The Specialist (1994)

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 | Revenge | Miami Florida | 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:

David Fincher was set to direct this at one stage. Sylvester Stallone liked Fincher but he was overruled by the producers.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ray and May are escaping his compound in the escape tunnel, it shows part of the concrete ceiling give way and collapse on the tunnel floor. The next time we see them, moments later, the escape tunnel is clear of all debris.

Quotes:

Ned: [to Parking Attendant, Jon Curry] Who gave you permission to smile? Shut up!

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

Jambala

Sassy, high-octane melt-in-the-mouth thriller. Plenty of big bangs but little sizzle.

While it's a passive thriller, `The Specialist' is a bit unsatisfying. The plot is rather implausible and in retrospect, it's basically a series of explosions following in a hopelessly episodic tone (boom, bang, boom). Despite the lack of genuine sophistication, it has an engaging easy-on-the-eye appeal to it that making it reasonably enjoyable. Even so, there's a pretty cover but little substance. While some scenes are quite clever others have that `Hollywood-ish' quality to them that doesn't make them all that believable. But then again, movies are a form of escaping from the real world- right.

The glamorous cast is a pleasant diversion with a series of decent (if un-remarkable) performances. Sylvester Stallone acts in `Rocky' mode for the most part. Fairly one-dimensional but this is a role he does well. She lets her nudity do the acting for the most part, but Sharon Stone is always great as a `femme fatale'. James Woods gets the best lines and shows the most charisma in his part. Eric Roberts doesn't do much with his role, nor does Rod Steiger with an unconvincing German accent. The movie gets plenty of erotic sass from some scenes that seem soft-core porn scenes that seem pointless but are well executed.

While it works well as a mindless action flick, it would have been better had it had a touch of old fashioned gloss. It's an adequate example of it's sort- the big budget summer blockbuster, but there's nothing particularly remarkable about `The Specialist'. It's good if you're into that sort of thing so I would rate it as being average. My IMDb rating: 5.3/10.