Product Details

• Actors: Jeff Speakman, John Dye, Mariska Hargitay, James Hong, John Koyama
• Format: Color, Full Screen, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Paramount
• VHS Release Date: July 16, 1996
• Run Time: 85 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 630213014X
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,616 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #1 in	Video > Documentary > Military & War > Weapons & Warfare
  #6 in	Video > Action & Adventure > Martial Arts
  #19 in	Video > Special Interests > History

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars nearly a perfect martial arts movie too, March 10, 2007

By	dominion_ruler "Bryan" (Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews

Desperately needing and deserving a dvd release, The Perfect Weapon takes itself pretty seriously, and is one of the highest quality B movies I have seen. Jeff Speakmen is a rare martial arts gem, appearing in only a few films, with this arguably being his best. The cast is pretty good, combining several familiar faces from various martial arts films. The story is about justice/revenge, but unlike most martial arts films, it is explored with more intrigue. The action, though not very plentiful, is top notch. The Perfect Weapon is one of the only movies I know of that also shows off the beautiful martial art, Kenpo.

The movie begins with a beautiful introduction of Kenpo, showcased by Speakman to the song "I've got the power". Though a cheesy scene, it really is beautiful. Following this are some flashbacks to Jeff's (Jeff Speakman's charcater name) childhood and development of Kenpo skills. In the present, Jeff's mentor Kim Kwan, is murdered by the Korean mafia, and thus the journey to find the killer begins. Interesting enough, we get to see the killer, but not the man who ordered the kill until much later.

The action, again is superb, and if there was more of it I'd give this 5 stars. There are 2 fight scenes that really stick out. First is early on in a gym, where Jeff takes on 3 men at once, one being played by James Lew (also appeared in Balance of Power, American Ninja 5, and several other martial arts films). The scene lasts a few minutes, but is exceptionally well done. The last is the final fight of the movi. Jeff takes on the huge bodyguard "Tanaka". The fight lasts about 3 minutes, and unfortunately, doesn't show off too much skills since Tanaka is just too big for flashy martial arts. There is also a decent car chase scene in the movie, which is much better than most poorly executed chase scenes in B movies.

Overall, The Perfect Weapon is one of the best B movies ever made. Everything is on the money. Unlike most martial arts B movies, there is not an over-abundance of action. Though I do prefer that, this movie makes up for it with more of an effort in all the other areas.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The movie is C+, but contains GREAT American Kenpo ., January 11, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Austin,TX) - See all my reviews

Although the movie gets a C- in acting and plot, this movie delivers some AMAZING American Kenpo action sequences, and does a competent job explaining the philosophy of a Kenpo martial artist in the beginning. It's apparent that Mr. Speakman is a talented martial artist FIRST and actor second, but he clearly and skillfully demonstrates the accuracy,usefulness, speed, and power of Kenpo. I mean, come on, he's a man of action in this movie, not a man of words.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Martial Arts must-see, March 8, 1999

By A Customer

Jeff Speakman displays awesome speed in his fight scenes, indicative of the lightning-fast techniques used in Kenpo Karate. A tribute to this amazing and effective martial art as much as it is an action flick, Jeff's precise and powerful moves far outshine his acting abilities. The language used in this movie makes it (in my opinion) unsuitable for young children, but the action is stellar! The villains in this movie are a who's-who of recent martial arts movies, including actors who will be recognized from Mortal Kombat, Goldfinger, and Bloodsport II. Tanaka (Oddjob from Goldfinger) again plays an indestructable man-tank who smiles while shrugging off blows that would cripple any normal movie character. His martial techniques are more developed than in Goldfinger, but he is still portrayed as a lumbering monster. Tanaka is a highly-ranked practitioner of Judo in real life, and should be cast in roles which alow him to display his technique, rather than simply being a massive behemoth. Martial-arts megastar Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (I might be misspellng this), who most recently played Shang Tsung in Mortal Kombat, plays a minor role as a Korean thug who has a few good lines but was underused as a martial artist. If you are a fan of martial arts movies, this is definitely on your to-see list!