| The Perfect Weapon | |
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| Directed by | Titus Paar |
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| Distributed by | Momentum Pictures |
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Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6 million |
| Box office | $15,436 [1] |
The Perfect Weapon is a 2016 American science fiction action film directed by Titus Paar and starring Steven Seagal.
In the near future, the world has become a totalitarian state under the control of the Director (Steven Seagal). When Condor (Johnny Messner), an elite assassin, fails to terminate his target, he finds himself on the run from the organization that employs him.
Condor is sent on a mission and fails due to his emotional instability and the Director has him go into a sleep state to fix him, but he escapes after learning he is going to be killed either way. It ends where Condor kills the Director, who is actually a robot copy, and the real Director comes out to plan his own attack against Condor as the screen goes dark.
The film was the first released by Firebrand and was financed by the Fyzz Facility and Boundless Pictures. Filming finished in November 2015. [2]
The director said he "really liked the backbone of" the film "the totalitarian state and hitmen in a scif-fi world" but he "really didn’t like the script." He agreed to do the film if he could rewrite the script and claims he rewrote every scene. "Added the old Japanese aspect and wanted it to be a homage to the things I liked as a kid, a homage to the 80-90s action era but at the same time create a complex story with some emotional scenes and character arcs." [3]
He says he "realized a serious film called The Perfect Weapon with Steven Seagal would never work or be taken seriously so it doesn’t take itself too seriously" and says he added the elements of rebellion towards the state and the complex love triangle with the female lead." [3]
Paar cast the film full of homages to the 80s and 90s such as Vernon Wells and Richard Tyson. He says his main influence was Blade Runner. [3]
Dolph Lundgren was going to play the lead role but that fell through and he was replaced by Johnny Messner. [3]
Steven Frederic Seagal is an American actor, producer, screenwriter, martial artist, and musician. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan where he became the first American to teach in an aikido dojo. He later moved to Los Angeles where he continued teaching aikido. In 1988, Seagal made his acting debut in Above the Law, which is regarded as the first American film to feature aikido in fight sequences.
Above the Law, also known as Nico: Above the Law, or simply Nico, is a 1988 American crime action thriller film co-written, co-produced and directed by Andrew Davis. It marked the film debut of Steven Seagal, who also produced the film alongside Davis, and stars Seagal alongside Pam Grier, Sharon Stone, Ron Dean and Henry Silva. Seagal plays Nico Toscani, an ex-CIA agent, an Aikido specialist and a Chicago policeman who discovers a conspiracy upon investigating the mysterious shipment of military explosives seized from a narcotics dealer.
Marked for Death is a 1990 American action film directed by Dwight H. Little. The film stars Steven Seagal as John Hatcher, a former DEA troubleshooter who returns to his Illinois hometown to find it taken over by a posse of vicious Jamaican drug dealers led by Screwface. Using a combination of fear and Obeah, a Jamaican syncretic religion of West African and Caribbean origin similar to Haitian vodou and Santería, Screwface attempts to control the drug trade in Lincoln Heights.
Hard to Kill is a 1990 American vigilante action-thriller film directed by Bruce Malmuth, starring Steven Seagal, Kelly LeBrock, William Sadler and Frederick Coffin. Seagal's second film after Above the Law, he portrays Mason Storm, a detective who falls into a coma after being shot during a home invasion that killed his wife. Reawakening seven years later, Storm embarks on a journey to avenge the death of his wife, and expose the corruption of Senator Vernon Trent, the man who ordered the murder of his family. The film was released on February 9, 1990, and grossed $75 million worldwide.
Under Siege is a 1992 action thriller film directed by Andrew Davis from a screenplay by J. F. Lawton. It stars Steven Seagal, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Busey, and Erika Eleniak. Seagal plays Casey Ryback, a former Navy SEAL, who must fend off a group of mercenaries after they commandeer the U.S. Navy battleship Missouri.
Out for Justice is a 1991 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by John Flynn and co-produced by and starring Steven Seagal as Gino Felino, a veteran police detective who sets out to avenge his partner Bobby's murder by killing Richie, the trigger-happy, drug-addicted mafioso culprit. The film was released theatrically on April 12, 1991.
