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Blackmail, Murder & Mayhem

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The Specialist

The Specialist

List Price: $12.97
Your Price: $11.67
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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Sylvester The Robot.
Review: This movie really isn't as bad as some people will have you believe. It's far from being Sly's best, but together with "Cliffhanger" and "Copland", it's actually one of his most effective from the 90s. (-Let's face it, the others he did that decade were pretty... most of them, and his best movies are all from the 70s and 80s.) Don't make the mistake to judge Stallone-the-actor by this film; he's a much better actor than this movie tries to trick you into believing, he just needs better material to chew on. -"The Specialist" almost reduces him to merely some kind of a silent robot, literally sleepwalking through the scenery following Stone around. But for some strange reason the movie still works. Except for one brief scene. -The silly fight on the bus; it's totally out of place, and seem tacked on just for the sake of it. (-I'm pretty sure it was, actually.) Come to think of it, the erotic scenes between the two stars are also quite un-necessary, and only there to make those with cheap minds drool. Woods is his good old manic self, but the character he plays is so ridiculous and over the top it ends up being utterly unbelievable. Steiger is very good as the old mobster, but the way I see it, Roberts is the one who steals the show. Many actors don't improve with age, in fact many get worse as they get older, but Roberts seems to be the kind of actor that just gets better and better. He's so deliciously slimy here that without him the picture just drags, and you almost miss the dirty rotten scoundrel when he's not around. It's a good part, but sadly somewhat too small. The DVD looks great, and the trailer includes clips from shots not in the final film, like Stone slapping Steiger and the b/w flashback scenes in color.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Sylvester The Robot.
Review: This movie really isn't as bad as some people will have you believe. It's far from being Sly's best, but together with "Cliffhanger" and "Copland", it's actually one of his most effective from the 90s. (-Let's face it, the others he did that decade were pretty... most of them, and his best movies are all from the 70s and 80s.) Don't make the mistake to judge Stallone-the-actor by this film; he's a much better actor than this movie tries to trick you into believing, he just needs better material to chew on. -"The Specialist" almost reduces him to merely some kind of a silent robot, literally sleepwalking through the scenery following Stone around. But for some strange reason the movie still works. Except for one brief scene. -The silly fight on the bus; it's totally out of place, and seem tacked on just for the sake of it. (-I'm pretty sure it was, actually.) Come to think of it, the erotic scenes between the two stars are also quite un-necessary, and only there to make those with cheap minds drool. Woods is his good old manic self, but the character he plays is so ridiculous and over the top it ends up being utterly unbelievable. Steiger is very good as the old mobster, but the way I see it, Roberts is the one who steals the show. Many actors don't improve with age, in fact many get worse as they get older, but Roberts seems to be the kind of actor that just gets better and better. He's so deliciously slimy here that without him the picture just drags, and you almost miss the dirty rotten scoundrel when he's not around. It's a good part, but sadly somewhat too small. The DVD looks great, and the trailer includes clips from shots not in the final film, like Stone slapping Steiger and the b/w flashback scenes in color.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I think you guys watched anther movie
Review: To me, Stallone is an entertaining actor. Alot of his movies are the same but the way he delivers his lines and acts is awesome. This movie isnt going win awards but it was very entertaining and the acting was not as terriable as people made it out to be. James Wood was such a excellent bad guy and Sharon Stone did seem to try and get all the attention. This movie was a excellent, popcorn flick.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Where do I start?
Review: Well, let's see. Just off the top of my head, here are some of the features of this turkey. Sly Stallone mumbles so badly that only about 5% of his dialogue is intelligible (though this is probably a plus, given the quality of the writing).Sharon Stone is nice to look at but her acting starts off bad and gets worse in a hurry. Her character is so unlikeable I cheered up when Woods slapped her around. Rod Steiger's accent, which I believe is supposed to be Cuban because he pronounces "you" as "chew" a la Scarface, comes and goes. James Woods plays a parody of himself (this was actually the most entertaining thing about the movie). They show Sly working out, and all he does are ballet-like stretches to show off his bod, and it was not a pretty sight. He is so over-pumped that there are alarmingly bulging veins on every inch of his body visible. Stone and Stallone (has a nice ring to it, huh?) have no chemistry--during their big sex scene, they look extremely bored instead of aroused, as if they are about to doze off but the only thing keeping them awake is to make sure their buff bodies are displayed carefully so they look their best on camera. Continuity is terrible-Sly's character adopts a fluffy grey kitty, which I guess is supposed to make him sensitive (I was just worried he'd crush it accidentally) but in a scene towards the end, the cat is dark brown. I give a grudging point towards the kitty not being killed by the Columbians or Woods--the one thing that I didn't see coming, because every time Sly came home looking for his cat I expected him to find it nailed to the wall or something equally hideous. Woods does have a great scene (a couple, really) where he does a little trick with a pen and some plastique to frighten his office staff. I also laughed at the way he'd constantly be yelling "Shut up!" to characters who hadn't even said anything yet.The movie is, I have to admit, one of those that is so bad, it would qualify as one of those 'love to hate it' movies that you sit around with your friends with to watch and make fun of. Worth renting if 1. you are a Woods fan and find him entertaining in any movie no matter how terrible it is or 2. you have a free rental coming at the video store (or both of the above, like me). If you can't stand all three of the principal stars, skip it by all means. 3 stars-2 for Woods, one for the "movie so bad it's good" factor.


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