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The Expendables 3 | 2014 | PG-13 | - 2.6.5
In this third installment Sylvester Stallone stars as the mercenary leader of a reduced force after several members have died. A powerful nemesis (Mel Gibson) reappears unexpectedly, forcing him to recruit a group of younger team members, although other mature action stars join in. Also with Antonio Banderas, Harrison Ford, Jason Statham, Wesley Snipes, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Kelsey Grammar, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jet Li. Directed by Patrick Hughes. A few lines of dialogue are in a Slavic language with English subtitles. [1:50]
SEX/NUDITY 2 - A female bouncer wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage and bare legs to mid-thighs and later she wears a long sleeved jumpsuit that reveals cleavage at the open neckline. A woman wears short shorts that reveal most of her legs to the thighs. A woman wears a low-cut gown that reveals cleavage. Several men are shown wearing sleeveless shirts that reveal bare arms and shoulders and they all have tattoos on their arms, including designs and an image of a skull. Two shirtless men box in a garage, revealing chest, shoulders, backs and arms; two other shirtless men fight in another scene. A shirtless soldier punches a heavy bag.
► An older man flirts with a younger woman, telling her that the moon is mystical and magical, like herself. A man looks at a woman's backside as she passes him on stone steps.
► A man jokes that another man "blows his wad" while shooting a rifle.
► A classic painting shows a nude figure of Cain with few details (we see shoulders, arms and rolls of fat at the lower chest and abdomen and the suggestion of genitals (the paint seems faded).
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VIOLENCE/GORE 6 - Men fly a bomber and they parachute to a burned out and abandoned building full of broken furniture after bombings, they free four captives hanging from their wrists while others make plans to fight the captors and disable C-4 bombs, soldiers attack the men and swing from cables into broken windows of the building, a man climbs up an abandoned elevator shaft, and a motorcycle jumps off a slab of concrete up to the third floor where the rider grabs a pipe and swings into a room, letting the cycle fall off screen; many men fall amid gunfire, presumably dead (no blood is seen) and several loud grenade explosions throw men off screen and toward the audience in smoke and fire, a man jumps from one window into the broken window in the floor below while another man in an office-like room shoots two military officers off screen, presumably dead, and shouts "Anybody else?" as a helicopter shoots men off the roof of the building and shoots another helicopter down in flames; a woman fights two groups of three men, breaking arms and necks and a man shoots a dozen men using an automatic rifle and knocks out several others with a rifle butt, a man shoots down a helicopter and laughs maniacally, two men fight and one is struck in his bulletproof vest with bullets and removes the vest to continue fighting in an extended scene before one of the men shoots the other in the chest seven times (we see his face and chest covered in blood); numerous bombs explode and the building collapses in rolling fire and smoke.
► Several men break another man out of a foreign prison train where soldiers with automatic rifles stand on top of the cars; a cable strung between towers on either side of the tracks hit and possibly cut some men in half (we see boots, trousers and men being thrown off screen) while the attacking men shoot and kill the soldiers from a helicopter (no blood is seen) and climb into the train (we see soldiers lying on top of the train cars, presumably dead); the attacking men fistfight with soldiers, shoot them (no blood is seen), and free a prisoner as well as another man that is chained and wearing a leather control mask; as the train approaches a prison, the men fire rifles and a cannon, killing soldiers around the top of the prison wall and then jump from the train to the helicopter as the train enters the tunnel and explodes leaving the prison in flames.
► A man is found sleeping on a shore by several other men and one kicks him in the side; the awakened man shoots all of the men dead and we see a few spots of blood. Men rob a ship at a dock, engaging in several fistfights using knives and feet, and shootouts with automatic rifles, rocket launchers and cannons (many men fall dead); a man cuts three other men's throats so fast that no blood shows as they fall off screen, snipers shoot men from the top of a boxcar and men fall off screen, soldiers chase the men in vehicles (one man says he is getting car sick, but does not vomit) and we see several vehicles flip end over end, two vehicles hit a railing and stop while a man hangs off the side of a cargo box in the air and falls safely to a vehicle below, and men steal a truck and a large warehouse at the dock explodes, filling the screen with fire and smoke after a loud explosion.
► Men break into a tall glass walled building and rappel down windows and into rooms where they shoot several other men, who fall, with silenced automatic rifles before the lights go out and a lot of loud shooting occurs with some flashes of sparks; a man is captured and he tells another man that he will rip open the meat shirt and show the man his own heart before another man tells the captured man that he will break every bone in his body; a rocket strikes the van and sends it skidding on its side, the captured man escapes and the other men have blood on their foreheads and one falls into a river.
