Sometimes all you need on a Saturday night is a four-pack of beer, a very large pizza, and movies like The Expendables. Something with tough guys, huge explosions, and bad one-liners…
Sylvester Stallone paid homage to the action movies of the 80s by bringing together a muscle-bound cast for an adrenaline-fuelled adventure about a suicide mission to overthrow a South American dictator.
The clock is ticking, so oil up those muscles, grab your minigun, and let’s go on a mission to find other great picks…
10 Tough Guy Movies Like The Expendables
1. Where Eagles Dare (1968)
An elite team of commandos is sent to infiltrate an impregnable castle during WWII to rescue a captured general. However, the team leader soon suspects there might be a traitor in their midst…
Brian G. Hutton’s rollicking Boy’s Own adventure is terrific entertainment with plenty of suspenseful moments, including a nail-biting cable car fight.
Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood give plenty of badass attitude to this suicide mission. It’s one worth signing up for if you love films like The Expendables.
2. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
A young Jewish woman is drawn into a plot in Nazi-occupied France to kill the top brass of the Third Reich, including Hitler himself. Meanwhile, a crack unit of Jewish soldiers is working behind enemy lines, claiming Nazi scalps…
Quentin Tarantino offered his unique take on World War II, creating a suspenseful revenge fantasy with his usual smart dialogue and bursts of bloody violence.
Brad Pitt is hilarious as the leader of the Basterds, but Christoph Waltz is the film’s MVP, putting in a dazzling performance as a charming but ruthless SS Colonel. A modern classic.
3. The Dirty Dozen (1967)
A hard-nosed Major who must take a bunch of convicted killers on a suicide mission behind enemy lines to cause chaos in the Nazi ranks…
Robert Aldrich’s hard-as-nails action adventure was a big hit, featuring a terrific cast of cinematic hard men including Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson.
The Dirty Dozen was a huge influence on our previous pick, and should satisfy even the most diehard fans of movies like The Expendables.
4. Predator (1987)
An elite team of commandos is sent on a covert mission in Central America to rescue a politician whose helicopter crashed in the jungle. Instead, they find themselves hunted by an alien creature they can’t see…
John McTiernan’s sci-fi action thriller has Arnold Schwarzenegger at the height of his powers, duking it out against the terrifying predator. The masterstroke was making this bunch of tough guys look helpless against the merciless creature.
Predator has intense action, quotable one-liners, and brilliant creature design, making it an enduring classic for anyone who likes men-on-a-mission movies like The Expendables.
5. The Guns of Navarone (1961)
Another tale of wartime derring-do based on an Alistair MacLean novel, The Guns of Navarone is cracking entertainment for a rainy Sunday afternoon.
J. Lee Thompson’s epic adventure stars Gregory Peck, David Niven, and Anthony Quinn as members of a squad sent to take out the German’s long-range cannons so Allied troops can be rescued from a Greek island.
Movies like The Expendables don’t come much bigger or rip-roaring than this classic yarn that still has people on the edge of their seats sixty years later.
6. The Untouchables (1987)
A change of genres now but still very much a movie like The Expendables as the unwavering Eliot Ness must put together an elite team of lawmen to bring down legendary mobster Al Capone.
Brian De Palma’s stylish crime thriller is riveting from beginning to end, featuring a brilliant cast of Kevin Costner, Robert De Niro, Sean Connery, and Andy Garcia. Ennio Morricone’s iconic score adds brilliantly to the atmosphere.
The Untouchables was a big hit, a perfect match of style and substance from the inconsistent De Palma. It’s one of the great crime movies of the last century.
7. Ocean’s Eleven (2001)
An ex-con puts together a team of talented criminals to pull off an impossible heist – robbing the seemingly un-robbable vaults of three Las Vegas casinos…
Steven Soderbergh’s mellow remake of the old Rat Pack caper makes us feel part of the crew while keeping us guessing about how they’re going to pull it off.
Ocean’s Eleven is also a great movie to hang out in, thanks to its ultra-charismatic cast including George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, and Matt Damon, all at their most charming.
8. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Back to World War II again, and a team of U.S soldiers go behind enemy lines to rescue a young man whose brothers have all been killed in action.
Steven Spielberg shook audiences with his devastating recreation of the D-Day landings before settling into a gripping adventure in search of the title character, with Tom Hanks as its reliable center.
Saving Private Ryan was a huge critical and commercial success and remains one of the great war movies of the past 25 years.
9. Kelly’s Heroes (1970)
A lighter-hearted take on the behind-enemy-lines scenario here as a wily soldier puts together a team to steal gold bullion from Nazi-occupied France…
Clint Eastwood and Telly Savalas bring the tough guy talk and Donald Sutherland provides the laughs as a gonzo tank commander in this entertaining wartime heist from Brian G. Hutton.
Kelly’s Heroes is a perfect blend of action and comedy, making it a must-see for fans of movies like The Expendables that also match laughs with thrills.
10. 300 (2007)
A list of movies like The Expendables wouldn’t be complete without 300, one of history’s most famous suicide missions.
Gerard Butler plays King Leonidas who leads 300 Spartans into battle against the overwhelming forces of an invading Persian God-King, facing impossible odds to defend their homeland.
Director Zack Snyder has his critics, but his bombastic style is a perfect choice here for this spectacular adaptation of Frank Miller’s classic comic.