The Perfect Weapon

This article is about the 1991 film. For the British TV series, see Perfect Weapon.

The Perfect Weapon
Directed by	Mark DiSalle
Produced by	Pierre David Mark DiSalle Line Producer: Marty Hornstein Executive Producer: Ralph Winter
Written by	David C. Wilson
Starring	Jeff Speakman John Dye Mako Mariska Hargitay Charles Kalani, Jr.
Music by	Gary Chang
Cinematography	Russell Carpenter
Editing by	Andrew Cohen Wayne Wahrman
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	April 25, 1991
Running time	87 min
Language	English
Budget	$10,000,000
Box office	$14,061,361

The Perfect Weapon is an action 1991 film starring Jeff Speakman. It tells the story of a young man, Jeff, who is trained in the martial art of Kenpo, and his fight against the Korean mafia families. Speakman was a student of and was advised closely by Ed Parker in the making of this film.

The film's taglines included "No gun. No knife. No equal." and "Just try him." and is the only well-known Hollywood depiction of Kenpo techniques on-screen. The hit 1990s song The Power by rap group Snap! is featured extensively in the movie's soundtrack.

Plot summary

Jeff Sanders (played by Jeff Speakman) leads a double-life: by day, he is a simple, unassuming construction worker, and by night, an expert Kenpo student and master of his craft.

When Jeff lost his mother as a young man, he became an outcast and frequently lashed out at his family and society in an attempt to assuage his anger. His father gained the idea from a mutual friend, Kim (played by Mako), to enroll Jeff in a Kenpo school to better manage his rage and feelings.

Jeff, now estranged from his family and living alone, continued with his courses in Kenpo and eventually gained Kim as a mentor and father figure.

Years later (as the movie begins) Jeff decides to return to his old neighborhood and visit his mentor Kim. It becomes clear quite quickly that Kim is having trouble with local mafia families, due to his refusal to pay them off and use his antique store to peddle drugs. Jeff tries to help out Kim, but only ends up doing more harm than good to Kim's reputation with the mafia, and this ultimately ends up having Kim murdered by an anonymous hit-man.

Jeff vows to avenge Kim's death, and uses all his resources and fighting skills to go against the mafia and find out who ordered Kim's murder.

As it happens, or to complicate matters more, his younger brother, played by John Dye (Touched By An Angel), is the cop who is investigating the murder.

Cast

• Jeff Speakman – Jeff
• John Dye – Adam
• Mako Iwamatsu – Kim
• James Hong – Yung
• Mariska Hargitay - Jennifer
• Dante Basco - Jimmy Ho
• Professor Toru Tanaka - Tanaka
• Seth Sakai - Master Lo

Reception

The movie had a mixed reception from critics.

Box office

The movie debuted at the box office at No.6 with a 3 day box-office take of $3.9 million and had a total domestic box office gross of $14,061,361.

External links

• The Perfect Weapon at the Internet Movie Database