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Stallone directs Schwarzenegger, Willis, Rourke and a bunch of other ass-kickers in this explosive action flick. By Eric Ditzian Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone and Randy Couture in “The Expendables” Photo: Lionsgate “The Expendables” is what would happen if a 10-year-old growing up in the 1980s was given godlike powers and could brainstorm and green-light the action flick of his preteen dreams: Take Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis , Dolph Lundgren and a bunch of other ass-kickers, give them an army’s worth of guns and explosives, and set them loose to wreak havoc on anyone who so much as breathes on them the wrong way. Co-written and directed by Stallone, “Expendables” is indeed a loosely plotted throwback to the bang-bang ’80s, a cinematic period when muscled superstars chewed scenery (when they weren’t blowing it up) and the actual story didn’t have to make a whole lot of sense. Stallone and his pals — including Jet Li , Jason Statham , Terry Crews and Randy Couture — are a group of mercenaries hired to overthrow a South American dictator and the American drug lord who finances his despotism. That’s really all you have to know about the plotline. But there is a ton you need to know about this flick … because despite its many flaws, “Expendables” still kicks a ton of cinematic ass. And MTV News is just the place to find out all about it. It’s time to lock and load with our “Expendables” cheat sheet! Expanding the Expendables Word of the movie first dropped in November of 2008 when Variety reported that Stallone had pulled the project together with an eye toward beginning filming the following February in Costa Rica and Louisiana. “It’s a great circle of people to be involved with,” Statham told us back then. “Sly is someone I grew up watching on TV and in the movies. He’s a living legend. He’s one of the biggest action stars that Hollywood’s ever seen, the whole world’s ever seen. And so the chance for me to come all these years later and be working alongside Sly is just one of those, like, pinch-yourself moments. Rest assured, it’s going to be a kick-ass film.” Said Crews , “There are a lot of big personalities, big egos in this thing, but it is great. I think it’s going to be wonderful for the fans.” Extending the Expendables Filming didn’t actually start until April of last year and it wrapped up three months later. But it wasn’t until October that we got details about Sly’s lone scene with Willis and Arnie , who both appear in brief cameos. “I thought it was electric in Brazil when all of the Expendables stepped on-set — but today was atomic!!!” wrote a unit publicist. “[The] whole crew was mesmerized as we watched the three of them play off of each other in a pivotal scene that sets up the whole movie.” Actually, “atomic” was a pretty good word for the first trailer , which popped up in March of this year. There were guns, explosions and more guns. People said stuff, but mostly we paid attention to the guns. And the explosions. A second trailer arrived in June, delivering less action but peeks at all of the famous “Expendables” faces . Exalting the Expendables Sly and his castmates stormed Comic-Con in July, delivering a slew of clips, an animated panel discussion and a late but satisfying arrival by Willis . “The biggest problem I think today with action films is it’s too much action and not enough reaction, guys just sitting around,” Stallone told us . “Then you become invested. That’s what they had in the old days. Like ‘Magnificent Seven,’ you maybe had 15 minutes of action and the rest is just character work.” “It is [a tough movie to put together], because these kinds of guys, there’s not a lot of them in abundance, especially in the acting world,” he added. “There is in sports but not in our particular chosen profession, so it took a while to get it together. Most of them have been veterans in their own films, so when you put all these guys together with this kind of muscle power, this kind of ego, it becomes an interesting challenge.” Check out everything we’ve got on “The Expendables.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com .

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‘The Expendables’ Cheat Sheet: Everything You Need To Know