The Perfect Weapon (1991)

[Henry Swanson]

Lmfao!!!

 

[Doughbelly]

Nothing he did there would hurt in any way. When he did that little jump front kick, he forgot to actually throw the kick and really just jumped in the air a little. I mean, I did some kata as well in karate, but yeah.

Half those moves he does are grabs, joint locks and manipulations.

 

[Amerikuracana]

Half those moves he does are grabs, joint locks and manipulations.

Ahhh.. I think it's still correct.

 

[Henry Swanson]

Ahhh.. I think it's still correct.

Bro. You need to look at it from the dragon's side of the ring perspective.

 

[Guestx]

The movie was promoted hard, and he specifically was promoted hard as the next big thing.

I think this movie WAS promoted hard and I felt like it found an audience. Everyone remembers it.

But it seemed like after this movie came out, he just disappeared. His next film, Street Knight, arrived with no real fanfare and, in fact, I'm not sure that it even got a theatrical release.

I think one problem is that instead of making another proper martial arts film he immediately got pushed into more generic action movies. The Perfect Weapon felt relatively fresh and original at the time. Street Knight just feels like a pretty generic early 90s cop-action movie.

I think in the end, he just didn't have a great deal of charisma. He's a decent looking guy and in good shape, but there isn't too much of a screen presence.

I do think there's something to this. He's certainly no Van Damme, who pretty much oozed charisma from his pores in his prime.

 

[BisexualMMA]

James Lew vs Al Leong as the GOAT Asian "that guy" villain.

No respeck for George Kee Cheung?

 

[Henry Swanson]

No respeck for George Kee Cheung?

Dayum. Both he and James were Cheng Sings right?

 

[Henry Swanson]

Man I miss the 90's martial arts movies.

 

[Guestx]

Speakman had a pretty decent career. Top of tier 2 of American martial arts based actors. Better than Gary Daniels imo.

Say huh? What movie did he even do of note other than The Perfect Weapon?

I definitely think Daniels has had the better career. He's been in several fun films and he's still working, whereas Speakman seemingly retired from movies in 2006.

That rapid fire Kenpo shit was just made for film. All the cuts and takes were great at multiplying how much damage he was dealing out.

I wouldn't want every martial arts actor to start doing it, but Kenpo definitely stood out as being something different when this movie arrived.

 

[Guestx]

I remember watching this with my mom and dad, and she goes, "Damn, he's sexy."

Then my dad went off and ripped into how this was going to be another movie about how the white guy is better than all the Asian guys.

Then this scene happened:



Mom went on about this being sexiest martial arts movie ever. Dad quit watching it about this time.

Well that was a pretty awesome fight scene at least. . .

 

[DaleBoca]

Don't know what happened. He had the power and everything.

I remember doing katas when I was learning car ah tay. I remember when Terry Silver told Daniel LaRusso that Kata won't help him in a fight and showed him how to win a fight, break his nose, "A man can't see, he can't fight". Years ahead of his time that Terry Silver.

 

[Henry Swanson]

When he fights those

I remember doing katas when I was learning car ah tay. I remember when Terry Silver told Daniel LaRusso that Kata won't help him in a fight and showed him how to win a fight, break his nose, "A man can't see, he can't fight". Years ahead of his time that Terry Silver.

John Kreese was telling kids to sweep the leg way before that bro.

 

[DaleBoca]

When he fights those

John Kreese was telling kids to sweep the leg way before that bro.

Couple of certified bad asses.

 

[Henry Swanson]

Couple of certified bad asses.

That pony tail.

 

[Guestx]

Couple of certified bad asses.

Kreese-Silver-Barnes is the ultimate trio of Karate bad asses. No doubt.

Karate's Bad Boy Mike Barnes only lost because he fucked around too long and gave up too many points. No way Daniel beats him in a street fight.

 

[DaleBoca]

That pony tail.

You should read Terry Silver's bio. Fascinating character.

http://thekaratekid.wikia.com/wiki/Terry_Silver

 

[TheNinja]

His martial arts were fine, and his acting was quite flat and wooden, though still a bit better than, say, Michael Dudikoff. The movie was promoted hard, and he specifically was promoted hard as the next big thing. Perhaps more than Brian Bosworth in Stone Cold.
.

Now I KNOW you didn't just diss THE American Ninja did you?!?!

 

[EvilDDS]

@shadow_priest_x Did you know Speakman had a minor role in Lionheart? He was a security dude

I remember seeing this in the theatre and loved it. Remember there was a lot of infighting at the time with the rest of his contract between Disalle, Paramount and Canon. Don't know the exact details of it but it had something to do with lack of promotion afterwards. Plus as others have said, he didn't ooze charisma

Also, just battled throat cancer recently too. Seems like a good dude. Ed Parker passed away just before The Perfect Weapon was released which really hurt Speakman. This was Parker's movie to showcase Kenpo

 

[Amerikuracana]

Lmfao!!!

He's got the power.

 

[Amerikuracana]

I remember doing katas when I was learning car ah tay. I remember when Terry Silver told Daniel LaRusso that Kata won't help him in a fight and showed him how to win a fight, break his nose, "A man can't see, he can't fight". Years ahead of his time that Terry Silver.

I never understood how learning to actually fight was hurting daniel.