America's 7th Best Superhero Team, the Specials, are a group of geeks and oddballs. We get to see one day in their lives as fan and new member Nightbird joins the group, just in time for the group to get a new line of action figures. But the members' extreme personalities and personal issues threaten to rip the group apart.Written by
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James Gunn didn't direct the film in part because he was tired. He was also $70k in debt mostly on Discover card and was focused on writing, paying off his debt, and meeting girls. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Nightbird:
I've been a humongous fan of the Specials since I was knee-high to... something for sure. All my friends would make fun of me because the Specials were not a "cool" group like the Amazing Trio or the Crusaders. But, you know, screw that. I also liked Winger better than Bon Jovi. I still do. I don't care what the critics say.
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Crazy Credits
During the end credits we see an "In Memory: 1970-1993" reference and picture of Mr. Stretch, an original member of the Specials that we are told died of mouth cancer in one of interview segments. See more »
THE SPECIALS is one of those films that, if you're a creative person, inspires you...the way mediocrity inspires creativity. The idea of a bunch of lesser-powered superheroes on their downtime is a good one, and one can see that writer James Gunn is a comic book reader, but the movie just doesn't pull off the concept.
The script just isn't funny. James Gunn tries, but fails. The characters are vague and unfocused. It bothers me that he wrote the script for the upcoming SCOOBY-DOO movie. I can see Scooby shouting, "Rhere's ry rucking rooby rack?!" now. The direction is bland and uninteresting. The picture shows it's small budget. The heroes don't use their powers, and this, to me, is the biggest failing. Okay, this isn't an action picture, and it isn't supposed to be. However, if you have superpowers, you are going to use them. If you can't use them against a foe, you're going to use them to change light bulbs or clean the house or have sex. Painting Jamie Kennedy blue isn't enough. I guess they were saving their budget for the final shots of the movie, but unfortunately, too little, too late.
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THE SPECIALS is one of those films that, if you're a creative person, inspires you...the way mediocrity inspires creativity. The idea of a bunch of lesser-powered superheroes on their downtime is a good one, and one can see that writer James Gunn is a comic book reader, but the movie just doesn't pull off the concept.
The script just isn't funny. James Gunn tries, but fails. The characters are vague and unfocused. It bothers me that he wrote the script for the upcoming SCOOBY-DOO movie. I can see Scooby shouting, "Rhere's ry rucking rooby rack?!" now. The direction is bland and uninteresting. The picture shows it's small budget. The heroes don't use their powers, and this, to me, is the biggest failing. Okay, this isn't an action picture, and it isn't supposed to be. However, if you have superpowers, you are going to use them. If you can't use them against a foe, you're going to use them to change light bulbs or clean the house or have sex. Painting Jamie Kennedy blue isn't enough. I guess they were saving their budget for the final shots of the movie, but unfortunately, too little, too late.