The Expendables 3 (2014)

Despite being mauled critically in the US, Warcraft has thrived in China where it looks to be a serious threat to Furious 7's record box office haul in the country. But what other terrible Hollywood films have surprisingly succeeded in China? More than you'd think.

An arrest has been made in connection to the illegal release of The Expendables 3, which the studio blames for the lackluster box office take.

Much like a pair of socks under the tree, these 10 films are those wonderful gifts that never started giving. Read on and see which 2014 movies from which we'd love to get our money back.

Despite the fact that Black Friday is hitting stores in just a few short days (and seems to have hit the internet already), this week’s actually pretty light on high-end releases, as well as gift sets. Regardless, even on the light weeks for Blu-ray and DVD releases, there is plenty to choose from.

When a movie underperforms at the box office, it's natural for people to start trying to discover the root of what went wrong. Typically fingers can be pointed at a director or the screenplay or the studio, but sometimes it's more specific things. In the case of The Expendables 3, Sylvester Stallone is placing a good amount of blame on the film's rating.

Unlike its two franchise predecessors, The Expendables 3 entered theaters not with a restrictive R-rating, but instead a much more teen friendly PG-13. While many fans saw this as a big mistake, noting that the series originated as an ode to the hyper-violent and bloody action movies of the 1980s, it's one that Lionsgate will be doing its part to correct when the film arrives on Blu-ray and DVD.

4DX puts customers right into the middle of the action in their favorite flicks through the use of a technology that utilizes seat movement and sensory effects inside the auditorium, which are synched to the action onscreen. America’s first theater utilizing the tech opened this past June, and early results show it’s a huge hit with patrons.

Okay, so, a lot of you didn't see The Expendables 3 this weekend, and that's a pity. It's not because the movie's good (it isn't), it's not because the heroes of yesterday's movies need your support, and not because Sylvester Stallone is starving. Instead, it's because you missed out on a little history. Did you know there were a couple of gay Expendables? Specifically, a couple of hugely famous gay Expendables? GAY SPOILERS AHEAD!

That's assuming all the downloads occurred in America, which they absolutely didn't – the franchise has been much healthier internationally, with 72% of the second film's overall gross coming from foreign territories.

It's as much a pleasure for him to be unshackled onscreen as it is for us to see him again, years passed his prime, that spark still alive in his eyes. Naturally, the movie treats him similarly to the other legends onscreen, chucking him to the scrap heap three scenes later.

Looking to The Expendables 3, Let's Be Cops and Step Up All In for inspiration, we've pulled together a selection of classic Expendable cinema, kooky action comedies, and dazzling dance movies.

No need to fear? You might be right. Maybe Harrison Ford is beyond anxious to get back into the Millennium Falcon and bring one of his signature roles back to the big screen

But the fans just didn't show up to a film that added Wesley Snipes, Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford to the ever-growing roster of characters, three legends with serious box office pedigree. The formula seemed simple at the beginning, but it's clear from audience dissatisfaction that it's not working.

These movies so far have been overstuffed to the point of parody. The latest film tries to find space for two full Expendables teams, reducing Jet Li to a tiny cameo and four spoken lines, and he doesn't even throw any kicks. And Wesley Snipes seems like a selling point for the new movie, but after a major break-in that frees him, he and the rest of the Expendables are (temporarily!) fired and replaced by the new crew.

I’m not the first person to take the MPAA to task for its lax stance on violence versus language or nudity. Hopefully I won’t be the last. These arguments may sound like a broken record, but it’s one worth playing – again and again – if disturbingly violent films like The Expendables 3 reach the marketplace with an audience-friendly PG-13 rating.

I’m a bit down in the dumps. Why? I’m now 36 hours removed from an ER visit after breaking my ankle while fighting crime (falling off a ladder). But I know something that can start the healing process! Talking about a few movies ought to do the trick. This week we get expendable, give, and become cops. And all the while I get to take my mind off a non-displaced fracture to the left fibula.

The idea of an "Expendabelles" movie has been floating around for a while now, but at the London premiere of The Expendables 3, Stallone suggested who he'd like to see star. None too surprisingly, he named Sigourney Weaver. However, how he suggests she'd fit into the franchise is a little less than inspiring.

Expendables 3's roster reads like a who's who of movie badasses from past and present, so why not show them all off with a little Sly swagger and explosions? Enter the brand new motion poster you see above.

So here's what we do. We lobby to eliminate PG-13. What this does is force the MPAA to look at content differently. That means, no more arbitrary rulings or beliefs about one breast versus two, one headshot versus five. Whatever they think is a movie for “adults” will earn an R-rating.

As some people on Twitter following ERC have pointed out, reducing an Expendables movie to PG-13 sort of goes against the point of these movies. The Expendables movies exist to see the greatest, most iconic action stars going balls-to-the-wall in escalatingly violent operas of blood and carnage. Right?

Pierce Brosnan used to be known as a man of action, but for a while he took a sabbatical to venture forth onto newer, greener pastures. It looks like the man's days of peace and quiet are over, as he's ready, willing, and able to become the newest Expendable.

The villain here is Mel Gibson's CONRAD STONEBANKS, which is a name that oddly only exists in ALL CAPS, and any lower case letters to type CONRAD STONEBANKS should be unacceptable and returned to sender.

If the old-timers have a younger fanbase, made up specifically of guys who were too small to be seeing Commando, Passenger 57, then chances are they are old enough to get into an R-rated movie by now.

Which is why we've decided to break down most of the summer's offerings, observing exactly what it is about some films that cause them to succeed and fail. This involved number crunching, market analysis, educated guesses, and the application of a few snobby biases.

For each, we try to explain WHY these movies matter. You have a lot of films to choose from in the summer season. These are the ones we think need to be on your radar.

We've handpicked sixteen big summer releases and matched them up with an NBA title contender. Some connect tenuously, superficially. Others have unusual similarities, borderline creepy. But at least it's all at your fingertips.

Gone are the murky shootouts and dingy warehouses of the first two films. Now we've got open country, trains, ballrooms, and, what the hell, one more dingy warehouse just for good luck. Instead of an out-and-out action movie, it looks like an actual adventure. How charming!

In preparation for a new trailer that is expected to drop in a few days, Lionsgate spread a series of The Expendables 3 character posters across various site on the ‘Net, and we’re sharing a few that have piqued our interest.

Throughout the year I get to cover a lot of big events, from the madness of San Diego Comic-Con to various indie-packed film festivals, but easily one of the biggest is the annual CinemaCon Expo.

The Raid: Redemption is one of those movies that’s so bare bones that one could remake it for America and no one would even realize it. The first wasn’t exactly a crossover smash, pulling in $4.1 million domestically. And the whole highrise fighting element is basically a sidescrolling beat-‘em-up video game.