The Specialist
Tags: suspenseful, neo noir, murder, cult, violence, flashback, revenge

Plot synopsis:
In 1984, Captain Ray Quick and Colonel Ned Trent, explosives experts working for the CIA, are on a mission to blow up a car transporting a South American drug dealer. But when the car appears, a little girl is inside with the dealer. Ray insists they abort the mission, but Ned intends to see it through and allows the explosion to happen, resulting in the deaths of both the drug dealer and the child. Furious by the girl's wrongful death, Ray savagely beats Ned and flees, effectively resigning from the CIA.
Years later, in Miami, Ray works as a freelance hit man. Desperate people contact him via an Internet bulletin board and he takes the cases that interest him. Ray specializes in "shaping" his explosions, building and planting bombs that blow up only the intended target while leaving innocent bystanders unharmed.
He answers ads placed by a woman named May Munro and speaks to her often to decide if he should take the job or not. During the talks he becomes intrigued by her story, coupled with the fact that he sees how attractive she is while following her. She is the only child of parents who were killed by Tomas Leon and his men. Against his better judgment, and pushed by her insistence that she will infiltrate the gang with or without him, Ray is persuaded to accept the job. Even though he has agreed, May ingratiates herself into Tomas' world as Adrian Hastings.
Ned now works for Joe Leon, Tomas' father and director of their mafia organization. Once the hits on their lower level guys begin, they contact the chief of police to place Ned in their bomb squad. May tolerates Tomas and plays along as his girlfriend so she can watch the hits one by one. It is revealed after the second target is killed that May has actually been forced into a partnership with Ned, whose goal was to coax Ray out of hiding. After the job in South America went wrong, Ned was dismissed from the CIA and is intent on revenge.
When the trap for Tomas is set, May is in the room; the resulting explosion appears to kill them both. When Ned goes to Joe to pay his respects, he is left alive only so he can find Ray and bring him to Joe before Tomas is buried. Both Ray and Ned believe that May is dead, yet Ray discovers that bulletin board messages are still being posted. He responds to one, quickly realizing that it is a trap set by Ned and the bomb squad, and baits Ned into an explosive tirade.
When he goes to the funeral of Adrian Hastings, Ray finds that May is alive. She went to the funeral to see if Ray would attend. They go to the Fontainebleau Hotel where they have sex, after which she leaves. Meanwhile, Ned has gone to the church and learns that the person in the casket is not May. She runs into Ned in the hotel lobby and makes an excuse as to why she did not tell him that she was alive. A henchman is ordered to take her to the car and on the way she asks to use the restroom. Once there, she uses a cell phone to warn Ray. He rigs the hotel room to explode, and when Ned's henchmen enter the room it detonates, breaking the entire room off into the ocean.
In a final showdown, Ray and May are cornered in Ray's own booby-trapped warehouse. Ned pursues them, but is done in by his own hubris when he steps on a bomb. After the entire warehouse goes up due to the chain of bombs exploding, it appears that all inside have been killed.
The next day Joe reads about the incident at the warehouse. He then opens the mail brought to him and finds a necklace. It contains a picture of May's parents, which then explodes. After hearing the blast and knowing all responsible for her parents' death are dead, Ray asks how she feels, to which she responds, "Better."

Review: 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.
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 CliffhangerAs 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I love Sharon Stone from Basic Instinct to another action thriller The Specialist and I love James Woods playing a villain in this movie.
Eric Roberts and James Woods play their roles at the same high level as Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone.
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.
The best thing about The Specialist is the performance of James Woods, who really sinks his teeth into his villainous role and is enormously entertaining.
Barry was one of the all-time great film composers and I have yet to hear a bad score from him, and the music for The Specialist has his typical lushness, beautiful harmonic writing and moodiness, these things may seem out of place for a film such as this but actually it works.
Overall, Woods, the shirt scene and the score are great, Roberts, the sex scene and scenery are good but the script, story, leads and Steiger are just bad and the film on the whole is mediocre.
After the movie's requisite prologue, he's in Miami working for May Munro (Sharon Stone), who wants him to kill three mobsters, especially the head mobster's son, Tomas (Eric Roberts), because they murdered her parents when she was a little girl.
However, she's actually working for Ned Trent (James Woods), Quick's former colleague who's out for revenge.Action fans expecting bombastic and over-the-top action sequences should steer clear, this movie will be too sluggish for them.
Surprisingly enough, the twist of having the hero kill the bad guys with explosives (Speed and Blown away came out the same year) works well enough, mostly because the villains' impending doom bears a certain inevitability that plays to the movie's advantage.
Neither suspenseful nor exciting enough to recommend, The Specialist is of little interest to anyone except for Stallone and Stone fans (and maybe James Wood fans, who will either delight or wince at his maniacally over-the-top performance).
