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News & Current Events Mar 25, 2026 at 12:56 AM

What do you think of Stallone's "The Expendables" franchise?

Posted by precita

The Expendables somehow has 4 movies (!) and is Stallone's way of gathering up 80's and 90's action movie stars together in an Avengers style all-star film seeing all these old action stars in the same movies. We've gotten Stallone himself, Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Bruce Willis, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Jean Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Wesley Snipes, Jet Li, Jason Statham and more. I'm surprised they never managed to get Kurt Russell or Nicolas Cage as they seemed to be the only ones missing. Would have also been fun to see Robert De Niro or Al Pacino as a villain in one of them. Mel Gibson was amazing as a villain in the third one. Now I know most of these movies aren't particular good movies, but if you grew up with the 80's and 90's action stars, these are basically my generation of "The Avengers" and its just amazing to see most of them in the same movie together.
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TrumpisaRussianCuck Mar 25, 2026 +14
First one was a bit of a novelty seeing them all together in the same film. After that it got pretty tired quickly.
14
The420thOfJuly Mar 25, 2026 +5
I’d argue the first one was more of a disappointment given it advertised all the old stars together, but Arnold and Bruce were barely even in it. It’s the second one that truly lives up to the novelty, with an even more stacked cast featuring Chuck Norris and Van Damme.
5
FourSes Mar 25, 2026 +1
And everyone but Stallone and Statham, and one fight between Li and Lundgren, sit out the first film between the opening (where they stand still and shoot for ten seconds) and the finale. While in the second, every main team member but Li gets to participate the whole movie. And Scott Adkins does his Boyka voice as the henchman!
1
The420thOfJuly Mar 25, 2026 +4
Exactly. The second film is genuinely the peak and that airport shootout at the end where everyone from all the old flicks gets to do something is great.
4
notafishhy Mar 25, 2026 +1
Yup. Cool idea but it went on too long. 
1
StillStanding_96 Mar 25, 2026 +5
I guess it gives them something to do. It’s important for the elderly to stay active
5
ElBorracho2000 Mar 25, 2026 +5
I liked the first two. Didn’t really care for the ones that came after
5
No_Conflict_6232 Mar 25, 2026 +4
They were fun to watch. Jean Claude van Damme played a villain named Vilan. Like, they clearly were not making high art, it was big badass dudes blowing shit up and shooting guns.
4
thebigeverybody Mar 25, 2026 +3
The first one was an interesting bit of nostalgia, but they were all swamp ass. I wouldn't say it's like The Avengers, I'd say it's like the original Ocean's 11: just a bunch of famous people hanging out and making a loosely plotted movie.
3
henningknows Mar 25, 2026 +3
First and second were fun. The last two sucked
3
BigBossSquirtle Mar 25, 2026 +3
I still can't believe there was 4 of them.
3
FourSes Mar 25, 2026 +2
1. Pretty fun! The roster is weak, though. 2. Hey, way better roster! More tongue-in-cheek humor! Better action! More action! Cool. 3. PG-13! Four new actors replace most of the cast! F*** this. 4. Jesus Christ what a load of c***. At least they realized Statham is the best part of these movies and has only grown more deserving of his roster s*** since being in the first one.
2
truthisfictionyt Mar 25, 2026 +2
The fourth film starring Megan Fox and 50 Cent is a terrible misread of why people watched the movies
2
existing_for_fun Mar 25, 2026 +1
The first one was "fine" ( 6/10 IMO) .. but I didn't care for any more than that.
1
opae_oinadi Mar 25, 2026 +1
Isnt the point of these movies to *not* think about them?  They are expendable spectacle that... doesn't ever really deliver much of a spectacle because they blew their budget on action stars. I don't know which ones I have seen, but they were immediately forgettable.
1
SurviveDaddy Mar 25, 2026 +1
I appreciate them for exactly what they are.
1
ElderberryMaster4694 Mar 25, 2026 +1
I think they’re fun, silly, unpretentious, and deliver exactly what they promise.
1
skippittdippity Mar 25, 2026 +1
