The Specialist (1994)

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

Director:

Luis Llosa

Writers:

John Shirley (Specialist novels), Alexandra Seros

Stars:

Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, James Woods

3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Jeana Bell	...	Alice Munro
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

Storyline

Ray Quick is an ex-CIA bomb expert now living as an high-tech outsider somewhere in Miami, Florida. May Munro has heard of his skills and tries over and over to convince Ray to bomb the guys who killed her parents once. Ray begins to overshadow May. He is interested in May's case, but still is of the opinion to never use his skills again. The situation changes dramatically when a former CIA comrade of Ray appears on the scene.

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Plot Keywords:

parent | cia | bomb | explosives expert | miami florida | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Action | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, sexuality and language

Details

Country:

Peru USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 October 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

El especialista

Filming Locations:

Cookeville, Tennessee, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$45,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

£6,344,320 (UK) (24 February 1995)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Jerry Weintraub Productions, Iguana Producciones

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Eric Roberts is only two years older than Sharon Stone. In the film his character was supposed to have ordered her parents to be killed when she was a child.

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Goofs

When Ned's team first walks into the hotel room, the standard Ma Bell message "Your call cannot be completed as dialed. Please check the number..." can be heard from the off-hook phone. A few seconds later, it changes to the more logical "If you'd like to make a call, please hang up and...." In either case, however, the Ma Bell messages would not be heard through a phone connected to a hotel switchboard.

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Quotes

May Munro: You know, the next time you order a hit you might want to consider taking out your decorator.
Tomas Leon: You like to live dangerously, don't you?
May Munro: A little danger never killed anyone. Right, baby?
Tomas Leon: Sometimes.

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Connections

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

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Soundtracks

"Jambala"
Written and Produced by Emilio Estefan Jr., Jorge Casas and Clay Ostwald
Performed by MSM (The Miami Sound Machine)
Courtesy of Crescent Moon Records, Inc.

User Reviews

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.