The Specialist movie storyline. Ray Quick (Sylvester Stallone) is a bomb expert who worked for the CIA along with a guy named Ned Trent, who’s extremely demented. When they have a falling out, Ray becomes a freelancer who lives off the grid. A woman named May Munro (Sharon Stone) contacts and wants him to kill the three men who killed her family years ago, who work for the Leon crime family.
Ray does it and after killing the first one, the Leons need to find the one who did it and it turns out Ned is now working for them and they task him with finding the bomber. The Leons get him to work with the police and he looks for the bomber. In the meantime Ray, while working on getting the others, can’t help but follow May wherever she goes.
The Specialist is a 1994 American action thriller spy film directed by Luis Llosa, starring Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, James Woods, Eric Roberts and Rod Steiger. It is loosely based on “The Specialist” series of novels by John Shirley.
The Specialist opened in the U.S. on October 7, 1994 and was one of Stallone’s few box office hits in the 1990s. It opened to $14,317,765 in its opening weekend and ended up making back its budget with $57,362,582 at the domestic box office while making another $113,000,000 overseas, giving it a worldwide gross of $170,362,582. It was Stallone’s third highest grossing movie at the box office in the 1990s and the second highest overall gross next to Cliffhanger.
About the Story
In 1984, Captain Ray Quick and Colonel Ned Trent, explosives experts working for the CIA, are on a mission to blow up a car transporting a South American drug dealer. But when the car appears, a little girl is inside with the dealer. Ray insists they abort the mission, but Ned intends to see it through and allows the explosion to happen, resulting in the deaths of both the drug dealer and the child. Furious by the girl’s wrongful death, Ray savagely beats Ned and flees, effectively resigning from the CIA.
Years later, in Miami, Ray works as a freelance hit man. Desperate people contact him via an Internet bulletin board and he takes the cases that interest him. Ray specializes in “shaping” his explosions, building and planting bombs that blow up only the intended target while leaving innocent bystanders unharmed.
He answers ads placed by a woman named May Munro and speaks to her often to decide if he should take the job or not. During the talks he becomes intrigued by her story, coupled with the fact that he sees how attractive she is while following her. She is the only child of parents who were killed by Tomas Leon and his men. Against his better judgment, and pushed by her insistence that she will infiltrate the gang with or without him, Ray is persuaded to accept the job. Even though he has agreed, May ingratiates herself into Tomas’ world as Adrian Hastings.
Ned now works for Joe Leon, Tomas’ father and director of their mafia organization. Once the hits on their lower level guys begin, they contact the chief of police to place Ned in their bomb squad. May tolerates Tomas and plays along as his girlfriend so she can watch the hits one by one. It is revealed after the second target is killed that May has actually been forced into a partnership with Ned, whose goal was to coax Ray out of hiding. After the job in South America went wrong, Ned was dismissed from the CIA and is intent on revenge.
When the trap for Tomas is set, May is in the room; the resulting explosion appears to kill them both. When Ned goes to Joe to pay his respects, he is left alive only so he can find Ray and bring him to Joe before Tomas is buried. Both Ray and Ned believe that May is dead, yet Ray discovers that bulletin board messages are still being posted. He responds to one, quickly realizing that it is a trap set by Ned and the bomb squad, and baits Ned into an explosive tirade.
The Specialist (1994)
Directed by: Luis Llosa
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Sharon Stone, James Woods, Rod Steiger, Eric Roberts, Mario Ernesto Sánchez, Chase Randolph, Brittany Paige Bouck, Jeana Bell
Screenplay by: Alexandra Seros
Production Design by: Walter P. Martishius
Cinematography by: Jeffrey L. Kimball
Film Editing by: Jack Hofstra
Costume Design by: Judianna Makovsky
Set Decoration by: Scott Jacobson
Art Direction by: Alan E. Muraoka
Music by: John Barry
MPAA Rating: R for strong violence, sexuality and language.
Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Date: October 7, 1994
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