El Especialista

This seems like a film tailor-made so Sly & Sharon can 'strut their stuff' in the coupling dept. Sharon vamps, Sly warbles thru his lines. Yea, he's got a deep & sexy voice but you can only pick up on what he's saying to her on the phone if you got close-caption on your set! Anyway, they both look VERY fine in this film. James Woods is the pest you'll love to hate being the back-stabber that he is. "Slime" is the only word to use for Eric Roberts role & Rod Steiger's Hispanic accent is fun! See the edited version of this one. It's got a slick color to it that's quite appealing being that it was shot in Miami where everything's bright pink & green.

Hey, I enjoy a good revenge movie as well as the next guy, even though I know forgiveness is the better way. Revenge films satisfy base urges in all of us. But, holy smokes, this crosses the line a little bit with the glorification of such....at least with the ending (which I won't give away but involves Sharon Stone's character).

Along the way is a fun ride as the revenge-obsessed Stone hires Sylvester Stallon (The Specialist, a term for his bomb-making talents) to kill all the people responsible for her parents' murder years earlier.

The villains are over-the-top, to say the least. One almost has to laugh out loud at one of them: James Woods. Few people in his era (70s and 80s mainly) were better at playing despicable villains than Woods, and in this film he plays that role to the hilt. He also rattles off the best line in the movie when he tells some tourist to "get a new shirt, too."

The other villains are played by Eric Roberts and Rod Steiger. Roberts is nasty and arrogant all the way and Steiger - as he has so often since the 1970s - appears cartoonish in his over-acting.

The film moves quickly which means it's very entertaining and some of the bombing scenes are quite memorable, such as a chunk of a condo building falling into the ocean.

Even though the villains are really nasty, there are no "good guys" here, either. Everyone is seriously flawed, as is the message of the film. I guess this is one of those "guilty pleasure" movies they talk about, because I still enjoy watching it every five or so years.

I'm a big fan of action films, love the explosions, gunfire and fights!

By no means is this a bad movie that you should avoid, its got a good, solid story thats easily understood, Sylvester Stallone puts in a solid performance, however this is surpassed by Wood's evil, cowardly character, pent up on revenge. Stone's performance was however the best in the movie, showing true disgust in the presence of woods, and amazing admiration when in the presence of Stallone.

A few good twists, great explosions, albeit with a couple of random, unneeded fights. Introducing a cat to show the characters sensitive side was pretty bad to be honest.

However this was in no means a bad film, it takes a lot to impress me and in a way, this film did. Not the best action movie ever, but definitely worth the watch.

Continuing my plan to watch every Sly Stallone movie in order, I come to 1994's The Specialist.

Plot In A Paragraph: Sylvester Stallone is Ray Quick, a freelance bomb expert who lives off the grid. (Don't worry he is a good guy underneath, it is Stallone after all, he won't kill innocent people, takes in stray cats and gives up his seat to pregnant women on buses) May Munro (Sharon Stone) contacts him and wants him to kill the three men who killed her family years ago, who work for the Leon crime family, headed by Joe (Rod Steiger) and his son Tomas (a fun Eric Roberts) Their head of security Ned (A brilliant scene stealing turn by James Woods) Just happens to be Ray's former partner.

Ray Quick has to be the blandest and dullest character had played at this point. I'm not sure if he was bored in the role, but he sleep walks his way through the movie. Like with 'Cobra' we get shots of Sly looking mean and moody behind his shades, or intense and moody as he works on a bomb. Lots of posing as he listens to Stones voice over and over as he stalks her. Lots of posing not much actual acting.

Sharon Stone does, what Sharon Stone did at that point of her career, look good and take her clothes off. Eric Roberts (how did this man not have a bigger career?? I'd much rather watch him on screen than his sister) is a lot of fun, and actually under used. Steiger is surprisingly under whelming, which is a shame. But it's James Woods who this movie belongs too!! He is simply fantastic, and the movie is s lot poorer when he is not on screen.

So once again, for the second movie in a row, Stallone is completely overshadowed by his costar. Like Wesley Snipes in 'Demolition Man', James Woods not only steals every scene he is in, he walks away with the full movie!! You could argue three with John Lithgow in Cliffhanger

As with Nighthawks and Demolition Man, Stallone had scenes cut featuring the villain (This time Woods) and more shot with himself (the scene with the thugs on the bus, and the one where Roberts threatens Sly with a knife) at the last minute. It made no difference, Woods still stole the movie.

Despite a relatively short running time, it actually feels a lot longer than it is.

An interesting note on this is David Fincher was set to direct this at one stage. Stallone liked Fincher, and wanted him, but he was overruled by the producers, because of the failure of Alien 3. Instead they went with Luis Llosa, who had directed the straight to video 'Fire On The Amazon' with a Sandra Bullock and Sniper with Tom Berenger in 1993. Whilst Llosa's career went nowhere (he only directed 2 more movies after this) whilst Fincher made the mega hit Se7en a year later.