Although Stallone was already a big budget Hollywood star with many a title under his belt with Sharon Stone who also had a few films (most noticeably 'Basic Instinct') going for her and James Woods, again, with some reasonably successful outings (most notably in my opinion a 'Simpsons' episode), 'The Specialist' fails to live up to its talent hype and attempt as a film noir come action film.What struck me upon looking this film up after seeing it was the director.
The camera work is bad (I actually spotted one instance of camera shake in this film), the fight scenes are poorly choreographed and badly executed, the dialogue is a bit iffy at best and is rather clichéd at times and the stereotypes of Colombian drug lords are laughable.
The character played by Rod Stieger is a little too stereotypical and his pronunciation of the word 'you' like 'jew' can only be taken seriously for so long before a serious scene involving intense dialogue is broken up by a smirk here and there.What makes the film also rather cheesy is the editing at some points.
Sylvester Stallone plays a former CIA bomb expert turned hit man, who gets hired by a beautiful woman to take out the crime boss responsible for the death of her parents.
But, as you've probably already guessed, the characters are utterly lifeless, the plot is paper thin, the dialogue is laughable and the story telling is something that could be topped by a kindergartener.Still, there's something about Stallone and his particular style of action films that makes this a watchable movie.
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.
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.
Maybe it's just his performance here, or perhaps by the others, especially Sharon Stone, Eric Roberts, and Rod Steiger (Oh God, he was a riot in this movie!).
The only reason why I found this movie interesting are the action sequences, and my favorite actor of all time, James Woods.
Miami mob rule, revenge, and a contest between two former CIA demo experts make up "The Specialist." James Woods is especially good as Ned Trent, the former CIA assassin who enjoys killing and brutality.
The cast is excellent and includes Stallone, Stone, Steiger, Woods and Roberts, who all give decent performances.
But for me James Wood is simply superb and somewhat stole the show with witty performance.Sly is as usual as is Sharon Stone, however Eric Roberts did justice to his role.
Nothing "Special" About It. The first five minutes of this film give the impression that, unlike many other Sylvester Stallone action movies, it might have a bit more depth and a bit of an interesting plot.
When a woman (Sharon Stone) whose parents were killed by a mob broker (Eric Roberts) wants revenge, she draws out a former CIA bomb squad specialist (Stallone) to do the deed.
Trying to disarm the conflict (but also holding a personal agenda) is the head of the local police department (James Woods).To put it bluntly, this is a terrible movie in so many different ways:-The plot never finds an identity, trying to switch from thriller to cop drama to mob flick and never succeeding at any of them.-The acting is absolutely terrible.
Stallone's character has no depth, James Woods is, well, James Woods, and Eric Roberts is annoying to the point of just wanting to flick the whole TV set off.-Also, we get it that Sharon Stone is hot.
The Specialist is a movie to forget for all the cast involved, particularly Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, James Woods, and Eric Roberts.Sylvester Stallone is former CIA bomb expert Ray Quick (a laughable name for a character) troubled by a past mission from 1984 which involved the bombing of a South American drug dealer.
Ray makes good on his promise to have Ned dismissed from the CIA, and Ray later resigns and disappears.Fast forward to Miami 1994, where a mysterious woman named May Munro (Sharon Stone) hires Ray who is now a explosives hit man to kill Tomas Leon (Eric Roberts), his father Joe Leon (Rod Steiger) and other members who murdered her parents years ago.
Ray reluctantly agrees but finds himself attracted to May. After Ray kills one member of the Leon family, Ned Trent resurfaces to help Tomas Leon in tracking down his former CIA partner Ray.The Specialist is one of Sylvester Stallone's disappointing movies.
Stone, a woman controlled by a mafia family, responsible for killing her parents, enlists the help of CIA bomb specialist, Stallone to take them out one by one, Steiger saved for last.
People have been saying this is a terrible movie and it does have a few flaws in it, but its a fun, exciting action film with plenty of action for fans and good performances from the cast, especially James Woods, who is a terrific villain.
Apart from the wooden acting, the heavy-handed direction, the vapid dialogue, farcical 'action' scenes and the incredulous plot, this movie was the worst film I've seen in a long, long time.
Her acting isn't bad either, but then who wouldn't look like a professional thespian when sharing the screen with the wooden Stallone and the scenery chewing James Woods.
I recommend this only to the biggest fans of Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone and/or James Woods.
Yes, all of this ties into the movie, The Specialist starring Sylvester Stallone and Sharron Stone.
Stallone never could act at all but he comes off pretty well in this trashily risible flick alongside a hammy and ancient-looking Rod Steiger, a truly dreadful Eric Roberts, and the King of Hammy Overacting himself James Woods.
the royalty of action movies has to be Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.I had seen The Specialist a long time ago, but I didn't remember much about it...
So in return, many find themselves disappointed by his 90's work.Like Banderas in "Assassins", Stallone's co-star James Woods steals the show in "The Specialist".
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.
