Every generation has its bona fide action star: the man who’s able to take out scores of foes in increasingly bloody ways with all manner of weapons, and more than a few cutting quips. The 80s saw the rise of action titans like Arnold Schwarzeneggerand Sylvester Stallone, Jackie Chandominated the ’90s. Keanu Reeves and Liam Neeson both reinvigorated the action genre with films like The Matrixand Taken. But the biggest action star of the modern era is arguably Jason Statham. Part of that is due to Statham’s versatility, as he can slot into ensemble pieces or solo endeavors with ease, and one of his most iconic franchises is currently available to stream on Netflix.
That franchise is none other than The Expendables, which fulfilled action lovers’ dreams by bringing together ’80s-and’ 90s-era icons in the same movie. It also has a perfect hook: Stallone’s Barney Ross has gathered together an elite unit of mercenaries, including Statham’s knife expert Lee Christmas, to pull off the kind of missions that no one else can. Over four movies, The Expendables has delivered enough bloody action and machismo to satisfy action fans. However, those fans will have to look elsewhere for their adrenaline fix as the series is departing Netflix on June 20.
Jason Statham Is A Standout In ‘The Expendables’
Lee Christmas, played by Jason Statham, looks serious in ‘Expend4bles’.
Image via Lionsgate
It’s absolutely no surprise that The Expendables is meant to be a love letter to the type of over-the-top action films that made its cast superstars. The Expendables’ roster consists of characters with ridiculously awesome names, like “Hale Caesar” (Terry Crews), “Yin Yang” (Jet Li), and “Trench Mauser” (Schwarzenegger). The first two movies contain enough bloodshed to put Quentin Tarantino‘s body of work to shame. Perhaps one of the most iconic moments occurs in the first Expendables, where Barney Ross and Mauser meet the mysterious “Mr. Church” (Bruce Willis). Yes, even in its very first installment, The Expendables proved it wanted to be the action franchise for a generation by literally uniting a generation of stars in a pivotal scene.
Though The Expendables’ roster has changed across all four installments, Statham is a constant presence. Lee Christmas is essentially the second-in-command of the team, and his skills with knives mean that he gets some of the best action sequences in the entire franchise. Statham even gets some meaty material in The Expendables 3, where he carries on a brief rivalry with fellow knife-thrower Doctor Death (Wesley Snipes) and Expen4bles, where he becomes the leader of the team. Though The Expendables 3 and Expen4bles were panned by fans and critics, as the former skewed away from the series’ heavy R-rating while the latter felt poorly made on every level, Statham proved that he could lead the franchise when the time was right.
Collider Exclusive · Action Hero Quiz Which Action Hero Would Be Your Perfect Partner? Rambo · James Bond · Indiana Jones · John McClane · Ethan Hunt
Five legends. Five completely different ways of getting out alive — with style, with muscle, with charm, with luck, or with a plan so intricate it probably shouldn’t work. Ten questions will reveal which action hero was built to have your back.
🎖️Rambo
🍸James Bond
🏺Indiana Jones
🔧John McClane
🎭Ethan Hunt
01
You’re dropped into a dangerous situation with no warning. What do you need most from a partner? The first few seconds tell you everything about who belongs beside you.
02
You have to get somewhere dangerous, fast. How do you travel? How you get there is half the mission.
03
You’re pinned down and outnumbered. What does your ideal partner do? This is when you find out what someone is really made of.
04
The mission is paused. You have one evening to decompress. What does your partner suggest? Who someone is when the pressure drops is who they actually are.
05
How do you prefer your partner to communicate mid-mission? Good communication is the difference between partners and a liability.
06
Your enemy is powerful, well-resourced, and has the upper hand. How should your partner approach them? The approach to the enemy defines the partnership.
07
Things go badly wrong and you’re captured. What do you trust your partner to do? Who someone is when you need them most is the only thing that matters.
08
What does your ideal partner bring to the table that you couldn’t replace? A great partner fills the gap you didn’t know you had.
09
Every partnership has a cost. Which of these can you live with? No one comes without baggage. The question is whether you can carry it together.
