On Demand Weekly

On Demand Weekly provides new movie reviews of hot movies on demand from the POV of watching from the comfort of your home. Today’s review: INFERNO: THE MAKING OF THE EXPENDABLES. Email us what you think of the extended behind-the-scenes of Stallone's new film.

I thought it would be a good idea to go see THE EXPENDABLES, Sly Stallone’s old school, all-star action blockbuster before watching. But as my deadline for this review closed in I decided I’d better crack a cold one, sprawl out on the couch, and see why someone would bother to make a behind the scenes movie that is almost as long as the film it promotes.

Most behind the scenes shows are half hour promos designed with one goal in mind - sell the film to a potential audience without giving away too much.

As I started watching INFERNO: THE MAKING OF THE EXPENDABLES I quickly realized I didn’t need to have seen THE EXPENDABLES to enjoy this new documentary premiering on EPIX On Demand. I could also see why it was 95 minutes long. This was going to be more than just a promo for a theatrical release.

INFERNO is not your average behind the scenes making of special. It is a powerful, revealing, honest documentary about an iconic moviemaker. Not so much on the level of THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE, but more like ED WOOD on steroids, (if that were a docu.)

Using the EXPENDABLES as a high-octane backdrop, INFERNO is an introspective, first person look at a career in its dénouement. At sixty-four, Sylvester Stallone is pumped-up both physically and emotionally and he’ll do almost anything, except abandon his family, to make his movie.

“I wanted my kids to see what their father used to be,” says Stallone in between being sown up by the doctors on set. It’s a sentiment that permeates Sly’s point of view throughout the picture.

INFERNO has two goals in mind, which immediately sets it apart from other making of shows. The documentary opens with a Stallone voice over that is more monotonous than mellifluous but there is something mesmerizing about it. It’s Rocky Balboa waxing nostalgic. I was hooked. The profundity of it was unexpected and refreshing. We get to see what makes Stallone tick these days and get a strong sense that he’s a changed man. Or at least he tells us so.

INFERNO’s aspiration as a promo for THE EXPENDABLES succeeds as well. Stallone is the kind of director you might expect a larger than life action hero to be. A cigar chomping, demanding auteur who loves to blow stuff up. But he’s not playing at director, he knows what he wants, and how to get it. Stallone can think on his feet. He’s also not afraid to step out of the box and ad lib, whether it’s dialogue or an entire sequence (that sold me) involving a seaplane, some quick thinking and a massive amount of pyrotechnics.

I am sure I still would have enjoyed the aptly named INFERNO had I seen THE EXPENDABLES first, but this making of documentary does its job and more. So I will be headed to the theater soon, especially to see Sly, Arnold and Bruce all together in a brief scene that hints at stealing the show.

- John Werner
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John Werner is a screenwriter who has written several action flicks for SY FY Channel. He also directs, produces and edits TV specials and series including making of behind the scenes programming for HBO and Nickelodeon.

Click here for a video for INFERNO: THE MAKING OF THE EXPENDABLES