The lowdown on the much talked about (on this site anyway) EXPENDABLES 2 box set!

I received my copy of the Expendables 2: Zero Heroes box today. Yay! Spiffy!!

As I've mentioned before, the set is released by the US video label VideoAsia. The label is a bootleg label and well known for putting out DVD sets that are all sourced from old video tapes, not least tapes from Japan (which obviously means they come with burnt-in Japanese subtitles!). However, they DO release some good prints too and apparently a couple of years back they were going to release a very, very rare version of THE BIG BOSS that contains the original, rejected English dub. But it never happened. Rumours are they were "contacted" by people with copyrights in their pockets who probably asked them to can it. Well, I'm not usually too keen on watching my HK movies dubbed into English but the more choices the better I'd say. And it's definitely a pity it never came out not least cos you wonder why it was originally rejected; Was it really that bad? o_O

Anyway, I'm rambling but obviously I was curious about the versions in this new Zero Heroes set. As you know if you've read my previous posts, Karlos wrote and told me they were all indeed sourced from Japanese video tapes and today I'm finally able to check for myself. I've made a few screen grabs and I'm gonna post two from each film so you can get an idea of how they look. I'm using a VLC media player and unfortunately it's not all that good when you try and make accurate screen grabs (but it's the only one I've got so...).

I'll post the title card from each film and one from somewhere in the middle. As Karlos also mentioned to me, the print used for COBRA MISSION is pretty crappy. The one for the sequel, COBRA MISSION 2, and for WILD TEAM are both pretty decent altho it seems all prints suffer from being taken from worn video tapes!! Even tho I've only briefly checked the tapes it becomes clear right away they have all got tape rolls and lines in the picture!! The tape used for WILD TEAM certainly looks worse than my own almost PERFECT Japanese VHS! (hey VideoAsia, next time ask me for a copy, haha).

An example of VideoAsia's worn tapes! [from WILD TEAM]

The copy used for THE EXPENDABLES (for some weirdo reason retitled The Expendables 2 in the menu) isn't all that great either.

And in addtion to all this, Karlos also sent me some interesting info about COBRA MISSION; As I mentioned in a previous post, the film was also included in another box that VideoAsia put out a while ago called Mercs. The print in that box is a different one taken from a (I believe) US VHS release that was was retitled Operation 'Nam. Karlos compared the two prints and found some interesting differences:

Karlos:

COBRA MISSION
Shown as made in 1985
Run time (in PAL) 1:27:35

OPERATION 'NAM
Shown as made in 1987
Run time (in PAL) 1:21:10

Showing a 6 minute, 25 second difference!!

Also, only OPERATION 'NAM has music at the beginning, and a different piece of music at the end.

Both versions show music by the same person, Francesco De Masi.

Not sure if music during the films differ - I had a quick check and they didn't seem to.

My guess is, OP NAM was cut to make it more palatable to US audiences, but it's only a guess!

So the US Operation 'Nam version is missing almost six and a half minutes compared to the Japanese tape! O_O

Thanks to Karlos for this useful info.

And now for the screen grabs:











Finally, despite the tape roll, etc. I wouldn't hesitate recommending this box set to you. Sure, nut-case VHS collectors like myself are always gonna try and track down these films on rare deleted video tapes outta Japan or some other obscure territory but most of you who would rather just wanna watch the movies right away to you I'd say go for it! Grab this set! It's bloody cheap too. I paid $15 including postage from the States (from Cduniverse).

"Expendables 2: Zero Heroes": No major surprise there. All prints from old video tapes!

Thanks to reader Karlos, I can now confirm what I suspected a little while ago in my post about this new four film set from VideoAsia: All four prints are indeed sourced from Japanese video tapes!!! The films are all watchable but Karlos points out that the version of COBRA MISSION is pretty terrible. "Grainy and pixelated". Too bad. The film (under the alternative title of Operation Nam) was also included on another previous DVD box set entitle "Mercs" and interestingly enough the soundtrack on the "Mercs" set is a different one than used on the Japanese VHS. I'm happy to report I'm the owner of a copy of the original Japanese VHS. Oh well, if nothing else it sure is a cheap way of getting hold of these four film. Even if they come via old video tapes. LOL.


