The Specialist (1994)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

Director:

Luis Llosa

Writers (WGA):

John Shirley (Specialist novels) (suggestion)
Alexandra Seros (written by)

Release Date:

7 October 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller

Tagline:

The government taught him to kill. Now he's using his skills to help a woman seek revenge against the Miami underworld.

Plot:

A woman entices a bomb expert she's involved with into destroying the mafia that killed her family.

Plot Keywords:

Parent | CIA | Explosive | Revenge | Explosives Expert

Awards:

3 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Sylvester Stallone	...	Ray Quick
Sharon Stone	...	May Munro (aka Adrian Hastings)
James Woods	...	Ned Trent
Rod Steiger	...	Joe Leon
Eric Roberts	...	Tomas Leon
Mario Ernesto Sánchez	...	Charlie
Sergio Doré Jr.	...	Strongarm
Chase Randolph	...	Stan Munro, May's Dad
Jeana Bell	...	Alice Munro, May's Mom
Brittany Paige Bouck	...	Young May
Emilio Estefan Jr.	...	Piano Player
LaGaylia Frazier	...	Singer #1
Ramón González Cuevas	...	Priest at Cemetery
Tony Munafo	...	Tony
Cheito Quinonez	...	Singer at Party

Also Known As:

El especialista (Peru)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

Peru | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Finland:K-18 (original rating) | Iceland:16 | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Singapore:PG (cut) | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA (original rating) | Australia:M (TV rating) | Canada:14A | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Netherlands:16 | Norway:18 | Peru:18 | Poland:15 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | UK:15 (original rating) | UK:18 (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Cookeville, Tennessee, USA

Company:

Iguana Producciones

Trivia:

Ray Quick's cat was named "Timer".

Goofs:

Continuity: The window in the hotel was broken by the henchman flying through it. But when the room falls into the water the glass is fine.

Quotes:

Ray Quick: You like watching them die? You like taking them down? Now I'm taking you down. You're finished in the agency. You're going no higher. You're as dead as those people in the river. We both are.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995)

Soundtrack:

Mental Picture

Where do I start?

Well, let's see. Just off the top of my head, here are some of the features of this turkey. Sly Stallone mumbles so badly that only about 5% of his dialogue is intelligible (though this is probably a plus, given the quality of the writing).Sharon Stone is nice to look at but her acting starts off bad and gets worse in a hurry. Her character is so unlikeable I cheered up when Woods slapped her around. Rod Steiger's accent, which I believe is supposed to be Cuban because he pronounces "you" as "chew" a la Scarface, comes and goes. James Woods plays a parody of himself (this was actually the most entertaining thing about the movie). They show Sly working out, and all he does are ballet-like stretches to show off his bod, and it was not a pretty sight. He is so over-pumped that there are alarmingly bulging veins on every inch of his body visible. Stone and Stallone (has a nice ring to it, huh?) have no chemistry--during their big sex scene, they look extremely bored instead of aroused, as if they are about to doze off but the only thing keeping them awake is to make sure their buff bodies are displayed carefully so they look their best on camera. Continuity is terrible-Sly's character adopts a fluffy grey kitty, which I guess is supposed to make him sensitive (I was just worried he'd crush it accidentally) but in a scene towards the end, the cat is dark brown. I give a grudging point towards the kitty not being killed by the Columbians or Woods--the one thing that I didn't see coming, because every time Sly came home looking for his cat I expected him to find it nailed to the wall or something equally hideous. Woods does have a great scene (a couple, really) where he does a little trick with a pen and some plastique to frighten his office staff. I also laughed at the way he'd constantly be yelling "Shut up!" to characters who hadn't even said anything yet.The movie is, I have to admit, one of those that is so bad, it would qualify as one of those 'love to hate it' movies that you sit around with your friends with to watch and make fun of. Worth renting if 1. you are a Woods fan and find him entertaining in any movie no matter how terrible it is or 2. you have a free rental coming at the video store (or both of the above, like me). If you can't stand all three of the principal stars, skip it by all means.