Classic
Summary
The Perfect Weapon has it all – a talented action hero in Jeff Speakman, an excellent supporting cast, regular fight scenes and an awesome car chase. Kino Lorber have done a fantastic job here and this is one their best Blu-rays to date.
Plot: One man becomes a deadly strike force in this crackling action-thriller starring martial arts sensation Jeff Speakman (The Expert). Speakman plays a drifter and Kenpo karate expert who returns home to discover his mentor has been murdered by a ruthless drug lord. Determined to avenge the killing, he must contend with the cop assigned to the case—his long-estranged brother (John Dye, Best of the Best). Caught between the arm of the law and his own code of honor, Jeff heads toward a final showdown with a sadistic assassin (Professor Toru Tanaka, Revenge of the Ninja). Directed by Mark DiSalle (Kickboxer) and supervised by Kenpo karate Grand Master Ed Parker, The Perfect Weapon features black belt Speakman in the most dazzling karate sequences ever captured on film. Anytime…Anywhere…Anyplace…Jeff Speakman is The Perfect Weapon. Featuring Mariska Hargitay (TV’s Law & Order: SVU) and Dante Basco (Hook) with screen legends Mako (An Eye for an Eye), James Hong (Missing in Action) and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Mortal Kombat).
Review: There isn’t much we can say about Ther Perfect Weapon that hasn’t already been said, but I like to write about it every so often in case there are some of you out there who haven’t seen it and are maybe new to the classic action genre.
The Perfect Weapon stars Jeff Speakman who really deserved to become a bigger star as he had such an appealing everyman personality on screen while also being a fantastic martial artist with his use of Kenpo.
In this movie he plays Jeff Sanders; as a young man he had some serious anger issues and rather than being sent away to military school he is trained in Kenpo by Kim (Mako) making him the perfect weapon. All doesn’t go well as he ends up in trouble after defending his little brother from some jocks. He disappears for several years now estranged from his father and brother.
He comes back to visit Kim and finds out he is being harassed by a local gang. Jeff beats up the attackers, but later Kim is killed so Jeff starts to look into who is responsible as he seeks revenge. His brother Adam (John Dye) is now a cop and the two reunite to try to take down the gang once and for all.
The Perfect Weapon has a rather amazing supporting cast including James Hong, Cary Hiroyuki-Tagawa, Professor Toru Tanaka, James Lew, Branscombe Richmond and of course Leo Lee who was in practically every martial arts movie in the 90s.
Professor Toru Tanaka plays the originally named Tanaka and he is really the main physical threat to Jeff and their final fight is one of the many highlights. I love how the poster says – “No Gun. No Knife. No Equal.” and yet in the finale he packs up a load of knives for the climax.
At an hour and 25 minutes the pacing is faultless with fight scenes every few minutes and Speakman proving he had what it takes to be the next martial arts star. Like I said, he deserved much better, but at least we got several entertaining movies from him.
Gary Chang provides the score which is reminiscent of his work on Death Warrant and works perfectly for the film; Snap’s The Power is one of those classic earworm tunes that sticks in your head for hours and is the main theme song for the film..
My favourite fight scene is the gym showdown where Jeff faces off against James Lew and Leo Lee as he really gets to showcase some great moves. I like how he isn’t invincible though and its his sheer determination that gets him through.
Kino Lorber released a Blu-ray of The Perfect Weapon earlier this year which includes the following special features:
- Brand New HD Master – From a 4K Scan of the 35mm Original Camera Negative
- NEW Audio Commentary by Director Mark DiSalle and Action Film Historian Mike Leeder
- Street Speed: NEW Interview with Star Jeff Speakman (23:18)
- Deleted & Extended Scenes (9:01)
- Theatrical Trailer (2:00)
- Optional English Subtitles
Although there aren’t a ton of special features, what we get is incredibly entertaining including a 23 minute all new interview with Jeff Speakman. He talks about meeting Ed Parker, training and entering the movie business; he’s very honest about it all and just comes across as a decent guy.
The deleted scenes are the most fascinating features as they really should have been kept in the film; in the final version Jennifer (Mariska Hargitay) has nothing really to do, but the deleted scenes show that she was more pivotal in Jeff’s life and tried to stop him from killing the people responsible for Kim’s death. There are a couple of action scenes too and it’s a shame we didn’t get an extended cut on the Blu-ray with all the deleted footage added back in. As it is they they are still great additions and it’s interesting to wonder why they would have removed these scenes which wouldn’t have affected the pacing in any way.
The Audio Commentary by Director Mark DiSalle and Mike Leeder is insightful and entertaining too which just makes this even more of a must-have.
As for the picture and sound quality of the Blu-ray; I was blown away by the amazing picture and the audio is faultless as well. The gorgeous neon colours of the film are vibrant and I especially love the nightclub scene where everything just popped, making this look like it came out last year rather than over 30 years ago. I like that subtitles were included too for those of us who are hard of hearing.
Overall, The Perfect Weapon is a classic for a reason with awesome fight scenes, rapid-fire pacing and an appealing lead in Jeff Speakman. It has an incredible supporting cast too which makes this well worth adding to your physical media collection. It looks like it came out last year as it has been so well remastered and the special features will be hugely entertaining for fans of the film.