Summary
The Expendables movies is one of the few, modern-day instances of a big-budget, R-rated action franchise, with four entries to date. Sylvester Stallone had a famously lean few years during the early 2000s, where many of his films bombed, and a few more or less went direct to video. After reviving his career with 2006’s Rocky Balboa and 2008’s Rambo, he sought to create another series for himself. Seeing there was a gap in the market for the kind of old-fashioned action films he and his contemporaries used to headline, he decided to collect a supergroup of genre icons for one movie.
The result was The Expendables movies, and while their original received predictably mixed reviews, the box-office results proved Stallone’s theory that there was still an audience for that kind of movie correct. While the quality of the films declined rather quickly, there was still something thrilling about seeing Stallone, Bruce Willis, Jet Li, Arnold Schwarzenegger and many other action favorites sharing scenes. While The Expendables 4’s ending many have teased another entry, its weak reception could mean the saga has come to an abrupt end.
The Expendables Movies In Release Order
Stallone designed The Expendables as an antidote to the type of glossy, PG-13 blockbusters that had begun to dominate cinema. The first three movies happened in quick succession during the 2010s, when the likes of the MCU or The Fast and the Furious movies were some of the biggest franchises in the world. Of course, being bloody and R-rated meant there was something of a box office cap on the series, so producers made an ill-advised attempt to broaden its appeal by making the third outing PG-13. This experiment didn’t work in the sequel’s favor critically or commercially, resulting in a long gap between it and the most recent film.
The Expendables (2010) The Expendables 2 (2012) The Expendables 3 (2014) Expend4bles (2023)
The Expendables Movies In Chronological Order Of Events
The Expendables (2010)
Box Office: $275 million | Runtime: 1 hour, 43 minutes
Cast: Sylvester Stallone (Barney Ross), Jason Statham (Lee Christmas), Jet Li (Yin Yang), Dolph Lundgren (Gunner Jensen), Randy Couture (Toll Road), Terry Crews (Hale Caesar), Bruce Willis (Mr. Church), Mickey Rourke (Tool), Eric Roberts (James Munroe), Giselle Itié (Sandra), Arnold Schwarzenegger (Trench)
The first Expendables laid down the formula for what followed. Stallone’s Barney Ross leads a team of battle-hardened mercenaries, who Bruce Willis’ shady CIA agent hires to take down a dictator on an isolated island. The movie is an updating of the man on a mission movies of yesteryear, like The Dirty Dozen or The Dogs of War. The original is something of an uneasy mix of gritty action thriller and cheesy love letter to ’80s action, but on the whole, it’s still the best of the franchise.
The Expendables 2 (2012)
Box Office: $315 million | Runtime: 1 hour, 43 minutes
Cast: Sylvester Stallone (Barney Ross), Jason Statham (Lee Christmas), Jet Li (Yin Yang), Dolph Lundgren (Gunner Jensen), Randy Couture (Toll Road), Terry Crews (Hale Caesar), Bruce Willis (Mr. Church), Arnold Schwarzenegger (Trench), Yu Nan (Maggie), Liam Hemsworth (Billy the Kid), Jean-Claude Van Damme (Vilain), Scott Adkins (Hector), Chuck Norris (Booker)
The first outing proved there was gold in the R-rated hills, so The Expendables 2 doubled down on both the setpieces and action icons, with Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris added to the line-up. The sequel has Barney’s team once again recruited by Willis’ Church, this time to stop Van Damme’s rogue mercenary Vilain. After the latter kills one of the group, it becomes particularly personal for Barney. Featuring the best action but also the lamest humor of the saga, the sequel is a fun, breezy ride let down by chintzy-looking CGI.
The Expendables 3 (2014)
Box Office: $215 million | Runtime: 2 hours, 6 minutes
Cast: Sylvester Stallone (Barney Ross), Jason Statham (Lee Christmas), Jet Li (Yin Yang), Dolph Lundgren (Gunner Jensen), Randy Couture (Toll Road), Terry Crews (Hale Caesar), Arnold Schwarzenegger (Trench), Harrison Ford (Drummer), Mel Gibson (Conrad Stonebanks), Antonio Banderas (Galgo), Wesley Snipes (Doc Death), Kelsey Grammer (Bonaparte), Kellan Lutz (Smilee), Ronda Rousey (Luna), Victor Ortiz (Mars), Glen Powell (Thorn)
The second movie had been shot as a PG-13 adventure at the behest of Chuck Norris, but producers later added blood in post-production to bump up the rating. That outing may have dodged the PG-13 bullet, but The Expendables 3 was ultimately hit by it. The third film has Barney disband his old team after they narrowly survive being wiped out by Mel Gibson’s Stonebanks, who was a founding member. Barney then compiles a team of young, tech-savvy mercs, but ultimately, the youngsters and the oldies unite to complete the mission. While part three didn’t bomb, it grossed far less than the second entry and received weak reviews.
Expend4bles (2023)
Box Office: $51 million | Runtime: 1 hour, 44 minutes
Cast: Jason Statham (Lee Christmas), Sylvester Stallone (Barney Ross), Dolph Lundgren (Gunner Jensen), Randy Couture (Toll Road), Megan Fox (Gina), 50 Cent (Easy Day), Andy García (Marsh), Jacob Scipio (Galan), Tony Jaa (Decha), Levy Tran (Lash), Iko Uwais (Rahmat)
The final movie to date – and possibly the last entry, period – is Expend4bles. This sequel sidelines Stallone’s Barney and follows Statham’s Christmas as he chases Iko Uwais’s mercenary villain. The fourth film has received both terrible reviews and become a box office bomb, having only recouped half its budget. While it might have restored the R-rating the third Expendables lacked, this wasn’t enough to bring spurned audiences back to theaters.
