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The Expendables | 2010 | R | - 2.9.5

A group of mercenaries (Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren and Randy Couture) are hired to kill a South American dictator (David Zayas). When one of the mercenaries discovers a corrupt American (Eric Roberts) is the true cause of corruption in the country, their plans take a different twist. Also with Steve Austin, Terry Crews, Giselle Itie, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Directed by Sylvester Stallone. [1:43]

SEX/NUDITY 2 - A man and a woman kiss. A man kisses a woman and then lightly slaps her behind. A man and woman hug. A man and woman hold hands.
 A man makes a crude joke about two men performing oral sex on one another. A man jokes with another man about getting "hot and heavy."
 A man takes off his shirt and his bare back and chest are visible.


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VIOLENCE/GORE 9 - Five men rush out of a building into a shower of bullets as the building explodes into flames, and the five men attack and kill many men, shooting, kicking, punching and stabbing them: blood flies through the air as men are knocked on the ground, stabbed in the neck and face (blood is visibly flowing from stab wounds) and men are thrown back from explosions.
 Four men drop from a ceiling and stab, shoot and punch a group of men who are attacking a man and a woman: a bloody fight begins, with machine guns, artillery guns and high-powered assault rifles being used to shoot countless soldiers (blood flies through the air and body parts and bloody chunks of flesh are seen flying as men drop to the ground); a few instances of hand-to-hand combat and wrestling are seen, a man stabs multiple men with a knife and bloody cuts are seen on faces and necks as they fall to the ground, and a man throws knives into the faces and heads of three men, dropping them to the ground.
 A man cuts another man's hand off (we see the hand fly through the air and the bloody stump of the man's arm), and then stabs the man in the throat and twists the knife, blood pours from the wound and the man drops to the ground, dead. A man with a machine gun walks into a room and shoots two men (no blood is visible), and then shoots a third man in the back (blood is seen coming out of the four bullet holes in the man's back). A man shoots a man in the back, his body falls over a balcony and a crowd of people open fire on the falling body. A man shoots two men (blood pours from one of the victim's chests) and the man grabs a woman and drags her out of the room.
 Five men rappel from a roof and shoot a man, his torso explodes in a bloody mess and two groups of people open fire on one another and we see many men shot along with grenade explosions.
 Three men are seen being shoved out of the back of a truck, they kneel on the ground before a man holding a gun, one is shot and his body flops to the ground and the remaining two are then shot, and their bodies hit the ground with a thud (no blood is visible).
 A man drags a woman through a battlefield surrounded by explosions and bloodied, dying men; he holds a gun to her head as another man approaches, says he will kill the woman if the man does not leave, and he shoots him in the arm knocking him to the ground (he is later seen unharmed, apart from a small cut on his face).
 A man shoots another man in the chest multiple times (we see blood pouring from the wounds) as a third man shoves a large knife through his back (we see the bloody knife sticking through his chest) and he falls to the ground, dead.
 Two men in a truck are shot at, the driver backs the truck into a car, and races through an alleyway and into a street with two other trucks following and shooting; the passenger of the truck fires a machine gun at those chasing and one of the chase vehicles is struck by a garbage truck and another chase vehicle crashes through a building's window.
 A man pulls himself from wreckage after a car crash and fights with the passenger of another car: they wrestle and punch and kick one another until one man has the other pinned; a third man stands up and shoots the aggressor, knocking him to the ground and then stands over him (his face is bloody and blood is pouring from his nose) and says that the man might die, since he was shot three inches from his heart (he is later seen unharmed).
 A woman is seen being tied to a table and she is tortured: they cover her mouth and eyes with a cloth and begin to pour water over her mouth, they remove the cloth moments later and the woman coughs up water and shouts, and they then place the cloth back on her mouth and pour more water (she is later seen unharmed).
 Two soldiers shove a woman, her hands bound, in front of a man who verbally threatens her; a second man is heard shouting at the woman, the woman shouts back, moments later the first man instructs a third man to punch the woman and he hits her in the face, knocking her to the ground.
 A man in an airplane fires two machine guns at a crowded boat deck: soldiers on the boat deck are seen being hit by bullets, blood flies through the air as the airplane circles, spraying the area with gasoline, and a grenade is thrown on the boat deck causing it to explode and presumably killing the soldiers.