10
It’s the final moment. Everything is on the line. What do you need from your partner right now? The last question is the most honest one.
Your Partner Has Been Assigned Your Perfect Partner Is…
Your answers have pointed to one action hero above all others. This is the person built to have your back — for better or considerably, spectacularly worse.
Rambo
Your partner doesn’t talk much, doesn’t need to, and will have assessed every threat in your immediate environment before you’ve finished your first sentence. John Rambo is not a man of plans or politics — he is a force of nature shaped by survival, loyalty, and a capacity for endurance that goes beyond anything training can produce. He will not leave you behind. He has never left anyone behind who deserved to come home. What you get with Rambo is the most capable, most quietly ferocious partner imaginable — one who has been through things that would have broken anyone else, and who chose to keep going anyway. You’ll never need to ask if he has your back. You’ll just know.
James Bond
Your partner will arrive perfectly dressed, perfectly briefed, and with a cover story so convincing it’ll take you a moment to remember what’s actually true. James Bond is the most professionally dangerous person in any room he enters — and the most disarmingly charming, which is the point. He operates in a world of layers, where nothing is what it appears and every advantage is used without apology. You’ll never be bored. You’ll occasionally be furious. But when it matters — when the mission is genuinely on the line and the margin for error has collapsed to nothing — Bond is exactly the partner you want. He has survived things that have no business being survivable. He does it with style. That is not nothing.
Indiana Jones
Your partner will know the history, the language, the cultural context, and exactly why the thing everyone else is ignoring is actually the most important thing in the room. Indiana Jones is brilliant, reckless, and occasionally impossible — but he is also one of the most resourceful, most genuinely knowledgeable partners you could find yourself beside. He approaches every situation with a scholar’s eye and a brawler’s instinct, which is an unusual combination and a remarkably effective one. He hates snakes and gets personally attached to objects of historical significance, both of which will slow you down at least once. It doesn’t matter. What Indy brings is irreplaceable — and the adventures you’ll have together will be the kind people write books about. Assuming you survive them.
John McClane
Your partner was not supposed to be here. He does not have the right equipment, the right information, or anything approaching the right odds. He has a sarcastic remark and an absolute refusal to accept that the situation is as bad as it looks. John McClane is the greatest accidental hero in the history of action cinema — a man whose superpower is stubbornness, whose contingency plan is improvisation, and whose capacity to absorb punishment and keep moving would be alarming if it weren’t so useful. He will complain the entire time. He will make it significantly more chaotic than it needed to be. And he will absolutely, unconditionally, without question come through when it counts. Yippee-ki-yay.
Ethan Hunt
Your partner has already run seventeen scenarios by the time you’ve finished reading the briefing, and the plan he’s settled on involves at least two things that should be physically impossible. Ethan Hunt operates at the absolute edge of human capability — technically, physically, and intellectually — and he brings the same relentless precision to protecting his partners that he brings to dismantling organisations that shouldn’t exist. He is not easy to know and he will never fully tell you everything. But he will carry the weight of the mission so completely, so absolutely, that your job is simply to trust him — and the remarkable thing is that trusting him always turns out to be the right call. The mission will be impossible. He will complete it anyway.
‘The Expendables’ Is Set To Return — With A Twist
The silver screen isn’t the only place where the Expendables have brought their exploits. A comic book series titled The Expendables Go To Hellappropriately dragged the mercenaries into an infernal realm, while plans for a television series have been in the works for years. Yet the biggest expansion is set to come in the form of The ExpendaBelles, featuring an all-female team of action stars. Though different versions of The ExpendaBelles have been in the works over the years, a new version is currently being developed by Millennium Films, which holds the rights to The Expendables franchise. It also has a unique hook: it’s set on the cusp of Y2K, which helps set it apart from the main Expendables franchise while giving audiences a reason to tune in beyond brand recognition.
The Expendables was a gamble in every sense of the word. Not only did it have to bring together some of the biggest names in action cinema, but it also had to deliver movies that were worthy of those stars. It’s also a reminder that Jason Statham remains an action icon, even when he’s sharing the screen with others.
