THE EXPENDABLES: Sylvester Stallone stars as Barney Ross, leader of The Expendables, a tight-knit team of skilled combat vets turned mercenaries. Hired by a powerful covert operator, the team jets off to a small South American country to overthrow a ruthless dictator. Once there, they find themselves caught in a deadly web of deceit and betrayal. Using every weapon at their disposal, they set out to save the innocent and punish the guilty in this blistering action-packed thriller.
THE EXPENDABLES 2: The Expendables are back in a sequel that J. Rentilly of Menshealth.com calls “a high-octane adventure with non-stop action!” The team signs on a mission that looks like an easy paycheck for Barney and his band of old-school mercenaries. But things quickly go wrong, and one of their own is killed by a psychotic terrorist-for-hire. Hell-bent on payback, they cut a swath of destruction through enemy territory and wreak havoc upon their opponents. In the midst of the mayhem, they must also shut down an unexpected threat in the nick of time – preventing five tons of weapons-grade plutonium from falling into the wrong hands.
THE EXPENDABLES 3: Barney (Stallone) faces off with an old enemy and must fight old blood with new blood, bringing in a new era of Expendables who are younger and faster. The latest mission becomes a clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise in The Expendables’ most personal battle yet.
EXPEND4BLES: A new generation of stars is added to the adrenaline-fueled adventure of The Expendables as action legends Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, and Randy Couture are joined for the first time by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Megan Fox, Tony Jaa, Iko Uwais, and Andy Garcia. As the highly skilled mercenaries take on an arms dealer and his private army with every weapon they can get their hands on, the new recruits bring daring styles and tactics that give “new blood” a whole new meaning.
For in-depth thoughts on Expend4bles, please see my colleague Dom Fisher’s review from its theatrical debut here.
For thoughts on The Expendables Collection, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic:
Video Quality
Expend4bles debuts with a 2160p/Dolby Vision presentation in 2.39:1 on this 4K UHD Blu-Ray disc. The uptick in detail is a treat in the deep colors of the environment, the textures of the clothes, and the production design of the various locales. This presentation shows off with sterling black levels that are incredibly deep and detailed with digital noise almost entirely absent from the screen. There are numerous shadowy shots that show no signs of crush. Brighter scenes wow with intense clarity and a strong handle of highlights that show no evidence of blooming.
The 4K presentation provides a depth of field that simply cannot be replicated as well with the accompanying Blu-Ray. This transfer features an immense amount of detail in even the smallest facets of the environment and gear. Skin tones look very consistent throughout and show a great amount of facial detail. Color highlights are another area of substantial improvement in comparison to the Blu-Ray. Hues look more natural in this presentation with moments of fiery explosions radiating off the screen with force. Overall, this is an excellent 4K UHD presentation that offers a fine uptick on multiple fronts.
The first three films in The Expendables Collection are the exact same discs that were released six years ago in 2017, only this time in new exclusive packaging. All three are only given HDR10 instead of Dolby Vision like the most recent outing. These efforts are all passable with the original movie showing off the most and Expendables 3 faltering the most with some wonky black levels. Expendables 2 has some excessive digital noise, but other than that it makes for a solid upscale. These early 4K UHD Blu-Ray discs could use another pass, but they do what they need to. They just pale in comparison to the visual majesty of the latest film.
Audio Quality
These 4K UHD Blu-Ray releases boast a Dolby Atmos track that improves upon the already excellent DTS-HD 7.1 Master Audio track on the previous Blu-Ray. These soundscapes are a force throughout with action always at the forefront of the narrative. Dialogue comes through clearly without getting overshadowed by the score or any sound effects. As you move throughout the locations, the sounds of the environment flow out of your side, rear, and overhead speakers. Each sound is carefully placed with pinpoint spatial awareness.
The track utilizes all of the channels with panning effects and sounds of kinetic moments that really make you feel like you are in the midst of the conflict. Every sequence features some unbelievable sound design that comes through flawlessly. The environmental effects come through in a natural way. There is a significant amount of activity in the low end when the scenes call for it, as it often does. The score and soundtrack utilized come through with a rich fidelity. Lionsgate killed it with these tracks, so those with a good surround sound setup should have a blast. There are English, English SDH, and Spanish subtitles provided for the first three films, and English SDH, Spanish, and French subtitles provided for Expend4bles.
Special Features
Lionsgate has provided The Expendables Collection with an optional sleek new SteelBook available exclusively at Wal-Mart that is truly lovely in person. You can see a video of the set at the top of this review. The on-disc content is as follows:
The Expendables
- Audio Commentary: Sylvester Stallone
- Ultimate Recon Mode: Picture-in-picture commentary track
- Comic-Con 2010 Panel (45:29)
- Inferno – The Making of The Expendables (1:31:42)
- From The Ashes – Post-Production Documentary (26:36)
- Gag Reel (5:03)
- Deleted Scene (0:45)
- Marketing Archive
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- Theatrical Trailer (1:12)
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- TV Spots (0:49)
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- Poster Gallery
The Expendables 2
- Audio Commentary: Director Simon West
- Gods of War – Assembling Earth’s Mightiest Anti-Heroes (21:19)
- Big Guns, Bigger Heroes: The 1980’s and The Rise of the Action Film (24:59)
- On The Assault – The Real-Life Weaponry of The Expendables 2 (13:36)
- Guns For Hire – The Real Expendables (24:19)
- Deleted Scenes (4:39)
- Gag Reel (5:09)
The Expendables 3
- The Expendables 3 Documentary (51:56)
- New Blood – Stacked and Jacked (16:11)
- The Total Action Package (6:40)
- Gag Reel (5:41)
- Extended Scene – Christmas Runs The Gauntlet (2:46)
The Expend4bles
- Audio Commentary #1: Director Scott Waugh
- Bigger, Bolder, Badder – The Expendables In Action: A 17-minute featurette in which the cast and creative team discuss elevating the action sequences in this latest effort.
- More Than A Team – New Blood Meets Old Blood: A 19-minute piece that takes a closer look at the performers old and new in this newest installment.
- Theatrical Trailer: The two-minute red-band trailer is provided here.
Final Thoughts
The Expendables as a franchise has never felt as vital or fun as it should be based on the promise of its concept. When you have a litany of genuine action stars at your disposal, you should make sure the chaos they are involved in is some of the most ambitious committed to screen. The first two installments are decent fun, but the series becomes even more inconsistent with the latter two to the point you wonder if anyone even cares about the production. This is a series that just needs to take a permanent rest while developing scripts with substances for these stars. Lionsgate Home Entertainment has released a 4K UHD Blu-Ray featuring a good A/V presentation and a fine array of supplemental features all in a beautiful new SteelBook.
The Expendables Collection is currently available to purchase on 4K UHD Blu-Ray SteelBook exclusively at Wal-Mart.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the 4K UHD Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Lionsgate Home Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.