 A man grabs another man, head-butts him and stabs him in the eye. A man narrowly avoids being crushed by a falling building and he is seen snapping the neck of another man (we hear the crunch of bones).
 Two men stab, shoot and wrestle soldiers: blood is seen flying through the air and pouring from bullet wounds and stab wounds on the soldiers until they have all been killed. A man throws a knife into a soldier's back. A soldier is shot multiple times in the chest, and blood pours from the wounds.
 A soldier holding a woman with her arms behind her back is stabbed in the head with a knife (no blood is seen) and he drops to the ground. A soldier drags a woman away with a gun pointed to her head. A man shoves a woman tied to a chair, with eyes and mouth covered, to the ground; he lowers a cigarette to her skin and is about to burn her but is stopped.
 A man is knocked to the ground, he's flanked by many other men, one man pulls a rope taunt against his neck and two other men kick and punch him in the stomach as a woman is held and forced to watch. We see several men with their hands bound and mouths gagged held at gunpoint by several other men and one man threatens to kill the captives. A man is seen cutting a man's throat (no blood is visible) and a man kicks another man to the ground. A man is seen stabbing a man and throwing another man down a stairwell.
 A huge explosion is caused as a man sets a gasoline stream on fire, and dozens of men fly through the air after a massive ball of flames fills the air.
 A man holds a dead body near the edge of a wall, saying he is going to hang it; another man tells him not to, but he continues to shove the body over the edge until a third man kicks him and they fight: one man's face is seen covered in blood and a large gash is above his eye, and another man holds a gun to his head.
 A woman is seen with a black eye, and it is implied that a man had hit her; another man slams a basketball on the chest of the man who struck the woman, stabs it with a knife and threatens his life.
 A man attacks another man, punching him in the face and stomach (he falls to the ground and is seen with a bloody nose), and then fights with a group of eight other men, dropping each one to the ground with a kick or punch.
 On multiple occasions, soldiers are seen shoving people against walls, hassling people, shoving children to the ground, shouting and overturning tables. Gunfire is heard as a group of soldiers shove people against a wall and put a man into a headlock. People are seen with their hands bound and mouths gagged, being shoved down a stairwell by a group of men with machine guns, one of the men trips and a gunman kicks him in the face and forces him to continue walking. A man leaps off a boat to jump into a plane that is taking off as guns are fired at him (he is unharmed). The shadowed outlines of men are seen as they race through a building placing explosive devices on walls and ceilings.
 Two trucks have a high-speed chase through a crowded city street: one of the trucks crashes through a food cart and people run screaming. On two occasions, two men are seen throwing knives at a target as people watch.
 A man tells two other men that he has a job that involves killing a man; one of the men declines and the other accepts the job. A man says that two men are responsible for killing over 45 people. A man tells another man that he does not kill family members and the other man jokes that he has not met his family at holiday celebrations. On multiple occasions, two men discuss how they had killed large groups of people, including a time when they were both "covered in mud and blood" and thought they were going to die as well. A man recalls a time when he watched a woman jump off a bridge and die and regrets not saving her. A man gets very close to another man's face and threatens his life. A woman shouts at a man. A man describes to a group of men how a blood clot formed in his ear that caused "cauliflower ear" and he shows his disfigured ear to the group.

LANGUAGE 5 - About 7 F-words and its derivatives, 2 sexual references, 10 scatological terms, 9 anatomical terms, 1 crude anatomical term is heard and written in Spanish but not translated, 10 mild obscenities, 1 exclamation (bloody), name-calling (idiot, punk, giant, pretty boy, assassin, Zorro, monkeys, parasites, junky, happy feet, trash, puppet), 3 religious profanities.

SUBSTANCE USE - Stacks of what appear to be bricks of cocaine are seen but never identified, and a man refers to another man having a drug problem. Two men clink what seems like beer bottles as one of the men flies a plane. A man smokes a cigar throughout the movie, and a man smokes a pipe on three occasions.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Mercenaries, South American dictators, political corruption, buying a person's allegiance, violence against women, wilderness conservation, revenge, loss of love, regret with life decisions, tattoo shops, water boarding, Somali pirates, CIA corruption, drug trafficking.

MESSAGE - Even after living a life of crime and destruction, a person can have a change of heart.

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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