Weird franchise for me because I specifically only like Expendables 2. While 1,3,4 I think I are not good. The second one though, that is absolutely a solid action movie right there.
1
kitbiggz Mar 25, 2026 +1
Never watched them. But I'm a big Stallone fan. Stallone works best alone in his films.
1
Book_of_Essence Mar 25, 2026 +1
First two were decent disposable action films Can't finish the other two though. Way too many cooks in the kitchen. Very diminished returns.
1
Remote-Ad-2686 Mar 25, 2026 +1
Garbage. It’s a straight cut from The Wild Geese and The Dogs Of War. I was bored watching it.
1
The-YeahNah-Guy Mar 25, 2026 +1
First one was solid, although it couldn't decide whether it wanted to be sincere or cheesy 80's action. The second one is the best because it has its identity locked in and we got Arnie, Bruce and Chuck involved.  The third was bad. The point of the franchise is to highlight action heroes of days gone but decided to highlight "up and comers" and it just didn't work. Snipes and Banderas were nice to see. It would have worked if instead of nobodies for the second team they brought in stars like Vin Diesel, Ryan Reynolds, Keanu etc. Since that generation was the "next" after the OG style of action star. And 4 was slightly better than 3 but mostly still shit.
1
Waste-Scratch2982 Mar 25, 2026 +1
I remember that was basically Glen Powell’s first major role, and he was the biggest nobody among the new recruits. At least everyone else had previous works audiences were somewhat familiar with.
1
trylobyte Mar 25, 2026 +1
The hook of The Expendables was a throwback to 80s 90s action movie and seeing your old heroes back in action. It promises to be a kick ass throwback tribute fun time. 1 was a good and enjoyable attempt at the concept. 2 was the ultimate fulfillment of that idea (just missing Steven Segal). 3 was stretching it a bit and added element of "young generation" which was...at least tried something different. 4 just abandon the hook and is a generic action movie. Just watch 1 & 2. Or Heck, just watch 2.
1
Calraider7 Mar 25, 2026 +1
Its utter c***
1
BlainethePayne Mar 25, 2026 +1
They were ok. I hated that they just abandoned characters and storylines between films like they never existed
1
Keefer1970 Mar 25, 2026 +1
I enjoyed the first two. 3 was "meh," and 4 looked and felt like c**** direct to video c***.
1
SfcHayes1973 Mar 25, 2026 +1
I watched them for the amusing aspect...also, I thought it was interesting to have Arnold and Jet in a relationship ;)
1
Shakmaaaaaaa Mar 25, 2026 +1
The concept of getting all the old action stars together should've been way more awesome. Most of those stars roles were cameos though like iirc Arnold, Bruce Willis, Chuck Norris, Ford, maybe Snipes were like "oh hey they are here now and shooting for 5 minutes". The rest of time was with the second tier like... Randy Couture. Some of the movies did it better than others.
1
Fools_Requiem Mar 25, 2026 +1
First movie was fun. Jet Li was still doing hand-to-hand combat, Terry Crews running down a halfway blowing people up with an automatic shotgun. Second movie was more well received, but I didn't find it to be as fun. Didn't like the third movie. Never watched the 4th.
1
Earlvx129 Mar 25, 2026 +1
Not a fan. The idea of seeing a bunch of old school action guys is pretty cool. but none of the movies are actually really entertaining. Most of the characters and performances are just one note cartoons, but then they throw in something that actually have some dramatic weight, like the speeches by Mel Gibson and Mickey Rourke, and it feels at odds with a franchise that feels like a bigger budget episode of A-Team.
1
BaveDlunts Mar 25, 2026 +1
A total waste of talent on forgettable action movies
1
[deleted] Mar 25, 2026 +1
Was fun as a solo movie, seeing many of the old school action stars together but then as always got extremely tiring
1
EddieDantes22 Mar 25, 2026 +1
I think it didn't have the courage or budget to mash all the characters together, which made it weak. It should've been a mashup, even if they couldn't use the major franchise roles.
1
Level-Tangerine-3877 Mar 25, 2026 +1
Ocean's 11/12/13 with guns - dead in the water
1
Mean-Cold-1842 Mar 25, 2026 +1
The only one worth watching is part 2, where they seem to actually understand the assignment.
1
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