The Expendables Group picture

In case you haven't heard, there is a movie coming out this Friday that is in all likelihood the single greatest consolidation of male action stars ever assembled - The Expendables.

The names of actors in this film alone are manly enough to put hair on your chest - Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Eric Roberts, Terry Crews, Steve Austin, Randy Couture, Mickey Rourke and cameos by Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger! (My voice just lowered two octaves typing all that).

We here at Screen Rant thought it would be a fun idea to put together a series of articles explaining exactly what makes each of these macho actors qualified to be in The Expendables. Each day this week we'll post a different article showcasing a member of The Expendables team, starting with the younger less-seasoned guys, working our way to the main guy himself, Sylvester Stallone.

In this first installment we'll be discussing Randy Couture, Steve Austin and Terry Crews.

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Randy Couture - Toll Road

The Expendables Randy Couture

Randy Couture is "Toll Road," just one of the badasses that make up The Expendables team. Road is a skilled demolitions expert and, other than Jet Li, may be an ACTUAL badass. Couture started his butt-kicking career as a UFC fighter, where he put up an impressive 18-10 record and even came out of retirement at the age of 44 to open a can of whup-ass on Tim Silva to win the Heavyweight title and just a few months later defended it against Gabriel Gonzaga. In Hollywood, if you are athletic, can act and have a somewhat pretty face, then it won't be long before studios are knocking on your door with movie roles. Such is the case for Couture.

He doesn't have an extensive lineup of work to talk about and is really the "greenest" of the crew in terms of film experience, but when he is onscreen, his action scenes are fantastic to watch. Back in 2003, he had an uncredited role in Cradle 2 the Grave and followed that up as a football player in Invincible and a prison inmate in Big Stan - but to me, Couture's standout role was two episodes of The Unit in 2007, where he played Sergeant Strickland. He then starred in the direct-to-video movie The Scorpion King: Rise of a Warrior; that movie was terrible (they can't all be good) but that didn't make him any less of a badass.

Randy's next body of work will be co-starring with Karl Urban in the action film Relentless. Randy Couture is slowly earning his reputation as an action film star and I wouldn't be surprised if he does well in The Expendables. If you disagree, then he would like to discuss the matter with you in the Octagon.

Here is a clip that proves Randy Couture is qualified to be on The Expendables team (Sorry, none of his fights are on YouTube and this crappy video cut was all I could find):

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Steve Austin - Paine

The Expendables Steve Austin

Steve Austin is another one of those wrestler-turned-actors that has made his way from ring to screen fairly easily. Unlike wrestlers such as Hulk Hogan, Andre the Giant, The Big Show, Triple H and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who also took the plunge into films, Austin has managed to keep his wrestling stage tag "Stone Cold" off of Hollywood's prime radar. In The Expendables he plays "Paine," a henchman for ex-C.I.A. agent Eric Roberts (another bad ass) and as it turns out, both have less than honorable intentions toward The Expendables team.

Austin, like Couture, has also dabbled in television, doing a stand-up job on Nash Bridges as Detective Jake Cage; his first major film role came in the form of Prison Guard Dunham in the comedy remake The Longest Yard. It would be two years later before audiences got to see what kind of action star Austin could truly be in the movie The Condemed, which was his first starring role. The movie had it's moments of fun and even though it wasn't the greatest of films, it allowed Austin to really show off what he could do as an action star.

Even though Steve has tried to set himself up as a dominate male action star in Hollywood, the fact that he has a limited acting repertoire has hurt his choice of roles, although he did an above-average job this year in the direct-to-video action/thriller The Stranger.

Here are a two clips the prove Steve Austin is qualified to be on The Expendables team:

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Terry Crews - Hale Caeser

The Expendables Terry Crews

Terry Crews is another one of those guys who didn't start off as an actor, but easily fell into the role. Drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in 1991, he played defensive end and linebacker for 3 other NFL teams and retired in 1998. The following year, he started his onscreen badass routine in the short-lived game show Battle Dome where he went by the name T-Money. In The Expendables, Crews plays "Hale Caeser" who has known Barney (Stallone) for 10 years and is a long-barrel specialist.

Crews has that unique ability to be play both the big intimidating guy, as well as a funny - often times buffoonish - character. He combined both of those characteristics as Damon in Friday After Next, Malibu's Most Wanted, Idiocracy and The Longest Yard, where he played Cheeseburger Eddy. He, too, has had television roles that have helped establish his acting ability, only with a bit more success then Couture or Austin. You probably know Crews best as Chris Rock's dad Julis in Everybody Hates Chris.

Humor isn't all Crews does well, as he showed some decent acting chops in the movies Puff, Puff, Pass, Get Smart and Gamer. He's a big dude who I would never want to cross and I have a feeling that he would still treat me like a quarterback on the gridiron, given the chance. By the way, did I mention he's a heckuva dancer?

Here are a couple of clips the prove Terry Crews is qualified to be on The Expendables team:

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The Expendables opens in theaters Friday August 13th, 2010. Be sure to check back in all this week for the rest of our Expendables cast breakdown.

If you haven't had a chance yet, be sure to check out our choices for an All Female Expendables team.

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