The Expendables - Extended Director's Cut

Sylvester Stallone's "The Expendables - Extended Director's Cut" is louder and more explosive on Blu-ray - and as dense as a hyper-active, multi-player video game shooter...which is a whole lot more fun. Once the novelty of seeing the collected cast of action heroes wears off - Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lungren, Mickey Rourke and including Stallone with a featured cameo by Arnold "The Terminator" Schwarzenegger - there's not much movie after that.

With the exception of the sexily sculpted Jason Statham, the cast is past their prime and really not all that appealing to view (mandatory shirtless shot of Stallone being the exception). The cantankerous banter between them, when something isn't exploding, makes you wish something would go off sooner rather than later. And the heavy metal soundtracked transitions don't really do much to engage the entertainment factor...they're as loud and unpleasant as the bloody battle scenes.

The "Expendables" is only slightly more engaging as a round of "Call of Duty" and not bereft of all the expected clich�s...including the badly accented Latino secondary actors as a guerrilla militia. Fortunately, for Stallone, there is an audience for this type of action film - and it's comprised of his ever-faithful fan base that has followed him since his days as Rambo. For them, this film and its upcoming sequel will be a real feast.

Bonus features include on-set visits with the director and a 'making-of' short that is sure to jazz anyone still trapped in the 80's and worships this sort of mindless action.

"The Expendables - Extended Director's Cut"
Lionsgate
Blu-ray $19.99
www:expendablesthemovie.com