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Harry has seen THE EXPENDABLES in Action, Joking and making their film!
Holy nuts That Was Way f**king Cool!
Ok.I’ve been doing this for 13-14 years now. Been on a lot of big sets,met a lot of big stars. But you know what? Going into THE EXPENDABLESstage in New Orleans and seeing chairs for Sylvester Stallone, JasonStatham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews and Randy Couture. Itkinda melts your brain.
But then, when they all file in, one after another. Shaking your hand and greeting you. Your brain does a wicked freak out.
Wehave all collectively been panting like dogs in heat for this film.Everything we’ve heard has been golden. The photos of real men doingreal crazy nuts… it has made us giddy. And the rumors of folks in,maybe in, wished were in – well it has lit our imaginations – but thereal question is… Will it really rock?
So – today – without avery strong sleep history recently, I boarded a plane with Father Geekbound for New Orleans. The plane seemed to know how much I wanted toget there, as it arrived 28 minutes early!?!?! When the hell does thatever happen?
Ok, so then I found out that my call time for theset got moved up an hour and a half. So not only do I get to NewOrleans early, but I find out I get to set earlier. Then, once I get toset I find out that all the Expendables will be there! Sly, Jason, Jet,Dolph, Terry & Randy!
Now – for all the film that has shotin Louisiana – I haven’t been to a single set there. No, it wasn’t someprotest against the Louisiana Film Industry stealing Texas Films. No.For some reason it has just never worked out yet. I have to admit thatI was a little surprised by just how rough the facilities were. Itkinda looked like an abandoned warehouse, a bit dilapidated. The bigbuilding which held all the magic of THE EXPENDABLES, had mosquitoesand incredibly humid and uncomfortable sweaty conditions – which had alot of ladies griping, but given it was actually about 15 degreescooler than Austin – but with 90% humidity – it wasn’t so bad. BESIDES– would this be THE EXPENDABLES if everyone on set wasn’t sweating likethey were in a sauna?
I didn’t think so either.
Ok – so what did I see on set?
Whenwe entered the big stage area, I instantly noticed all the gear for TheExpendables – along with several machete and large scary knives. Allthe equipment looked well used and brutalized. Then there was a largeplane with that Expendables Raven perched upon a globe.
Pastthat was a stage with the interior of a Somali Pirate ship, where muchdeath and mayhem was conveyed to me as happening there! But not today.
Thenext staging area had the top of the ship – which is where all theshooting today was taking place. When I arrived, they were resettingand Sly was rehearsing and blocking what he was shooting tonight. I wasthirsty so we went to Craft Services – which is where I met ChadStahelski, he’s the Stunt Coordinator on THE EXPENDABLES, as well asbeing the martial arts choreographer and 2nd Unit Director on NINJAASSASSIN! We didn’t talk very long, but he’s been building up quite aresume of impressive films, and is also sometimes Keanu’s double in theMATRIX films.
The next person I met on set was Dolph Lundgren. Ihave to say… I was really giddy to meet Dolph. He was all dressed inhis gear, various weapons hanging off of him, all black – but with hisarms fully exposed. On his right arm was a tattoo of a traditional DiaDe Los Muertos sugar skull, complete with all the bright colors. On theother arm was the “Expendables” tattoo of the Raven perched on a Skull.All the members of Stallone’s team has the tattoo. Not necessarily inthe same place or size. Dolph struck me as being a bit shy. When Ibrought up that I liked DIRECT CONTACT, his latest Straight to DVDfilm, I think he thought I was kidding, till I started describing thescenes that I liked. And he became genuinely enthused that I hadactually watched it and retained what happened.
I get theimpression that Dolph doesn’t get much praise for his more recent work,but while these films he’s been a part of haven’t had the budgets orcasts that would take them out of the DVD realm – they are straightaction films shot in the old school manner. Something that folks likemyself and Vern appreciate.
Next, I get loaded up in thismotorized cart that steered like a rusty Model T. We were being shownthe site of many recent explosions. The “Palace” set. And folks, it gotblown up but good. Guard towers leveled. Craters. Blown up aircraft andvehicles. And by no means are they through blowing this nuts up!They’ve got two more weeks of shooting and a lot of what they’reshooting is the hard core action stuff.
It was at this point that I learned what would be being shot today.