► Men in a moving van are thrown out as the van turns on its side and skids and we see the men stand up from the pavement and from a nearby body of water with bloody heads and mouths; a motorboat jumps a dock and crashes (the driver is unharmed) and a man in a helicopter shoots a man in the leg and the back, sending blood spraying as the victim shouts loudly (we see a medic placing gauze on the bloody exit wound in the chest as someone else places an oxygen mask on him); the camera cuts to a hospital room where the sleeping man wears the oxygen mask and a gauze bandage, along with an IV line in one arm and a male visitor places a golden skull ring on his table.
► Two men box in a parking garage with spectators and we see blood on their mouths; one man's head hits the floor and blood flows from the corner of his mouth while the other man grunts as he receives a hit to the stomach and the scene ends (we see him later with some blood on his undershirt). A fight occurs in a muddy ring and we see a little blood at the corner of one man's mouth. A female bouncer in Las Vegas fights two men, knocks them out, and cracks her knuckles, muttering "Men!"
► A man captures four people (one is a woman) and hangs them by their wrists from a ceiling in a warehouse (blood appears on their mouths and later, they wear bloody gags); their captor says the CIA used him to do their dirty work and then sent others to "whack" him then he says he will kill all four captives.
► Several loud arguments occur among a group of men, primarily between old members and new members and in one scene the leader fires a gun into the air to quiet them. A man throws a knife past another man's head, just missing him. A man shoots a handgun and an automatic rifle at a firing range, filling a human-outline target with holes. A man blows up a helicopter using a remote control detonator, destroying it in smoke and flames.
► A man jumps onto a cable hanging from a rescue helicopter and threatens to kill his crew if they don't pull him into the vehicle. A man in the back of a plane borrows a very long knife with which to shave. A man at home twirls a knife and throws it into the TV, breaking it. Two men throw large knives at a dartboard in a bar.
► We hear that an American is wanted for war crimes and will be tried at The Hague; we see a dossier full of pictures of groups of men lying in alleys, torn and bloody. A man leads a group of mercenary soldiers in a mission to deliver a thermonuclear weapon to a client.
► A man says that two other men have a death wish. A man tells a male friend that he has a lump on his lung and then laughs and says it is a joke. A man says that the US Government will eat their own children. A man says, "I am the bridegroom of death," repeating lyrics from a marching song. A man admits that he was the only man in his unit in Benghazi to survive. Several people show off their new tattoos of skulls on their forearms or upper arms.
► A man packs heavy artillery for a fight: guns, rifles, grenades, rockets. A man who knows gymnastics and climbing joins him on a mission to capture a war criminal. At a neighborhood bar (please see the Substance Use category for more details), a formerly hospitalized man sits at the bar with crutches beside him.
LANGUAGE 5 - At least 1 F-word, 26 scatological terms, 11 anatomical terms, 29 mild obscenities, name-calling (stupid, crazy, nuts, dumb, moron, ladies, head cases, pussies, nerd, youngsters, kids, boy, grandpa, big guy, demented, has been, The Delete-ables), stereotypical references to men, women, government officials, mercenaries, gangsters, soldiers, Eastern European countries, exclamations (shut-up, shut your mouth, wow, pow, bam), 3 religious profanities (GD), 7 religious exclamations (Oh My God, Thank God, Oh God, Jesus God, Jesus, God, Holy [scatological term deleted]).
SUBSTANCE USE - A man sniffs aviation fuel around a plane and says that he likes it. Men drink beer from bottles at a table in a bar and cigarette smoke wafts into the scene from below the frame, several men and women drink shots of clear liquor at a bar as other patrons drink beer from bottles and glasses of mixed drinks at tables, three men drink alcohol from flasks in different scenes, a man drinks beer from a bottle while watching TV at home, two men drink beer near a fight ring, and men and women drink champagne in a dance club. Two men smoke large cigars in several outdoor scenes, and a man smokes a pipe in one scene and holds it unlit in his mouth while driving a car.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Global crime, illegal arms sales, government corruption, money, power, teamwork, war, death, youth, aging, revenge, justice, respect, loyalty, family, friendship.
MESSAGE - When fighting heinous crime, your team is your family.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we will accept compliments too. While we read all emails & try to reply we do not always manage to do so; be assured that we will not share your e-mail address.