The Perfect Weapon

Rated R; Running time = 85

Yes I know this movie was originally made in 1991, but it was just released on Blu-ray a few weeks ago (this movie was so anticipated on blu-ray that the day it was released it immediately sold-out and was already back-ordered for 2 to 3 weeks) so of course it had to be added to the collection. Someday I have to write a blog or two about my dvd/blu-ray collection. But back to the movie.

The movie showcases Jeff Speakman, in his first starring role. Speakman is not much of an actor, but the dude can totally kick some ass when necessary. This movie ranks pretty consistently in most lists of top martial arts movies. It's usually in the top 5, it's in my top 2. The only one that beats it is Bruce Lee in Enter the Dragon.

Approximately 24 minutes into this movie is probably the best choreographed scene ever in a martial arts movie. It involves 4 would-be toughs trying to mug Speakman's character (who also is named Jeff, go figure they had to use his own name for his character, probably beat the hell out of calling him "hey you") and Jeff dispatches them so fast it leaves you wondering what happened. Did you miss something? Was it poor editing? Nope. It was just incredible choreography combined with a martial artist that is phenomenal. I must have watched this scene in slow motion at least 20 times and it is so awesome. He drops each one of the muggers in less than 5 or 6 seconds. I know this is a movie but holy roundhouse kick Batman! He knocks the last dude out before the first cat even hits the ground. Yes, it's staged but he still had to move that fast and it's not camera work. Jeff Speakman is a 6th degree black belt in Kenpo. Wow, this whole paragraph has been about one 5 second scene.

The movie also stars some other people, but who really cares? You can divide the other characters into 2 categories, those who got their butt handed to them by Speakman and those that didn't. Watch this movie and then watch it again. If you can do slo-mo on The scene, do it, it's so awesome. I may put it in and watch it again as soon as I finish typing this. If you like a good martial arts/action movie, then I know you'll like this one. If you don't like this type of movie, I'm sorry you're boring...just kidding.