Atthe beginning of THE EXPENDABLES there will be a rescue mission, wheresome Somali Pirates have kidnapped and are ransoming some folks – andSly and his team come in to pay them… and / or KILL THEM ALL. I’m notentirely sure.
What I saw seemed like the beginning of the scene. How it becomes action packed.
Nowthe day I was there wasn’t a very smooth day for Sly and crew. Thescene involved the EXPENDABLES having an elevated position above thepirates, which are in the hold below. Our guys have the drop on them –and first Randy Couture’s TOLL ROAD tosses a bag with allegedly $3million in it to the Pirates, but these pirates want more. And you canfeel the tension ramp up. Everyone grips their guns a bit tighter.Lasers finding their targets – when Dolph’s Gunnar Jensen bursts intothe scene – coming completely out of left field with a Pirate joke.Which basically ends in a grenade gun making a big boom.
Thenight was basically about making this scene work. Honestly, it wasn’tworking at the beginning or during the first 4 hours of shooting it.Lundgren’s tone was flat or loud – and Sly knew that Dolph could bringmore to it, if he pushed him. To Stallone – this scene was a gateway toLundgren’s character here. He’s a bit druggy, the rest of the team kindof doesn’t want him there anymore. He’s a bit burnt out and flakey asall f**k. Obviously – In a Somali Pirate HOSTAGE situation, telling aPirate joke… not the right move.
I think Dolph was havingtrouble with where the character was coming from, Dolph seems like avery bright guy, we all know about his history at MIT – but Sly waswanting the character to be the exact opposite of Dolph. Someone thatwas instinctually irrational – a loose cannon that seemed to not careabout the process. Someone with drug issues, that the rest of the teamdoesn’t trust – and right from the first scene, he wants the characterto sell it.
But at the beginning of the day, Dolph had a longway to go to get there with the character. I also felt that Dolph isn’ta jokey kind of guy. His rhythm wasn’t natural for telling the joke,until much later in the process.
It is at a moment like this ona film, where you really get a glimpse at a director and how he handlessituations like this. How he helps an actor to tap into something thatthey may not know they have in them. Because make no mistake about it,Sly absolutely believed in Dolph for making the scene work.
Thescene in question had the whole team there. Sly, Jason, Jet, Terry,Randy and Dolph. The scene was basically between 3 characters –Stallone’s Barney Ross, Dolph’s Gunnar Jensen and the lead SomaliPirate Amin Joseph, I think… though I know THE REVENANT’s Senyo Amoakuwas also on set doing his part! But the toughest part came to Dolph.
Afterthe first series of takes, it became evident that this scene was goingto take some work. Sly used the break to change his angles for the 5 orso cameras that were shooting the scene. As Dolph continued to wrestlewith the scene, Stallone decided before the midnight lunch break – tooffer up a series of quick improv’d lines for the rest of the team.
Almostwithout exception they were derogatory towards Dolph’s Gunnar. Sly toldDolph to mime his scene, while a series of close-ups of each characterwas busting on Gunnar’s gonads. I really liked this, as it gave Sly anout if Dolph couldn’t fully pull the scene off, but more than that – itshowed Dolph that it was possible that if he didn’t nail this scene –it would be divvied up amongst his co-stars… and no actor likes to seea big scene move away from them.
At lunch, Dolph became prettysullen. Having quiet talks with his associate. Not looking very happy,but mainly I feel he was beating himself up. You could tell that itmeant a lot to him to nail the scene. But it was tough for him.
Whenwe came back from lunch, we went right back into it. And for a briefperiod – Dolph was on the right track – but as the scene furtherdeveloped to the Grenade Launcher’s inclusion – Dolph shifted his focuson that a bit and kinda went fast and loose with the lines. Notenunciating things the way Stallone wanted and losing some intensity.Sly began to show his aggravation not at Dolph directly, but in furtherimproving his own dialogue – throwing in Captain Crunch and other moreviolent phrasing towards the Somali Pirate leader.
But he begancutting the second he heard something wrong, he’d cut Dolph off andtake it from the top. You could feel Dolph getting frustrated, but whatcame through the camera wasn’t frustration, but something growing moreand more unhinged. It was what Sly was looking for. And after twosuccessful takes they moved on to the live grenade gun firing. Whichwas loud and glorious!
