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MONEY
Did you know
Made its money back 3.8× over at the box office.
MoodPlayr · trivia#01
The Specialist
"The government taught him to kill. Now he's using his skills to help a woman seek revenge against the Miami underworld."
1994 1h 50m EN
😐
6.0
MID
★6.0TMDB · 1,517
ActionThriller
Synopsis
Spoiler shield
May Munro is a woman obsessed with getting revenge on the people who murdered her parents when she was still a girl. She hires Ray Quick, a retired explosives expert, to kill her parents' killers. When Ned Trent, embittered ex-partner of Quick's, is assigned to protect one of Quick's potential victims, a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues.
“The government taught him to kill. Now he's using his skills to help a woman seek revenge against the Miami underworld.”
Cast
Sylvester Stallone
Ray Quick
Sharon Stone
May Munro
James Woods
Ned Trent
Rod Steiger
Joe Leon
Eric Roberts
Tomas Leon
Mario Ernesto Sánchez
Charlie
Sergio Doré Jr.
Strongarm
Chase Randolph
Stan Munro
Credits
Behind the camera
- Director
- Luis Llosa
- Writers
- Alexandra Seros
- Languages
- English
- Countries
- United States of America
Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.
Did you know?
Fun facts 🍿
2 / 8
ERA
Did you know
32 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
MoodPlayr · trivia#02
3 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Directed by Luis Llosa, shot by Jeffrey L. Kimball. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
MoodPlayr · trivia#03
4 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Original score by John Barry. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
MoodPlayr · trivia#04
5 / 8
DIRECTOR
Did you know
Editor Jack Hofstra shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
MoodPlayr · trivia#05
6 / 8
CAST
Did you know
Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone and James Woods carry the top of the cast.
MoodPlayr · trivia#06
7 / 8
FACT
Did you know
Marketing tagline: "The government taught him to kill. Now he's using his skills to help a woman seek revenge against the Miami underworld.".
MoodPlayr · trivia#07
8 / 8
WILD
Did you know
IMDB entry: tt0111255 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
MoodPlayr · trivia#08
Cinephile deep dive
The take
Luis Llosa directs. Jeffrey L. Kimball behind the camera. John Barry scores. Jack Hofstra cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.
Trivia
Things worth knowing
- 1Made its money back 3.8× over at the box office.
- 232 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
- 3Directed by Luis Llosa, shot by Jeffrey L. Kimball. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
- 4Original score by John Barry. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
- 5Editor Jack Hofstra shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
- 6Sylvester Stallone and Sharon Stone and James Woods carry the top of the cast.
- 7Marketing tagline: "The government taught him to kill. Now he's using his skills to help a woman seek revenge against the Miami underworld.".
- 8IMDB entry: tt0111255 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
- 9Classified under 9 themes, including "based on novel or book", "explosive", "fistfight", "revenge".
The technical file
- Cinematography
- Jeffrey L. Kimball
- Original score
- John Barry
- Editing
- Jack Hofstra
- Production design
- Walter P. Martishius
- Costume design
- Judianna Makovsky
- Makeup / hair
- Peggy Semtob
- Runtime
- 110 min · 1h 50m
- Aspect ratio (typical)
- 1.37:1 (Academy)
- Status
- Released
- Budget
- $45,000,000
- Box office
- $170,362,582
- Return
- 379% of budget
- Original language
- EN
- Certification (US)
- R
Also by
Luis Llosa
Stills · wallpapers
Selected frames
Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.
Trailers & featurettes
Watch the pieces
Community reviews
What people are saying
- Gimly★ 4/10
A bomber makes for about as heroic a protagonist as you might expect. There is no reason to put yourself through the plodding pretentiousness of The Specialist unless you, like I was, are on some sort of quest to watch the entire 80s-90s Stallone filography. Final rating:★★ - Had some things that appeal to me, but a poor finished product.
- Wuchak★ 6/10
Explosive comic book crime thriller with Stallone, Stone and Woods An ex-CIA demolitions expert (Sylvester Stallone) is hired by a grim beauty in Miami (Sharon Stone) to take out the mobsters who murdered her parents when she was a girl. Rod Steiger and Eric Roberts play high society gangsters while James Woods is on hand as the specialist’s rival, who works for the mob. "The Specialist" (1994) is a competent Stallone action flick set in Miami, albeit seriously comic booky with Woods really hamming it up; Roberts too, to a lesser degree. Stallone was 47 during shooting and in exceptional shape. Not that I care, but he and Stone are shown totally nude in a shower scene (in a tasteful way). She looked great at 35, but this flick doesn’t beat “King Solomon’s Mines” (1985) where Sharon’s shorts kept getting shorter as the story progressed. Her character in that film wasn’t ultra-bitter as she is in this one; she was all-around vibrant. It’s kind of glaring, but the movie borrowed music from the 80’s Bond films; obviously the producers wanted that vibe. While it lacks the globetrotting of 007, it’s basically a mix of 80’s Bond and “The Punisher” (1989). The film runs 1 hour, 50 minutes and was shot in the Miami area, Florida, with the opening done at Great Falls Dam, Rock Island, Tennessee. GRADE: B-/C+
- JPV852★ 5/10
Decent action can't overcome thin characters plus Stallone and Stone didn't have much chemistry together. At the very least James Woods, once again, goes over-the-top as the villain so he was entertaining. 2.75/5
Production companies
Who made it
Jerry Weintraub Productions
US
- IG
Iguana Producciones
PE
Warner Bros. Pictures
US
Key crew
- CastingJackie Burch
- ProducerJerry Weintraub
- EditorJack Hofstra
- Costume DesignJudianna Makovsky
- Set DecorationScott Jacobson
- Art DirectionAlan E. Muraoka
- Costume SupervisorCarole Brown-James
- Costume SupervisorKent James
- Production DesignWalter P. Martishius
- StuntsChick Bernhard
- Executive ProducerJeff Most
- StuntsSteven Lambert
- StuntsMickey Giacomazzi
- NovelJohn Shirley
- StuntsGene Hartline
- StuntsDonna Evans
- Stunt DoubleMark De Alessandro
- Construction CoordinatorHarold Collins
- Set DresserFred Schwendel
- Key Hair StylistPeggy Semtob
- Assistant Property MasterAudrey A. Johnson
- LeadmanMichael Calabrese
- Property MasterKent H. Johnson
- Construction ForemanMichael Charboneau
Themes & keywords
What it's about, really
- based on novel or book
- explosive
- fistfight
- revenge
- organized crime
- urban setting
- explosives expert
- neo-noir
- action hero
Release history · US
When it landed
- Theatrical1994-10-07R
Also known as
International titles
- A specialistaHU
- L'expertFR
- Le spécialisteCA
- СпециалистRU
- 炸弹专家CN
- Der SpezialistCH
- スペシャリストJP
- متخصصIR
