"The Expendables" - The Details, Pt. 1 Quiz

Answer: Gulf of Aden - Somalia

All four of these places are known for piracy but the Gulf of Aden is the one most prominently in the news and featured in the movie. The team boards a captured freighter in order to free the crew before they are executed by the pirates. Gunnar opens fire with a grenade launcher and then all hell breaks loose.

Answer: The Survivors Club

In a touch of irony, the camera pans through the cabin and shows Toll Road reading "The Survivors Club". This sets us up a running gag in the movie of Toll seeing a therapist on a regular basis because of his issues. At one point he tells Hale that he, too, should be seeing a therapist but Hale says it's too late for that.

Answer: Gunnar

Gunnar wants to hang a pirate because in his mind it is a good thing to do. Ross tells him not to, but he plans to do it anyway until Yin Yang steps in and stops him. During the ensuing fight Gunnar is about to kill Yang until Ross stops him. This same scenario plays out later in the movie when Ross has to shoot Gunnar to keep him from killing Yang. This is the conversation on the ship before Yang steps in:
Barney Ross: "What the hell's he doing?"
Lee Christmas: "Hanging a pirate."
Barney Ross: "Don't be ridiculous. Gunnar! What are you doing?"
Gunnar Jensen: "Hanging a pirate."
Toll Road: "That's seriously demented."

Answer: "Don't you ever sleep?"

Tool's question is more of a philosophical statement than an actual question. He is haunted by the life he led as a mercenary and you wonder if he is the one who never sleeps. Of course that could be why he is asking the question. Since he never sleeps he knows Ross probably doesn't either. Ross never answers the question directly. Tool is the personification of the toll combat takes on the people involved in it and the scars they carry with them both physical and emotional.

Answer: Raven perched on a skull

Tool is a tattoo artist and he has been working on the tattoo on Ross' back for a long time. He adds a letter or two to the phrase 'The Expendables' each time he sees Ross. Christmas thinks the Raven looks like a big black chicken and won't let Tool touch him with his needle. The emblem is also on the choppers the men ride.

Answer: Little Island in the Gulf of Mexico

Mr. Church asks Ross and Mauser if they know where Vilena is and Ross says no but Mauser says it's in the Gulf of Mexico. The island is ruled by a corrupt dictator who now grows drugs for a rogue CIA agent. According to the briefing Ross gives later, there are only a few thousand inhabitants on the island.

Answer: CIA

According to Ross, Mr. Church has to be a CIA agent. He figures Munroe is an ex-CIA agent who has gone rogue and has set up his own business. Because Munroe is ex-CIA, Mr. Church can't send in Special Forces or SEALs since it would bring to light that the Agency had been involved in drug running or would at least give that appearance. So Mr. Church hires Ross and his team to do the Agency's dirty work and clean up their mess.

Answer: "He wants to be president."

In a tongue in cheek reference to Schwarzenegger's political career, Stallone as Ross says, "He wants to be president." Mauser and Ross have bad blood between them from something in their past when they were on the same team together. Here is the conversation as Mauser is leaving:
Trent: [to Barney] "Hey, how about dinner?"
Barney Ross: "Yeah, when?"
Trent: "In a thousand years?"
Barney Ross: "Too soon."
[Trent walks off]
Mr. Church: [Confused; about Trent] "What's his problem?"
Barney Ross: "He wants to be president."
Since Schwarzenegger was born in Austria he can never be president of the US which would explain his bad mood.

Answer: How he got cauliflower ear from wrestling

Toll obviously is very sensitive about they way his ear looks and explains that blood clots from wrestling cause the cartilage to constrict. The conversation came up because Toll is agitated during the briefing and saying they need to take care of their problems at home before going on another mission.

At that point Ross asks him when was the last time he saw his therapist. Toll replies that he saw him that morning. From there Toll explains that he discussed Avoidant Personality Disorder with his therapist which led into his story about his ear and the guys groans from having to hear it yet again.

Answer: Global Wildlife Conservancy

Global Wildlife Conservancy is the made up name, the other three are real organizations. There is a real group named Global Wildlife Conservation that does the same thing as the other three organizations. The Global Wildlife Conservancy is a good front for the team because it allows them to claim they are ornithologists when they go to Vilena and that they are there to photograph birds.

This makes having a camera less conspicuous and surveillance easier.