This took a long time. During nearlyevery break – Jason Statham came over to chat. I’ve never met himbefore, though I have been a fan of his work. Jason’s career hasspanned AICN’s history. From LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS toSNATCH to THE TRANSPORTER, THE ITALIAN JOB, COLLATERAL, CELLULAR, CRANKand CRANK 2. Those are my faves. But he’s also been in some pretty nutsfilms, films that he himself has misgivings for – as they did not turnout as he imagined when looking at the page. He’s really hoping thatthis film with Jet Li will mark the saying, “Third Time’s The Charm,”as being a truism.
Jason asked about my thoughts on 3D, CG vs.Practical and a whole host of subjects. Sometimes a cigar tokingStallone would join our conversations – and it was all rather informal.I honestly don’t really like the “interview” process. It gets factoidsabout people, but rarely offers insight into who they are, or what theycare about. Much of what was on Jason’s mind was my thoughts on futurefilm technology that he didn’t have experience with yet… like 3D,Motion Capture, Piracy and so forth.
We talked about hisexperience on the film – and how for him it isn’t about a spectacularstunt he did, but really being a part of the team of remarkable slabsof man meat that were shooting this film. From most everyone that Italked to, it seemed that Jason and Sly have gotten along famously.Essentially stating that their character interaction has basicallybecome a “Buddy pic” relationship. Everyone felt this film is gonnabring out a lighter side to Jason, though Statham never stated thathimself.
I brought up how upset I was when the “geniuses” atScreen Gems veto’d John Carpenter’s casting of Jason Statham asDesolation Williams in GHOSTS OF MARS. Which sent Jason into expressinga great deal of love for John Carpenter. He really wanted that role, asit would have been his first big starring role in the U.S. Sadly, thesuited monkeys didn’t think he could carry a film. Something that overthe next subsequent years was proven dead wrong.
At one point inour conversation, Jason began worshipping at the altar of Rick Baker’sbrilliant transformation sequence in AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON andlonged to see a return to that sort of work, versus CG. We discussed alot. He really came across as a great guy. Especially when he attemptedto kill me in an elaborate series of moves that he was recently trainedin. So basically folks. Jason could’ve killed me had he wanted to winall you talkbackers over.
For those of you wanting to know aboutArnie’s involvement – I can only tell you that Arnold’s character hasan incredibly badass truck, that has been so customized that I dare notguess at a make or model, but it looked as though it probably sprungfrom a late 40s model truck. But that’s a wild guess.
Arnoldwill be shooting his scene at some point in Los Angeles, I hear, but hehasn’t shot his part yet. But I know a truck will be involved and thetruck is badass!
The main thing is – it seems that Sly is beingvery dedicated to making this film kick a lot of ass. He has beenworking to build each of the characters as their own unique beings.Giving them enough to work with so that they’re not just a bunch ofmuscles. And there are a BUNCH of muscles on that set.
RandyCouture’s forearm is one of the scariest forearms I’ve seen. Ripplinglike a harp of pain. Then there’s the giant, Terry Crews… That guylooks like the embodiment of John Henry! Inhumanly large shoulders andarms, but man – watching the costume people strapping on all his gear –he just got meaner and meaner looking. But then he’d flash a crazycharming smile. Jet Li, is probably my greatest regret of the trip. Ishook his hand, he smiled that awesome Jet Li smile, but he pretty muchhung out with his group of associates and friends. Dolph lookedawesome! His face has just so much character in it now and physicallyhe seems to be in excellent shape contrary to that beach vacation shotsthat were all the rage a few months back.
Now for the one pieceof BAD NEWS. Danny Trejo is not in the film. Sly met with him. Lovedhim. But just couldn’t really place him in the film where he felt Dannyfit – that would do the film service as well as Danny. But I get theidea that at a point in the future we’ll see them work together.
Thingsthat are still up in the air: No confirmed release date yet, just sometime in 2010. There’s also no ETA on a teaser trailer or full trailer.I’m very curious to see how this film plays out. As we all know – thisgroup of actors – individually have not always made the best of filmseach time out of the gate, but they are very intent on making this onecount. And I don’t think there’s a single one of us that are rootingagainst them. Because to us, they are certainly NOT expendable.
Twitter:
2nite we have 2units shooting. inside the Expendables are rappelling while Amin Josephis yelling & outside we continu 2 blow stuff up
Check out this pic also. If u look close you'll see Jet lol elusive as usual lol
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