of Brigitte, because she seems to be in pretty bad shape these days (literally and figuratively). The story karlos posted a link to is only the tip of the iceberg. For her and her family’s sake I hope she get some help. If they were going to get Nielsen, they might as well get former pro wrestler and current adult film star Joanie “Chyna” Laurer. However, IMDB says she plays She Hulk in AVENGERS XXX: A PORN PARODY, so she might not be free to work on a lady EXPENDABLS film since I am sure she is contractually obligated to appear in all the AVENGERS XXX sequels.

  165. I don’t think she has been suggested, but what about Milla Jovovich?

  166. Sorry, just realized Vern already suggested Jovovich.

  167. Well, it’s too bad she’s not staying sober, but she does still look cool in those pictures. She could be Jane Vilain.

  168. Amber Heard has some badass cred from NEVER BACK DOWN and her violent role in DRIVE ANGRY 3D. She seems like she’d be down to angrily drive fast cars again and throw some more punches.

    Her style, “white trash fu” I believe it’s called in my opinion, characterized by hair-grabbing, cockpunching, and elbow-y punches, would offer a nice contrast to the styles of the various Asian & Latina Expendablettes.

    I also appreciate her ability to wear denim shorts that somehow cover less skin than a pair of panties.
    http://demonsresume.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/amber-heard-as-piper-in-drive-angry-2011.jpg

  169. “white trash fu”

    that sounds like a Joe Bob Briggs term

  170. Mouth, Amber Heard is a great suggestion. My favorite James Brown lyric “I don’t know Karate, but I know crazy”, perfectly describes what you are referencing as Heard’s fighting style. What she lacks in technical skill and training she makes up for with savagery and brutality.

  171. How about Liam Neeson, he could play Statham’s father-in-law and can be shown early in the movie during Statham’s wedding with the bitch that cheated on him. Later on Neeson could reappear as an army officer who has been sent in by the givernment to track down the same clowns the expendabels are going after, and thats when Sly and co. realise that its bigger than anything they’ve handled before.

  172. Gina Carano has been cast:

    http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/09/25/gina-carano-is-the-caramel-and-jamba-of-that-female-expendables-movie/

    No shocks and that’s a good thing.

    I did read a few weeks ago that The Rothrock had been “in talks”, but nothing else since.

  173. Wait, Nicolas Cage/Simon West’s “Stolen” is out in theatres??? It’s playing at the theatre next to my house, with ONE showing a day? What in the world??

    I mean, the trailer looked unpromising, but I didn’t think it’d be getting the Trespass/Seeking Justice sorta-straight to video treatment.

    And by the way, anyone think it’s weird that an actor as bland and inoffensive as Josh Lucas is playing the gimmicky looking psychopathic villain while Cage is playing another one of his Gone in 60 Seconds/ National Treasure boring straight-men? I kinda wish Cage played both roles, Parent Trap-style.

  174. http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8424161/the-first-short-new-30-30-documentary-series

    The new short ARNOLD’S BLUEPRINT, about his early years. Short but sweet as they say, a nice inspiring story about what lead him to greatness. I’ve been watching a lot of 30 FOR 30 stuff on Netflix and am glad ESPN is continuing this series into 2014.

  175. So I guess now Millenium is doing it’s own Lady Expendables movie (titled Expendabelles??) that is separate from the other, non-official Lady Expendables movie? As much as I like to see women punching dudes in the face, I’m not sure there are enough female action stars to support TWO movies.

    http://www.deadline.com/2012/10/millennium-hires-legally-blonde-scribes-for-expendabelles-spinoff/

    As you might surmise from the URL, they’ve hired the writers of LEGALLY BLONDE and a bunch of mediocre rom-coms, so I’m sure their take on Lady Actioning will be the kind of no-nonsense badass cinema we crave and not at all regressive and insulting.

  176. I can’t believe I haven’t seen any nominations for Tom Berenger? He’s a complete fucking badass!! I mean, anyone remember Platoon?!

  177. The internet is reporting that Jackie Chan has confirmed he will be in THE 3XPENDABLES. This is good or bad news depending what you thought of EX2, but I am excited that Chan will be in the film. His borderline suicidal stunt days are behind him and he has transitioned into more dramatic roles, but I still think Jackie has a lot to offer as an action star. I just hope he gets more screen time than Jet had in the last film.

  178. Oh good. The one thing the last one was missing was smug, grating comedy.

  179. Mr. M, I knew you wouldn’t be happy with the addition of Chan. I am excited about the news, but his inclusion does concern me that it could be a sign of them committing to more forced self-referential comedy in 3X instead of focusing on delivering quality irony action. I guess it all depends how they end up utilizing him. My guess is they handle his role in the film similar to how the used Chuck Norris in the previous film, and have him pop up from time to time to deliver a little action before disappearing again. If Jackie is actually one of the central characters, I hope they bring in even more HK action stars including bringing Jet back and getting Sammo involved. Even if they don’t give Sammo a big part they should bring him in to stage and direct all the actions sequences.

  180. Sorry, “delivering quality irony action” should ready “delivering quality irony FREE action”.

    My bad.

  181. Sorry to be so predictable. But yeah, this does not bode well for guys like me who want them to stop screwing around and focus on making a, like, real movie. I’m not giving them another chance to let me down, though, so they could go ahead and cast Casper Van Dien and the desiccated corpse of John Wayne for all I care. I’m done.

  182. Eh, I don’t know. I think Chan is a legitimate action star and there’s no reason he couldn’t just play a funny character surrounded by the more serious (sometimes mopey) Stallone, Statham, etc. One of the most enjoyable parts of the first two was the bickering/bonding between the characters, and if they let Chan stick to that instead of dopey mugging I think it might be nice to have a genuine badass who’s note quite so austere around.

    But probably a bad sign, yeah.

  183. It seems to me that Jet Li probably left because he was uncomfortable playing the wacky Asian comic relief. Jackie has no such scruples.

  184. Mister Majestycouloso, you know as well as I do that Mr Chan started out as a serious action hero and that he has a huge talent for knowing excactly what the audience want. Why wouldn’t Mister Sly want to use that in the third chapter of his action epos?

  185. John Woo is on the record that he is interested in directing 3X. See below for a quote from the man himself (thanks to Badassdigest.com)

    “I am a big fan of all those guys and I will do it but I want less studio and producer interference. I want to shoot the movie the way I want. That’s the difference making a movie in China and Hollywood. In China, The Studio and producer allow flexibility to the director. One thing for sure is, I want it to take place in China. I also have a vision of this big fight between Jet Li and Van Damme but then they have killed him off.”

    First they get Jackie now there is talk of Woo directing, maybe 3X will end up being a Hong Kong action film like I am hoping for. Just the idea of Woo making a film with Chan is exciting.

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