the specialist start a may munro ( sharon stone ) contact hire assassin ray quick ( sylvester stallone ) and ask him to kill the three men who murder her parent and the man who order it and be a helpful kind of chap ray agree . thing become complicate when ray old cia buddy turn baddie ned trent ( james wood ) show up want to kill ray because he hurt ned feeling back in 1984 and that it basically . this peruvian american co production be direct by luis llosa which be a name i instantly recognise a this be the guy responsible for one of the bad big budget horror flick of the 90 and namely anaconda ( 1997 ) which be a film i hate with a passion and guess what . i also hate the specialist a well and luckily after both this and anaconda tank at the box office and be critically tear to piece llosa hasn not be allow to make an american film since and there be a god after all . anyway and the script by alexandra seros which take itself far too seriously be uggested by the specialist novel by john shirley and be terrible and for a start there barely any action in it and the scene set on the bus where stallone beat up some thug be so pointless and utterly irrelevant to the plot it stick out like a sore thumb and smack of a re shoot in an attempt to up the action quota . in fact all the specialist offer in term of action be a couple of explode vehicle and some large explosion at the end otherwise this be one of the least action pack big budget stallone flick i have ever see . the character be awful and the dialogue be awful and the story be utterly predictable and pedestrian with virtually no reason give why ned want to kill ray at this point or no reason why may parent be originally murder and at nearly two hour long it a real chore to sit through . i really and really dislike the specialist and would call it more of a thriller than an action flick although i be bet the trailer make it look like it full of explosion and action scene but just do not be fool because it isn not . director llosa be an awful director and it no surprise no respectable studio have let him go anywhere near a film camera since this and anaconda and there be so many scene in the specialist which be play straight and meant to generate tension and excitement but be so poorly and ineptly handle they come across a laughable . the opening scene where train assassin stallone suddenly develop a conscience be stupid and the scene in the police station where james woods threaten an entire room of cop with a homemade bomb be ridiculous a the cop would have shoot his head off and the sex scene between stallone and stone be one of the most unerotic and frankly ugly piece of film i have ever see and james wood lose it in front of all those cop and tell them all to shut up be just hilarious and his character come across like some sort of clown rather than the hard a nail bad guy he should have . apart from when stallone beat some punk up on a bus there no fight and there no shooting and there no car chase and the only explosion worth mention be right at the very end if you can make it that far . with a supposed budget of about $ 45 and 000 and 000 the specialist be a well funded film although i struggle to see where the money go although stallone be pay $ 15 and 000 and 000 to be in it so i guess there my answer . apparently steven seagal only want $ 9 and 000 and 000 to star and direct so why do not warner bros. go with him . well they do not want to pay him that much so they go to stallone who only want an extra $ 6 and 000 and 000 anyway . to be honest this feel like a low budget straight to video seagal flick and it really do . the acting be terrible from all involve and stallone be even more wooden than usual and stone be just plain awful and not particularly good look in this while the usually superb james wood be leave try to make the best of a terrible script and a rubbish character but even he end up look somewhat embarrassed . the specialist be a terrible film which i hat when i saw it back in the 90 and still hate now when i saw it but a few hour ago and there nothing much more i can say other than i personally think it complete rubbish except some decent explosion at the end which aren not worth wait for .