THE PERFECT WEAPON, Jeff Speakman (center), 1991, © Paramount
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Few things have made me smile as of late, but I must say that this certainly did when I turned my computer on and saw the news. Kino Lorber is set to unleash a 4K restoration release of Jeff Speakman’s classic Kenpo action-thriller The Perfect Weapon this summer! I don’t have to remind you how meaningful this movie is as it’s the one that finally made me enter a dojo and start training in the martial arts. This has culminated with over 30 years of practicing, teaching, running a school in the 90’s and 2000’s, running seminars across the country and more. To the average mainstream moviegoer, The Perfect Weapon is just a B level martial arts revenge thriller but to me and millions of action fans and Kenpo practitioners out there, this is a love letter to the art of Ed Parker Kenpo and the spirit of the system. Oh yeah…it’s also a glorious 90’s martial arts revenge thriller with Speakman in his prime executing the deadly and immersive moves of the style on countless thugs and goons.
According to Blu-ray.com, the new $K release will be sourced from the original negative of the film and come locked n loaded with special features delving into the film with including an interview with Speakman himself. Scroll below for the cover art and Intel specs below!
- EXCLUSIVE NEW 4K RESTORATION FROM THE ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGATIVE
- NEW Audio Commentary by Director Mark DiSalle and Action Film Historian Mike Leeder
- NEW Street Speed: Interview with Star Jeff Speakman (23:18)
- Deleted & Extended Scenes (9:01)
- Theatrical Trailer (2:00)
- Limited Edition O-Card Slipcase
- Optional English Subtitles
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 (Revenge of the Pink Panther), 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).
No Gun…No Knife…No Equal…Speakman demonstrated some of the most ferocious and brutal moves of Mr. Parker’s system on film and he continued to do so even in his lower budgeted DTV films he made after. This is the movie that started it all for me and I will forever be grateful to Mr. Speakman (who I did have a chance to meet) for inspiring me to the level that Chuck Norris did back in the 80’s.
Kino Lorber’s The Perfect Weapon will hit shelves on May 21st!!!
