Rent The Specialist (1994)

Schlocky, silly, stupid but also great fun, cheesy and with a stunning look & demented performances - The Specialist review by TB

In the mid-90’s, the film world was in a glorious state of craziness. As much as there was a huge amount of rubbish released, there were also some absolute gems. I recently watched Basic Instinct for the first time and absolutely loved it: totally crackers off the wall craziness. As well as Hollywood making these sorts of erotic thrillers, there was also another welcome consequence of this: A-list actors signing up to star in these films meant there were massive budgets to play with. And like with Color of Night, welcomingly a vast amount was spent on the actual productions, not just on actor’s wages and their expensive trailers.

This film looks stunning. As much as it is marketed as and will be remembered by many people as simply another erotic thriller with a famous cast, the cinematography, lensing, colours, locations, wardrobes and sets are the best you could possibly hope for. Even Bond films didn’t look this good at that time. This film literally is a visual feast for the eyes. And speaking of Bond films, the stunts and hand-to-hand combat is also great too. 

The story is about an explosives “specialist” called Ray Quick (Stallone) who, after a mission goes awry, quits the CIA and moves to Miami, becoming a hit-man. He is then contacted by Mae Monroe (Stone) who has sworn vengeance on the mafia crime family who years earlier slaughtered her own family. Added into the mix, the mafia family’s head of security is Ned Trent (Woods) who is Quick’s ex partner who he violently fell out with. It then becomes a classic cat-and-mouse thriller which reaches ridiculous levels of silliness. 

Stallone and Stone have excellent chemistry, which is vital because the film simply wouldn’t work otherwise. Woods also chews up the scenery for all he’s worth and even Nicolas Cage might say to him “You need to tone it down a bit!” The thrill of this film is simply that everything is so gloriously silly and stupid, but all done with a totally straight face. 

Amusingly, this film and Color of Night also share another similarity: they both have unbelievably over the top, protracted sex scenes. Whereas Color of Night used pretty much every room in Willis’s character’s mansion to bang, here is it a 7 star hotel room which is the size of an aircraft hanger. And with Stone bringing her Basic Instinct credentials/reputation with her, this just adds to the mix. Part dance/part erotic fantasy/part total cheesy schlock, it’s a great addition to proceedings. 

If you come to this film expecting a masterpiece, you won’t find it. This is a film to be watched exactly as it comes across: tongue firmly in cheek craziness, clichés aplenty but all wrapped up in beautiful production values. A great Friday night film to watch with your friends.