They needed to work more inside Stallone and Wood's heads beyond simple character development -- Dennis Hopper or even Charles Bronson could have done a good job in Stallone's role.But, to get to the point of my comment title, this movie was probably pulling the wrong audience from day one -- the right one never showed up.
Rod Steiger is a hilarious Latino mob boss, dropping lines like "Ju think I'm going to..and Ju know whaddd?" James Woods here is at his over-acting best; screeching and hollering out his lines as he chases Sly's trail around Miami.
However, if you are a fan of Stallone or Stone and like fast paced action movies go down to the video store now.
Plenty of opportunities to kill him, wouldn't you think?I don't know, alot of hard-to-overlook inconsistencies here.The movie LOOKS great, and Eric Roberts and James Woods seem to be having a good time with their characters.
Once again we can watch a typical Hollywood action movie, this time with a Stallone as a lead actor.
He was the only character I cared about!Like I said, James Woods is the only thing this movie's got going for it.
He gives a great performance as the villain.Stallone should've stayed away from trying to play macho tough guys and stuck to playing likeable underdogs with tough guy tendencies, like in "Rocky" and "Cop Land"--it's the only time he's ever been good.3/10 stars (mostly for Woods)..
Sylvester Stallone stars as Ray Quick, a professional hitman hired by May Munro (Sharon Stone) who wants revenge for her parent's murder, in this overblown and sub-par actioner which stands out only for James Woods' performance as a crooked FBI agent.
Sylvester Stallone stars as Ray Quick, an assassin who is hired by a mysterious woman (Sharon Stone) who hires out his services to get vengeance on the mobsters who killed her family, along the way they fall for each other and the audience is bored by it all.
The Specialist is one of the worst movies of the 90's and even Sharon Stone's sex scene isn't that erotic, mainly because she is sharing it with Stallone.
It's set in beautiful Miami, with lots of explosions, comprehensible twists and a pinch of erotic.Sly Stallone did his job just as well as clean-limbed actress Sharon Stone - not outstanding performances, but solid.
Especially the scenes between him and Quick (Stallone).If you're looking for an unchallenging late night action thriller, this movie fits just perfect..
Sharon Stone and James Woods pretty much reprised their roles in Casino, and I suspect both movies were made around the same time.
People often criticise Sly Stallone who turns in pretty much his usual character performance - solid action with a tender heart deep down.Stallone isn't a bad actor - he might not be Olivier but for me is convincing for the roles he plays.James Woods had some dodgy lines in this, as did Sly but enjoyable hokum.
Big names: Stallone, Stone, Roberts (Eric), Steiger and Woods.
Stone is awful, but in this company looks like she should be up for an Oscar, as should the loud shirt that is the recipient of the best line in the film when Woods comes out of a lift (you'll have to watch it just for that).It's worth watching because it is sooooo bad, and you will laugh out loud many, many times, so on that basis I recommend this movie wholeheartedly (but still can't bring myself to give it more than 3/10)..
"The Specialist" can perhaps best be described as Sylvester Stallone doing what he does best- Rambo-style mayhem- meets Sharon Stone doing what she does best- looking sexy and glamorous.Sly plays Ray Quick, the "specialist" of the title, who is a former CIA explosives expert.
Thisofficer (Wood) paces the film, he's all over the screen, and cleans upthe slimy mess Stallone and Stone leave.If you are expecting romance, action, intriguing plot, good script, runlike hell, away from this.
Woods, a deadly rival of Stallone's, just happens to work for the same man who Sharon Stone has hired him to kill.
Its a revenge thriller from the early nineties and watches like a sexy, slightly crazy mob movie with over the top bad guys, lots of (unique) explosions and one hell of a sexy shower scene after we've finished with all the foreplay over the phone.Sylvester Stallone plays Ray Quick, an ex-bomb specialist who works for hire.
For some reason she still finds it necessary to sleep with the head mobster's son, (Eric Roberts) which in turn makes her character pretty annoying throughout, as she slinks around showing side boob, acting bitchy and looking miserable.There are a few twists, lots of big explosions, -the one with the front part of the hotel falling into the water is great and of course the scene in the shower which showcases Stallone in his prime and yeah, he looks fantastic, Stone does too.I enjoyed the entire cast; Eric Roberts is also perfect as the spoilt, privileged and brutal son of mob boss Rod Steiger who I also enjoyed and James "get a better shirt" Woods is awesome, manically over the top as the bad guy.
Stallone,Stone,Woods,Roberts and Steiger.This movie can't be bad.It was way better than 5.4 rating.
But best performance is easily from Woods.And hell yeah this is movie where Sharon Stone looks best.By far..
He's lost as the whole movie.Sharon Stone looks great and actually gives a nice performance .
Stupid movie about "specialist" hitman (Stallone) who teams up with a beautiful, busty woman (Stone) and goes on the run from criminal James Woods.
Eric Roberts and James Woods in the same film is like dating two women at the same time.
And Stallone has a history with James Woods (the only performance in the movie worth watching).
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..