The Specialist (1994)

4% of critics liked it
(27 reviews)
34% of users liked it
(40,327 ratings)

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… More 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, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 41 min.
Directed By: Luis Llosa
Written By: Alexandra Seros
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense

In Theaters: Oct 7, 1994 Wide
On DVD: Feb 24, 1998
Studio: Warner Home Video

Critic Reviews

Christopher Harris, Globe and Mail
This movie is a stinker in every way, from the one-dimensional acting to the idiot dialogue to the surprisingly monotonous storyline.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
The Specialist is one of those films that forces the characters through torturous mazes of dialogue and action, to explain a plot that is so unlikely it's not worth the effort.
Hal Hinson, Washington Post
With all the preening, posing and stretching, it's hard to know if The Specialist is an action movie or an exercise video.
James Berardinelli, ReelViews
This movie is excruciatingly dumb.
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
...all formula action, formula adventure, formula characters, formula romance, and formula revenge plot. (Blu-ray edition)
John J. Puccio, Movie Metropolis
Nothing in it should surprise you, despite the twists the story attempts to take. Formula is formula.
Steve Crum, Kansas City Kansan
Isn't Sly getting a little long in the Rocky-tooth for this kind of role?
Fred Topel, About.com
Good standard Stallone movie. Cool explosions and gratuitous fight scenes.
Brian Mckay, eFilmCritic.com
Tedious. Ludicrous. Completely unecessary. And I mean the whole movie, not just Stone and Stallone's naked shower scene.
Clint Morris, Moviehole
A truly terrible moment in action cinema

Read all 10 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

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Featured Audience Ratings

Conner R

Not a great movie, but it's just too much fun not to enjoy on some level. You've got Sly as a bomb expert who finds a ton of different ways to blow you up. Sharon Stone adds to the mix mostly as eye candy, but she's actually a really good character too. Everyone else in… More
Not a great movie, but it's just too much fun not to enjoy on some level. You've got Sly as a bomb expert who finds a ton of different ways to blow you up. Sharon Stone adds to the mix mostly as eye candy, but she's actually a really good character too. Everyone else in the cast is pretty much star-studded as well, including Eric Roberts, Rod Steiger and James Woods. You pretty much know what type of movie it is before you put it in, so you'll either love it or hate it.
Wahida K

Sly ist the Best! The government taught him to kill. Now he's using his skills to help a woman seek revenge against the Miami underworld.
Anthony L

This is one of my more lazy reviews but It?s shit.
Cassie H

I liked this movie alot. Sylvester Stallone works very well in the action films that he stars in & this was one of them. Loved the scenes he did with Sharon Stone as well. Just a great movie! :) Love it no matter what critics or people say. :) Absoulutly a fave of mine. :) Will… More
I liked this movie alot. Sylvester Stallone works very well in the action films that he stars in & this was one of them. Loved the scenes he did with Sharon Stone as well. Just a great movie! :) Love it no matter what critics or people say. :) Absoulutly a fave of mine. :) Will absolutly watch this movie again!!! Love it! :) Just a great movie, my dad even liked it lol. :) Sly rox!!!!! Can't wait to own it. :)
Dean !

A very good action/thriller about a bomb specialist going after the mafia for revenge.
Tsubaki S

Sharon Stone was still hot those days, nothing else to add. I hope Woods got enough money for doing this crap.
Dean M

Only the action sequences and the larger-than-life supporting performance by James Woods save this action movie from being an utter disaster. Sylvester Stallone makes a great performance as the explosives specialist hired by a woman seeking revenge against the Cuban-American gangsters… More
Only the action sequences and the larger-than-life supporting performance by James Woods save this action movie from being an utter disaster. Sylvester Stallone makes a great performance as the explosives specialist hired by a woman seeking revenge against the Cuban-American gangsters who killed her parents.
danny d

entertaining movie
xGary X

Laughable action thriller in which Sly and Stone completely fail to ignite any chemistry at all in amongst a load of pointless explosions and uninteresting plot "twists". James Woods looks like he's enjoying himself a lot more than the audience is.
Michael G

I caught the last half hour and that was all I needed to see thank you very much.
Fascade F

Good movie but I wouldn't classify it as AWFUL as some of the reviews posted it up as. The performances were believable, Sharon Stone and Sylvester Stallone lit up the screen, Even James Woods was incredible in this movie.
Deb S

"Specialist" hitman (Stallone) teams up with a beautiful woman (Sharon Stone) who wants him to eliminate three gangsters who murdered her parents. James Woods makes a terrific villain and is great as Stallone's former partner turned enemy, he was really good at being… More
"Specialist" hitman (Stallone) teams up with a beautiful woman (Sharon Stone) who wants him to eliminate three gangsters who murdered her parents. James Woods makes a terrific villain and is great as Stallone's former partner turned enemy, he was really good at being bad while Stallone gets rid of his enemies using bombs instead of guns. Eric Roberts was excellent as the vicious and narcissistic son of a drug baron (Rod Steiger). With loads of big explosions and fight scenes combined with an erotic shower scène (well Sharon Stone is in it and we expect that lol), it's certainly worth a one time watch.
Aurelius D

So this is my 3rd Sly flick in a night and needless to say I should stop. This is the movie to finish up with though as the work with explosives, the ingenius complex nature of it perfectly molded into each scene that it is deployed just make it fun to watch. Sly is once again the… More
So this is my 3rd Sly flick in a night and needless to say I should stop. This is the movie to finish up with though as the work with explosives, the ingenius complex nature of it perfectly molded into each scene that it is deployed just make it fun to watch. Sly is once again the quiet guy we've all come to know and love, he's the giant jungle cat that's been caged and has that dim light behind his eyes where the once wild spirit raged but has been tamed by time and the bars of bad movies *which there aren't many until much later*. So here's the score, you got Sly VS Woods, wonderful face off. Sharon just gets in the way trying to be a sex symbol that only seems to look like she escaped from some rehab clinic and thinks she still has it. Sly plays the good guy who uses his powers for good, Woods, his teachers/mentor/pimp-daddy, is the guy who plays a mercenary like they should be. Much like the guns of the old west you got James working for a shady drug/mob/punk guy. James is called in to help counteract what Sly is doing as he helps the mental midget Stone get free of the bad mans grasp. The explosions and their use are the real stars of the film. Special effects and the science behind it all makes it a great watch. The story isn't anything new or shocking but it still is enough to hold the attention of most.
Matthew A

Watched this today because there was nothing else on tele and it was an all right film. There was quite a lot of action, mostly involving explosions - lots of them. Silverster Stallone plays the usual role of a tough and clever assassin. Sharon Stone did pretty well too, though I… More
Watched this today because there was nothing else on tele and it was an all right film. There was quite a lot of action, mostly involving explosions - lots of them. Silverster Stallone plays the usual role of a tough and clever assassin. Sharon Stone did pretty well too, though I haven't seen many of her films so can't compare this role to her other ones. The acting by James Woods impressed me a lot actually. Overall it's an OK film, that maybe you just watch 1-2 times because then this film doesn't provide anything special for the rewatching.
Lee K

Another hidden beauty or treasure if you will i loved this movie minus rod steiger's terrible performance as an italian.
Barry L

Emjoyan;e pap.