THE EXPENDABLES 3 REVIEWED in 4K
“The Expendables 3″ is an exercise in how not to breathe life into a franchise continuation. While there is a sustained fascination with watching older men smack each other around, Stallone seems very desperate to keep new talent involved in the production. Even if that means getting Terry Crews out of the movie almost as fast as he shows up. But, Stallone is a guy that saw the scripts for every Rocky sequel and thought they were good enough. This film isn’t Rocky V bad, but the level of error is still onscreen.
Stallone is an auteur having to take a backseat to up-and-comer Patrick Hughes. While there are a ton of concessions made on this film, I still feel that we got an Expendables adventure on par with the first two movies. There are too many character introduced in a short span of time. Banderas’s Galgo and Grammer’s Bonaparte get the most time onscreen to work through eccentricities, but all they do is serve as more support for Stallone. While this is an ensemble piece, everyone serves a purpose for Stallone’s character and very few get anything resembling equal billing. If you’re going to the film to see people get kick punched and buildings explode, that won’t matter.
The 4K Ultra HD presentation is the first real “meh” feeling that I’ve had in the new format. I’ve only seen a dozen discs, but the ham-fisted delivery of this film has me realizing that we’re not done with the short changing in the home video market. Why couldn’t both cuts of the film be mastered into 4K Ultra HD? It’s not like the Director’s Cut was a VHS workprint found in a vault after two decades.
The Dolby Atmos track was dynamic, but it’s comparable to Atmos releases for the Blu-Ray market. Ultimately, was this the best possible launch title for a new format? I’d say No, as it felt very thrown together to capitalize on home theater enthusiasts wanting to blow tax refunds on spectacle. Honestly, I can see this title getting revisited if the format survives past 2017. Physical media forever, people!
SPECIAL FEATURES
- Theatrical only in 4K
- Theatrical and Director’s Cut in 1080p
- Documentary
- Gag Reel
- Featurettes
- Extended Scene
A/V QUALITY STATS
- 2.40:1 2160p transfer
- Dolby Atmos
- Dolby TrueHD 7.1 downmix