THE FOUR FILMS IN THE SET:

THE EXPENDABLES (Cirio H. Santiago, Philippines, 1988)

WILD TEAM aka I Cinque del Condor (Umberto Lenzi, Italy, 1985)
[retitled "The Expendables 2: Wild Team" for this set]

COBRA MISSION (Fabrizio De Angelis, Italy/Philippines, 1986)

COBRA MISSION 2 (Camillo Teti, Italy/Philippines, 1989)

The Expendables box set from VideoAsia

Unfortunately, I still haven't seen the new THE EXPENDABLES but here's some spiffy info that might interest you: To cash in on the new film the crappy bootleg company VideoAsia are releasing a box they've appropriately entitled "The Expendables 2" with the added sub title "Zero Heroes" (haha)!

Needless to say none of the films in the set is a sequel to Sly's new film, in fact they are actually all old films but... hey... we thrive on old trashy war flicks here so let's have a look at this set shall we? Well, as much of a look as you can have when you HAVEN'T actually got the box, LOL. In fact I didn't even know about the set till this afternoon when Karlos, one of the faithful readers of this blog, mentioned to me in a comment that it's going to be released (and thanks heaps for that, mate!).

I have all my info from what's mentioned on various webstores' pages so obviously details might change. The set is being released by VideoAsia in the US and contains these four films:

THE EXPENDABLES (Cirio H. Santiago, Philippines, 1988)

WILD TEAM aka I Cinque del Condor (Umberto Lenzi, Italy, 1985)
[retitled "The Expendables 2: Wild Team" for this release]

COBRA MISSION (Fabrizio De Angelis, Italy/Philippines, 1986)

COBRA MISSION 2 (Camillo Teti, Italy/Philippines, 1989)

Not bad, not bad. If I were you I'd avoid reading about the three latter films on IMDb. I'm not gonna bother to check but from memory I seem to recall they were all ridiculed by the IMDb "experts", LMAO. Yeah, well, you know how it is. Many of the films on my blog are great fun but they're probably never going to get any positive criticism by ordinary reviewers (or IMDb users). But that's alright, we have fun with these films and they don't. It's a question of which crowd you'd rather be in, the ones who just sneer at good fun or the ones who just have fun, LOL.

Anyway, from a personal perspective I'm definitely looking forward to this set because it contains COBRA MISSION 2. I've got the other ones (you can check entries for all four films in the bar on the right). I've only seen the Japanese VHS for COBRA MISSION 2 one single time on eBay and unfortunately I was so careless as to think no one was gonna make a bid for it so I only placed a small amount of dollar coins on it and, well, I "paid" for my carelessness. :-(

I did win the first film, COBRA MISSION, at the same auction and a few other trashy Vietnam flicks so that's alright. But you know how it is, it's always the one you DON'T get that you remember. "Everywhere is better than where we are" as the Russians say.

Now, VideoAsia. o_O
I mentioned that this "company" (and I use the term losely) is a bootleg label and they sure are! I'm not at all sure how they can keep selling their stuff on Amazon because as far as I'm aware Amazon has a strict policy against bootlegs. And trust me, these DVDs are bootlegs! I have a box set called "Tales of Voodoo" and I believe all 10 films in that set are sourced from old video tapes. There might even be one film which is copied from a bloody VCD!

If you look at the cover of VideoAsia's new box set in the above and compare it to the cover on my Japanese video release of WILD TEAM (below) it's easy to see they are identical! Well, it is a mighty cool cover so I guess that's all right. xD



And if they ARE going to use a print from a video tape then I would certainly hope they are using the Japanese VHS as it presents WILD TEAM in a nice letterboxed format. By the way, WILD TEAM is directed by ol'e Mr Cannibal hisself, Umberto Lenzi (Cannibal Holucaust). I'm not gonna mention what movies Bobby A. Suarez has made because you all know him anyway. Fabrizio De Angelis (Cobra Mission) also directed the three THUNDER (aka Thunder Warrior) films and the first KILLER CROCODILE flick. Camillo Teti (Cobra Mission 2) also did KILLER CROCODILE 2 and BYE BYE VIETNAM.

According to various sellers (e.g. Cduniverse and one seller on eBay) the box is set for release in a couple of days on August the 31st. However, Amazon.com has it listed for release in November. I sincerely hope Amazon is wrong about this but anyway Karlos has ordered the box and promises to let us know about it all when he receives it. The price on Amazon and eBay is around $10 + postage, and slightly cheaper from Cduniverse where it's listed at a mere 7 bucks (and with $7 for postage this is probably the cheapest place to order from if you're in Europe).