The Specials

2000

Action / Comedy / Fantasy / Sci-Fi

7
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 55% · 15 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 55% · 1K ratings
IMDb Rating 5.7/10 10 2696 2.7K

superhero superhero team independent film dysfunctional friends fantasy comedy superhero parody

Plot summary

America's seventh best superhero team, the Specials, are a group of geeks and oddballs. Lifelong fan Nightbird joins the group just in time for the group to get a new line of action figures. But the members' extreme personalities and personal issues threaten to rip the group apart.

Director

Craig Mazin Photo
Craig Mazin

Top cast

Barry Del Sherman Photo
Barry Del Sherman as Zip Boy
Kelly Coffield Park Photo
Kelly Coffield Park as Power Chick
Michael Weatherly Photo
Michael Weatherly as Verdict
James Gunn Photo
James Gunn as Minute Man
720p.BluRay
817.58 MB
1280*854
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
29.97 fps
1 hr 28 min
Seeds 5

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by KUAlum26 5 / 10

Low energy comedy...about Superheroes!

I got this one mostly because I am quite the fan of Judy Greer's and have appreciated Thomas Haden Church and Paget Brewster for quite a while now. I also appreciated "Mystery Men",which this film has been compared to. While I'm not familiar with the X-statix comics,I have a feeling I'd probably derive more satisfaction out of those than this movie,which had some very neat things going for it,but was so laid-back and low-energy that it was difficult to keep an active interest in the movie.It's tempting to really beat up this flick because of its lack kineticism,but the characters are fairly engaging.In fact,I think this might be,in earnest,the REAL problem with this film. Namely,there are a panoply of characters in this movie,plenty of back story here, a lot of potential for story and yet ONLY 89 MINUTES to tell it,thus characters and their stories are shorted and plot lines are left to dangle. Too many characters,not enough plot or action to fit them all in. More of a documentary feel to it then a comedy and/or action-adventure.In short,a curious film that is most certainly NOT for all tastes.
Reviewed by zot79 5 / 10

Yawn...

I was hoping for something funny and maybe in a different direction than "Mystery Men" (which I liked). This wasn't it. Yes, there were witty moments and some of the acting was dead on character. But I never really cared enough about any of the characters. I think this is because the script never seemed to live up to its potential. And the directing never lived up to the script. The leisurely pacing would have better fit a TV movie. I'm glad I got this one free from library.
Reviewed by treemarc 7 / 10

Deserves a video re-release

I rarely rent DVDs, because I see a theatrical film about every other week, and have about 35 movie channels & a DVR to catch the more obscure ones. After reading The Scarecrow Video Guide, I decided to join Netflix and made a list of out-of-the-mainstream movies , and old classics I'd missed. The Specials was the first one I watched.At the time this was made, it's no wonder it didn't get much of a release. Rob Lowe, was still in the early stages of his West Wing comeback, Thomas Hayden Church was a barely remembered sitcom has-been, & Jamie Kennedy was primarily known as the annoying guy from Scream. The rest of the cast was pretty much unknown. (The trailer on the DVD lists Melissa Joan Hart 4th, despite the fact that she appears in exactly one scene.) On top of the cast issues, the plot sounds similar to Mystery Men, which had bombed a year earlier.Now, Lowe is respected again, Kennedy is an above the title star (nevermind the quality of the titles), and Hayden-Church is an Oscar nominee. Meanwhile most of the rest of the cast have become cult TV/film favorites... Sean Gunn from Gilmore Girls, Judy Greer from Arrested Development, Paget Brewster from Andy Richter and Huff, and Jordan Ladd from Cabin Fever and Club Dread.The fun script is what holds it together. Written by (and co-starring) Sean Gunn's brother James halfway between his Troma stint and the unbearable Scooby Doo 2, it's a creative look at the mundane part of being a super-hero. Unlike Mystery Men, which depended too much on special effects, this film has virtually NO action. It's just a series of amusing character pieces. It never really delivers on laughs (except when the gang gets their own action figures), but it's consistently interesting and different. When the film gets to the goofy musical/dance scene so common nowadays, the song featured is not a pop hit, but an obscure 70's novelty song. I found myself grinning ear to ear, despite the fact that it serves NO purpose.The direction is flat, but fitting to the subject matter. All in all, a fun way to spend 90 minutes and certainly worth a rental.Next on my film adventure- Steven Soderburgh's Schitzopolis!
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