First Real Footage Debuts From Stallone's Expendables

When you see Inglrourious Basterds this weekend and realize that Quentin Tarantino hasn't quite made the 'men on a mission' movie he once talked about, you might be ready for Sylvester Stallone's 'men on a mission' movie The Expendables. (Disclaimer: I liked, perhaps loved Basterds, but it's not a straight-up action movie by any means. Do not take that as a reason not to see it!) We've already seen some fun behind the scenes footage from Stallone's flick (pow! pow! pow!) and now we've got some actual footage cut into a piece promoting a UFC fight.

The clip is ostensibly looking into the upcoming Randy Coture / Antonio Nogueira matchup for UFC 102. But because Coture is in The Expendables, it basically becomes a marketing tool for the film. That's how we get to see the first footage as it'll appear on the screen, and it's no surprise that much of what we see involves Coture. There is one minor clip (which is actually behind the scenes footage) showing Jet Li, of whom we've seen relatively little in promo materials so far. Sadly, there's not really enough here to get any actual idea of what the movie really looks like. The 'real' footage is pretty low-quality.

A lot of minor tweaks took place with the Expendables script as the film shot recently in Louisiana, but the basics remain: it's more or less an attempt to honor the old blockbuster action movie spirit of the '80s and early '90s as a mercenary team heads to South America where they confront a dictator. Stallone leads the team, which includes Randy Coture, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews and Jason Statham. Supporting players include Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts and Steve Austin. Coture's UFC opponent Nogueira (and Nogueira's brother) are also in the film, as minor henchmen.

Lionsgate will open the film in the US in April, 2010.