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The Specialist

 
Movies:

The Specialist

 
  • Directors: Luis Llosa; Dennis P. Maguire; Allan Graf
  • AMG Rating: starstar
  • Genre: Crime
  • Movie Type: Action Thriller
  • Themes: Criminal's Revenge, Out For Revenge, Haunted By the Past
  • Main Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, James Woods, Rod Steiger, Eric Roberts
  • Release Year: 1994
  • Country: US
  • Run Time: 109 minutes
  • MPAA Rating: R

Plot

This over-the-top star vehicle for box office draws Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone went through a series of directors before landing in the hands of Luis Llosa. Stallone stars as Ray Quick, a former CIA bomb expert now retired in Miami after an operation against a South American drug lord went horribly wrong, resulting in the death of a child. Ray is coaxed out of retirement by May Munro (Stone) to help her get revenge on the powerful organized crime family -- headed up by Joe Leon (Rod Steiger) and his son Tomas (Eric Roberts) -- that killed her parents years before. In the meantime, Ray's former partner Ned Trent (James Woods) is on the Leon family payroll and is seeking his own kind of revenge on Ray. As Ray executes Leon's soldiers one by one, his attraction to May boils over into a steamy encounter in the shower, a prelude to an explosive finale. Although director Llosa wisely kept his camera focused on his buff, semi-clad stars and the film's spectacular effects, the somewhat silly and incoherent plot resulted in a poor box office performance for The Specialist, the third disappointment in a row for Stone. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Cast

Victoria Bass - Socialite; Alfredo Alvarez Calderon - Bomb Expert; Dave Caprita - OPS Buddy; Gene Hartline - Kitchen Thug #3; Mario Ernesto Sanchez - Charlie; Jeff Moldovan - Kitchen Thug #2; Tony Munafo - Tony; Carmen More - Cop #3; John Archie - Cop #1; Antoni Corone - Marksman; Mercedes Enriquez - Pregnant Woman on Bus; Chase Randolph - May's Dad; Chris Conrad - Officer; Allan Graf - Bus Driver; Jackie Davis - Grocery Store Owner; Bud Ekins - Veteran Cop; Mario Roberts - Kitchen Thug #1

Credit

Alan Muraoka - Art Director, Tony Munafo - Associate Producer, Susan Ekins - Associate Producer, Jackie Burch - Casting, R.J. Louis - Co-producer, Judianna Makovsky - Costume Designer, Luis Llosa - Director, Dennis P. Maguire - Director, Allan Graf - Director, Jack Hofstra - Editor, Steven Barron - Executive Producer, Chuck Binder - Executive Producer, Jeff Most - Executive Producer, John Barry - Composer (Music Score), Andy Wiskes - Musical Direction/Supervision, Scott Eddo - Makeup, Gregory Lundsgaard - Camera Operator, Walter Paul Martishius - Production Designer, Jeffrey Kimball - Cinematographer, Michael D. O'Shea - Cinematographer, Jerry Weintraub - Producer, Scott Jacobson - Set Designer, Bob Apisa - Stunts, Gary Compton - Stunts, Mark de Alessandro - Stunts, Marc Macaulay - Stunts, Bobby Foxworth - Stunts, Steve Lambert - Stunts, Kathy Marshall - Stunts, Donna Evans - Stunts, Chick Bernhardt - Stunts, Allan Graf - Stunts, John Shirley - Screen Story, Alexandra Seros - Screenwriter, Kevin Bartnof - Foley Artist

Similar Movies

F/X; F/X 2; The Killer Elite; Scorpio; Blown Away; Assassins; The Art of War; Whacked!
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Artist: The Specialist
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  • Active: '90s
  • Genres: Rock
  • Instrument: DJ, Producer Representative Album: "The Specialist"

Biography

As the Specialist, Detroit artist Trackmaster Lou -- most known for his Scan 7 records -- released The Autonomy EP for Makin' Madd Records. ~ Jason Birchmeier

, All Music Guide
 
Wikipedia: The Specialist
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The Specialist

The Specialist promotional movie poster
Directed by Luis Llosa
Produced by Jerry Weintraub
Written by Alexandra Seros
Starring Sylvester Stallone
Sharon Stone
James Woods
with Rod Steiger
and Eric Roberts
Music by John Barry
Emilio Estefan Jr.
(music supervisor)
Cinematography Jeffrey L. Kimball
Editing by Jack Hofstra
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Release date(s) October 7, 1994 (USA)
Running time 110 min.
Language English
Budget $45,000,000 US (est.)

The Specialist was a 1994 action film from Warner Bros. Pictures. It was directed by Luis Llosa, produced by Jerry Weintraub, and written by Alexandra Seros. Among the cast were Hollywood notables Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, James Woods and Rod Steiger.

The film runs for 110 minutes, in color, and had an MPAA rating of R for violence, nudity, and foul language. It is notable for a pair of "operatic" villain performances from Woods and Steiger, and the crossover Latin pop soundtrack featuring Gloria Estefan's hit "Turn the Beat Around".

Contents

Synopsis

In 1984, Ray Quick (Sylvester Stallone) and Ned Trent (James Woods), CIA explosives experts, are in the middle of a mission to blow up a South American drug dealer. But when the dealer's car appears, there's a little girl in it.

Ray doesn't want to kill the girl, so he wants to abort the mission. But Ned intends to see it through, and allows the explosion to happen. Ray beats Ned up.

Now, in Miami, Ray is making a living as a freelance hit man. Desperate people contact him by computer, and he only takes the cases he wants.

Ray's work is distinguished by its precision; he specializes in building and planting bombs that blow up only the intended target, leaving innocent bystanders shaken but unharmed.

Against his better judgment, Ray is persuaded to take the case of May Munro (Sharon Stone), whose parents were killed by men who work for Miami drug kingpin Joe Leon (Rod Steiger).

May wants Joe to pay for that, and Ray agrees to help, even though she wants to stay close by so she can savor the revenge. But Ned is now working for Joe, and Ned is jockeying for power within the family, particularly in relation to Joe's son Tomas Leon (Eric Roberts).

After Tomas gets blown up, Ned immediately recognizes Ray's signature explosive style. Ned wants revenge on Ray because Ray got him fired from the CIA after that last mission 10 years ago. And Ned also intends to use the situation to curry favor with Leon.

Meanwhile, Ray and May are falling in love, despite her insistence that she's no good for him. May turns out to be a pawn in Ned's plan for vengeance on Ray, but she double-crosses Ned to save Ray, who must then rescue her from Ned's clutches, and bring Joe down.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. It barely grossed $57 million domestically out of a $45 million budget. The movie was nominated for five Razzie Awards including Worst Picture, Worst Actor for Sylvester Stallone and Worst Supporting Actor for Rod Steiger, winning two including Worst Actress for Sharon Stone, and Worst Screen Couple for both Stallone and Stone.

However, despite the subpar critical reaction, the film was a financial success overseas, where it grossed $113 million. Combined with the money made in the US box office, the film made over $170 million on a $45 million dollar budget.

Trivia

External links


Preceded by
The River Wild
Box office number-one films of 1994 (USA)
October 9, 1994
Succeeded by
Pulp Fiction

 
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Copyrights:

Movies. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Movie Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
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Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "The Specialist" Read more