The right way to save hostages

MANILA, Philippines - Watching The Expendables on the big screen a day after viewing the Luneta hostage crisis on TV was quite overwhelming for me. Where The Expendables showed a highly-trained cohesive team, I saw on the small screen, a very real, live hostage rescue, that left much to be desired in its preparation and execution. It’s as if the movie was screaming, — “THIS IS THE WAY TO DO IT!!!”

The story revolves around the rescue by a team of six mercenaries of an island in the South Pacific, ruled by a ruthless dictator, who has held hostage the people, including a female rebel leader who turns out to be the dictator’s daughter. The mission appears to be simple, yet it is in the preparation and professional-and-action-filled execution of the rescue operation (that could easily ignite the interest of every action-enthusiastic male) that ensured its success.

An aging mercenary, Sylvester Stallone, accepts the mission from Bruce Willis and hopes it will be the crowning glory of his career. He does all the preparations required for the mission. He invites his buddy, knife expert Jason Statham, to the island to examine and study the people, the terrain, and the dictator. Stallone thinks it will be very difficult to overthrow the dictator but decides to go back alone because of the general’s daughter, (who was now being tortured for having been seen with the mercenaries), whom he could not forget. He later finds out that his team of fellow mercenaries, experts in their respective fields — martial arts expert Jet Li, heavy weapons specialist Tony Crews, demolitionist Randy Couture and blades specialist Statham would not leave their friend. They plane into the island in their fatigues and disguises and proceed to the dictator’s fortress surrounded with huge fortifications and killer bodyguards prepared to thwart unwelcome invaders. Here, the action becomes unrelenting with the theater’s sound and visual effects. Precise teamwork of each mercenary using his skills gets into play. Stallone orchestrates the whole siege. He gives the orders. The dictator, protected by the evil ex-CIA agent and his minions, will be very hard to bring down. Will Stallone and his team save the hostage in a no-win situation? This is the big question that provides the finale of the movie.

The Expendables is a typical Stallone movie, reminiscent of his Rambo films. The big difference is he does not do it solo but assembles a team of big name stars as his buddies to help him in his mission. Who among us ’80s movie geeks would not want to see Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, and Mickey Rourke in the same film? Among the young, Jet Li, wrestling star Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Statham and Dolf Lungren are great attractions. No wonder, it’s now on its third weekend as the No. 1 box-office film. Being a buddy movie, every full-blooded male (including my son and numerous nephews) will line up with their buddies for this movie with its action and gory violence. With its Philippine classification of PG-13, the younger generation steeped in video games will flock to see this film.

The Expendables serves as a primer on how to train and be prepared for a mission to save hostages. Preparation and training are keys to success. No stone is left unturned in preparing strategies where the mission will take place. The movie keeps viewers glued to their seats until the bloody end, as the saying goes. There is redemption and satisfaction; a collective sigh of relief. However, it is not so in real life.

The Expendables will have a long showing in the Philippines as the Luneta hostage crisis reaches a crescendo. What a major… major… wicked coincidence.