Sylvester Stallone is an explosives expert who contracts out his work after leaving the CIA when his superior James Woods callously killed some innocents on a South American job. Stallone before he left the agency got the demented Woods canned. Both are at large now, Stallone is an independent Woods just a loose cannon.

Sharon Stone hires Stallone because of his precision hits with explosives, not an easy thing to do. She wants three Cuban gangsters killed as they killed her parents while she as a child watched. One of the three is Eric Roberts the son of Cuban Mafia capo Rod Steiger.

Wouldn't you know it Woods is now working for Steiger and he's got his own agenda. He recognizes Stallone's signature and Steiger who has the Miami PD bought and paid for go to work assisting Woods track down Stallone. As for Stone she has her own agenda as well. But is gets nice and personal with Sly and Sharon.

Stallone fans should be pleased with The Specialist. It has enough explosive charm for anyone who likes to see things go boom. As for acting honors they go to James Woods who has a knack for playing deranged and callous characters. A villain you love to hate.

One might become a Stallone fan after seeing The Specialist.

This passable but alternatively forgettable action flick sees bomb expert (getting tired of this one already) Sylvester Stallone getting caught up with a load of femme fatales, revenge, double and triple crosses and a corrupt official, played by James Woods at his manic best. The main trouble with this film is that it relies on dialogue instead of action for impact - which is a shame, because the action, when it comes, is extremely impressive.

One stunt sees a man's car explode - and the man, and his chair, fly up to hit the ceiling before falling back to earth, on fire. This is hands down one of the most show-stopping stunts I've ever seen but sadly there are only a handful in the film. Other bits to watch out for are the explosive finale, where just about everything blows up, and the short scene where Stallone takes on a number of bad guys in a kitchen (one guy gets chucked in the deep-fat fryer, I like it!). Or how about Stallone's incredibly over-the-top reaction to a punk sitting in a taken seat on a bus - he beats him up and chucks him outta the window.

Stallone himself gets a chance to flex his muscles (and worryingly vein-lined physique) here but not his acting abilities - in fact, he's extremely wooden. Sharon Stone is quite alluring as the female lead, and predictably gets to shed her clothes in a ludicrously laughable sex scene which sees the naked pair romping around in the shower. However, the star of the show is the memorable James Woods, putting in a great psychotic performance in the tradition of Jack Nicholson and Joe Pesci - it's just a shame his role isn't a more interesting one and rather clichéd.

There are remarkable moments here - a bomb causes an entire apartment block to fall into the sea - but half an hour could have been shorn off with little impact. There are far too many characters who come and go - Eric Roberts seems to be one of the major players until his sudden death halfway through - and as I said previously, too much plot and not enough on the action side. Still, basically this is a glossy, colourful and exciting thriller which passes the time and is worth watching for Woods alone - he's great!

Well, I had the pleasure of catching the last hour of this one on the late-night cable at the airport hotel. I sort of enjoyed it, but then, it had no competition and I wasn't ready to fall asleep yet. While playing spin-the-dial, I found a natty James Woods emotionally torturing a comatose Sharon Stone, and I thought "Well, at least there'll be something interesting to watch until that wedding party finishes up downstairs".

I won't say I enjoyed it completely, but these were probably the best circumstances under which to watch it. Also, I missed the first hour, so part of my brain was able to work at reconstructing the plot while I watched the eye-candy. I agree with the reviewer who said that it looked terrific; Miami was beautiful and the colors were sparkling clear.

What I enjoyed-- (**POSSIBLE SPOILERS, BUT DOES IT REALLY MATTER?**)

James Woods, of course. I only managed to see Eric Roberts for about five minutes before he had that fatal cup of coffee, but I liked him in their "final confrontation" scene. Then, when James lost it on the phone with Sly, I think he earned his paycheck in ten minutes of screen time. Too bad about that innocent phone...

The sex-in-the-shower scene. Sly looked (and acted) like a Classical Greek sculpture. I don't even remember what Sharon Stone looked like naked, but then, to be fair, she was covered up a lot of the time. I do remember that Sly had better breasts. Not surprising that he has a porn background. One question: does the shower drain leave a permanent mark?

Finally, I loved the small touches of humor, and there were a few. I especially enjoyed the scene when Sly blew the Crab Shack and it began raining live crustaceans. You just don't see that often enough in today's films...

So, two out of ten, with an extra point for being there when I needed it.