Lionsgate Bringing The Expendables 1&2 To 4K Blu-ray

Good news for those who have upgraded to 4K and are enjoying all the catalogue releases, such as the recent John Wick 4K Blu-ray which looks genuinely exceptional. Well, May will mark another banner month for Lionsgate US, as they’re releasing The Expendables 1&2 on 4K Blu-ray, as well as the manly 3:10 to Yuma remake. Here’s an excerpt from the press release:

Street Date: 5/2/2017

UHD SRP: $22.99

THE EXPENDABLES PROGRAM INFORMATION

Year of Production: 2010
Type: Theatrical Release
Rating: R for strong action and bloody violence throughout, and for some language
Genre: Action
Closed Captioned: N/A
Subtitles: English, Spanish, English SDH
Feature Run Time: 103 minutes
4K Format: 2160P Ultra High Definition 16×9 Widescreen 2.35:1 Presentation
Blu-ray Format: 1080P High Definition 16×9 Widescreen 2.40:1 Presentation
4K Audio Status: English Dolby Atmos, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, English 2.0 Dolby Digital Optimized for Late-Night Listening
Blu-ray Audio Status: English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio™, French 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio

THE EXPENDABLES 2 PROGRAM INFORMATION

Year of Production: 2012
Type: Theatrical Release
Rating: R for strong bloody violence throughout
Genre: Action
Closed Captioned: N/A
Subtitles: English, Spanish, English SDH
Feature Run Time: 103 minutes
4K Format: 2160P Ultra High Definition 16×9 Widescreen 2.35:1 Presentation
Blu-ray Format: 1080P High Definition 16×9 Widescreen 2.40:1 Presentation
4K Audio Status: English Dolby Atmos, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, English 2.0 Dolby Digital Optimized for Late-Night Listening
Blu-ray Audio Status: English 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio™ Optimized for 11.1 Neo:X Playback, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, English 2.0 Dolby Digital Optimized for Late-Night Listening, English Descriptive Audio

And here are a couple of announcement videos from Lionsgate:

I don’t know about you guys, but after upgrading to 4K, standard HD just isn’t good enough anymore. Even though both of these flicks were reportedly finished at 2K, presumably making these a 4K upscale, the addition of HDR and the improved bitrate will no doubt make for a superior picture. Hopefully there will be some improvement for The Expendables 2, which looked legendarily shonky even in the cinema. Seriously, all the digital zoom-ins and digital noise reduction to hide the wrinkles on the faces of the actors… Sheesh.

Anyway. The only real drawback of this set is the notable absence of the extended cut of the first film. The Expendables 3 came to 4K only in its theatrical incarnation as well. Beggars can’t be choosers, I guess. One supposes we’ll see these releases in the UK and other territories at some point, but 4K discs are all region free so you can import with confidence. We’ll report back with a review once we get our mitts on these.