The Perfect Weapon (1991)

Jeff, a young delinquent, is enrolled by his father in a kenpo school, in the hopes of teaching the boy some self-discipline. Years later, Jeff's mentor, Kim, is being threatened by one of ... See full summary »

Director:

Mark DiSalle

Writer:

David C. Wilson

Stars:

Jeff Speakman, John Dye, Mako

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jeff Speakman	...	Jeff Sanders
John Dye	...	Det. Adam Sanders
Mako	...	Kim
James Hong	...	Yung
Mariska Hargitay	...	Jennifer
Dante Basco	...	Jimmy Ho
Beau Starr	...	Capt. Carl Sanders
Seth Sakai	...	Master Lo
Professor Toru Tanaka	...	Tanaka
Clyde Kusatsu	...	Detective Wong
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa	...	Kai
Tom Hermann	...	Jeff - Age 17
Micah Roberts	...	Jeff - Age 11
Ryan Bohannon	...	Adam - Age 6
Justin Webb	...	Adam - Age 12

Storyline

Jeff, a young delinquent, is enrolled by his father in a kenpo school, in the hopes of teaching the boy some self-discipline. Years later, Jeff's mentor, Kim, is being threatened by one of the Korean mafia families. Jeff tries to help his old friend, but is too late to prevent Kim's death at the hands of an unknown hitman. Vowing revenge, Jeff takes on all of the families, using his martial arts skills to find the man who killed his friend.

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Plot Keywords:

martial arts | martial artist | kung fu | cult film | kenpo | 

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Taglines:

Just try him.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for martial arts violence and for some language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Korean

Release Date:

15 March 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Arma Perfeita

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$14,061,361

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min (edited)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo (4 channels)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Although the film has the 18 rating in the UK and the R18 rating in New Zealand. In Australia, the film is rated M.

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Goofs

when Jeff's fighting in the warehouse, he beats up about six people. One of them has a red bandanna on, which gets knocked off. In the next frame, the bandanna is back on the guy's head.

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Quotes

Jimmy: Hey Terminator... I don't know where you came from, but you better go back.

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Crazy Credits

Before the credits there is the following line: 'This film is dedicated to Ed Parker and the spirit of Kenpo.'

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Alternate Versions

TV versions airing on TBS have two additional scenes in which Jennifer (Mariska Hargitay) has lines: one after Kim's funeral, in which she and Jeff catch up; and the other some days later, in which Jennifer and Jeff share a kiss before ninjas attack the two at the garden where she works. Theatrical and video versions have edited out any romance between Jennifer and Jeff in the story.

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Connections

Referenced in Remo, Rambo, Reagan and Reds: The Eighties Action Movie Explosion (2014)

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Soundtracks

Asian Ceremony
Written by Jim Jacobsen

User Reviews

Jeff Speakman's first and best

Where can I learn to fight like that? This movie is fantastic. The fight scenes are choreographed perfectly and make Speakman out to be a good fighter, but not invincible(he does get hit a few times, quite nastily I might add). This is much better than a Steven Seagal film where he never suffers one blow from the bad guys. The way Speakman moves is breathtaking. Its almost hard to believe that what he's doing is actually a martial art. But it is. And he does it so well.

The plot in this movie is simple: its just another revenge flick. This makes the movie easier to watch because you don't have to really watch the plot, just the action. Its rather disappointing that after this and Street Knight, speakman was reduced to doing low-budget films. He deserves another big budget movie like this. Fantastic action, fantastic martial arts choreography make this a 10/10 movie. If you haven't seen it yet you must WATCH IT NOW.