If You Liked ‘Hard Target’, Watch ‘The Perfect Weapon’ -

If slow-motion roundhouse kicks, leather jackets, and brutal street justice are your flavour of action, then this pairing is pure 90s gold. You’ve got Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Hard Target—the swamp-soaked, slow-mo-filled masterpiece of mullets and mayhem. But if you’ve never watched Jeff Speakman’s The Perfect Weapon, you’re missing out on a no-nonsense martial arts cult classic that hits just as hard.

Hard Target (1993)

Let’s be honest—this one’s iconic.

Directed by John Woo, this was his American debut, and it shows. Doves, dual pistols, trench coats, and explosive, balletic violence.

Van Damme plays Chance Boudreaux, a down-on-his-luck drifter hired to track down a missing father, only to uncover a human hunting operation in the Louisiana bayou.

Cue: explosive arrows, Cajun wisdom, and more slow-motion roundhouse kicks than you can count.
It’s ridiculous. It’s glorious. It’s everything you want from 90s action.

The Perfect Weapon (1991)

Now step into Jeff Speakman’s world. A world of tight t-shirts, emotional baggage, and blistering Kenpo karate.

Speakman plays Jeff Sanders, a former street tough turned martial artist who returns home after years away—and finds himself pulled into a bloody war with the Korean mob.

This movie isn’t about gadgets or gunfights—it’s pure hand-to-hand combat, and Speakman is lightning fast.

The action is stripped-down, impactful, and beautifully brutal. Every move feels precise, real, and designed to hurt.

You won’t get any doves flying across the frame, but what you will get is one of the most underrated martial arts performances of the decade. Speakman was the real deal—and this was his moment.

Both films sit in that beautiful early-90s space where action was raw, physical, and character-driven.

Hard Target brought style and flair.

The Perfect Weapon brought speed, heart, and martial arts grit.

If you loved Van Damme facing off with henchmen in dark alleys, you’re going to eat up Speakman tearing through bad guys with nothing but speed and fury.

Seen The Perfect Weapon before? Or is this your first dive into Jeff Speakman’s world? Either way, now’s the time to revisit two underground classics that still pack a punch.

And hey—don’t underestimate Kenpo.