The Specialist (1994) is the most underrated bashed hated Stallone action thriller flick from it's fans and critics! I grew up with the film and it is still one of my best favorite action Stallone films! People seriously,simply don't understand what the movie is about. It's an action thriller, revenge Flick! The film is misunderstood and it is different Stallone film than in any other action films he played. The Specialist is not a masterpiece, the greatest or the best action film, but it is solid and good. It is an Entertaining action thriller from the beginning to the end.

Stallone plays an trained Ex CIA agent who kills accidentally in Bogota, Colombia a wife and a kid and the bombing goes awry. I loved it how a CIA agent went trough hell, than he leaves the business and becomes a gun for hire. I love the character Ray Quick, I even memorize Stallone's Character! He is a trained henchman an Ex Special Forces The Bomb Specialist expert and Ex CiA Agent turned mercenary for hire, I love that! In this movie Stallone doesn't use a hand gun or any machine guns trough whole film, but he uses his expatriate, high explosives and hand to hand combat to kill a mobster and corrupted cop who was once a promising CIA agent but killed an innocent people and set up Ray!

Stallone's character is well done written, he has a heart. He refused to kill innocent people, women and children, when he set up the bomb in Miami to kill Tomas Leon, inside was May and the bomb explodes, Ray cared and run to stop the bomb but he was too late. Stallone goes to the funeral of the woman identified as May Munro, he mourns and he is filed with quilt with killing an innocent person again. On a bus ride, Ray gets out of his seat and offers it to a pregnant woman. The people haven't see that or noticed, how a good hearted person the character is. He even took a cat under his wing. I love Ray Quick I don't care what anyone says! This movie has always been flawed with it's screenplay, a powerful score, lush cinematography and a solid cast. It has plot holes, but I still love it.

I love the twists, the action sequences, the erotic's sex scenes in the hot tub, this scene really never bothered me. The special effects were great, the bomb explosions. I absolutely love this movie. It is very stylish, sexy and explosive. Stallone and Stone were perfect together. The Miami scenery was awesome. The music score was amazing. And the action was intense. Sylvester Stallone is truly an amazing actor and a truly a great talent. Also James Woods gave a powerful performance as Ned Trent a vengeful a hired assassin and a corrupt cop! Sharon Stone did a wonderful performance as a drop-dead beauty! I love the bus ride scene! Ray Quick gets out of his seat and offers it to a pregnant woman, only to have a young hoodlum take the seat instead. Quick calmly beats the crap out of the hoodlum and all his friends, throwing one of them out a window (not open), and then re-offers the seat to the woman. This scene has no bearing on the plot, but helps us get to know Quick. It is awesome powerful scene!

Why I love this movie? I love it because in this movie Stallone doesn't use gun or machine guns but he uses his expatriate, high explosives and hand to hand combat. The Specialist is the most Underrated Action Thriller. I love Sharon Stone from Basic Instinct to another action thriller The Specialist and I love James Woods playing a villain in this movie. This was the only action movie that Stallone made in 1994 it was success but it turned in to one of very underrated movie and honestly I don't care.

This movie is, apart from the film music, as a whole a must-see for action movie lovers with erotic scenes, built in smoothly. The double role of May makes the movie richer: there IS a plot possible in these kind of movies!. Action abound and well distributed over the time. Eric Roberts and James Woods play their roles at the same high level as Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone. I see originality, in the sense of action: the highly developed explosive devices-do hey really exist? CIA will know.. A flaw ,which I do not understand up to now, is that the getaway boat from M&M seafood seemed to be so readily available. The goofy trick with the telephone in the Fontainebleau Hotel as well, but those are not disturbing details. The movie has a steady pace and ends with the Miami Sound Machine!. Best scene is of course , the intimate scene in the hotel. Superb entertainment!

Two of Hollywood's biggest stars combine fiery action with steamy sensuality in The Specialist. Sharon Stone, a drop-dead beauty with a fatal past. She's sworn death to the mobsters who murdered her parents and she's decided the method of their disposal: blast 'em- one by one- to kingdom come. She also knows the right man for the job: cool-fire ex-CIA explosives expert Ray Quick (Sylvester Stallone). That is your basic plot!

I am giving this film a 8, because what the hell, this film deserves it! I love this film it is my best Stallone fifth favorite film!

The Specialist is a 1994 American action film directed by Luis Llosa, starring Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone and James Woods.

8/10 Grade: B Studio: Warner Bros Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, James Woods, Rod Steiger, Eric Roberts Director: Luis Llosa Producer: Jerry Weintraub Screenplay: Alexandra Seros Based on The Specialist novels by John Shirley Rated: R Running Time: 1 Hr. 50 Mins. Budget: $57.000.000 Box Office: $159,055,768