On Deadly Ground is a 1994 American environmental action adventure film directed, co-produced by, and starring Steven Seagal, and co-starring Michael Caine, Joan Chen, John C. McGinley and R. Lee Ermey. As of 2024, it is Seagal's only directorial effort and features a minor appearance by Billy Bob Thornton in one of his early roles. Seagal plays Forrest Taft, an expert firefighter who chooses to fight back against the environmental destruction caused by his ruthless former employer (Caine). On Deadly Ground was theatrically released in the United States on February 18, 1994, by Warner Bros. It garnered negative reviews from critics and grossed $78.1 million worldwide on a $50 million production budget.
Under Siege 2: Dark Territory is a 1995 American action thriller film directed by Geoff Murphy, starring Steven Seagal as the ex-Navy SEAL, Casey Ryback. Set on board a train traveling through the Rocky Mountains from Denver to Los Angeles, it is the sequel to the 1992 film Under Siege also starring Seagal. The title refers to the railroading term that the subject train was travelling through dark territory, a section of railroad track that has no train signals and in which communications between train dispatchers and the railroad engineers were impossible.
The Glimmer Man is a 1996 American buddy-cop action comedy film directed by John Gray, written by Kevin Brodbin, and produced by Steven Seagal and Julius R. Nasso. Seagal and Keenen Ivory Wayans star as recently-partnered Los Angeles Police Department detectives Jack Cole and Jim Campbell, whose first case together – the pursuit of a serial killer who murders entire families – reveals connections to Cole's mysterious past. Bob Gunton, Brian Cox, and Michelle Johnson also star.
Fire Down Below is a 1997 American action film starring Steven Seagal and directed by Félix Enríquez Alcalá in his directorial debut. The film also includes cameos by country music performers Randy Travis, Mark Collie, Ed Bruce, Marty Stuart and Travis Tritt, and country-rocker and the Band member Levon Helm, as well as Kris Kristofferson in a supporting role. Steven Seagal plays Jack Taggert, an EPA agent who investigates a Kentucky mine and helps locals stand up for their rights. The film was released in the United States on September 5, 1997.
Submerged is a 2005 American action film directed by Anthony Hickox, who also wrote it with Paul de Souza and produced with Michael P. Flannigan, Daphne Lerner and David Varod. The film stars Steven Seagal, William Hope, Vinnie Jones and Christine Adams. The film was released on direct-to-DVD in the United States on May 31, 2005.
Michael Jai White is an American actor and martial artist. He is the first Black American to portray a major comic book superhero starring as Al Simmons, the protagonist in the 1997 film Spawn. White appeared as Marcus Williams in the Tyler Perry films Why Did I Get Married? (2007) and Why Did I Get Married Too? (2010), and starred as the character on the TBS/OWN comedy-drama television series Tyler Perry's For Better or Worse. White portrayed Jax Briggs in Mortal Kombat: Legacy and the Cyborg Seth in Universal Soldier: The Return, opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme. He portrayed boxer Mike Tyson in the 1995 HBO television film Tyson. He also played the title role in the blaxploitation parody film Black Dynamite (2009), as well as the animated series of the same name.
The Patriot is a 1998 American action thriller film directed by Dean Semler. Starring Steven Seagal, the film is loosely based on the novel The Last Canadian by William C. Heine. Seagal's first direct-to-video film, it features him as a local doctor and former immunologist who races against time to find a cure for an active viral outbreak, the origins of which trace back to a militia leader who injected himself with a deadly virus.
Smokin' Aces is a 2006 American action thriller film written and directed by Joe Carnahan. The film centers on the chase for Las Vegas magician turned mafia informant Buddy "Aces" Israel, on whom a one-million-dollar bounty is placed. The ensemble cast includes Ryan Reynolds, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Common, Andy García, Alicia Keys, Taraji P. Henson, Ray Liotta, Chris Pine, and Matthew Fox, all co-starring as the various individuals attempting to either capture, kill or protect Israel.
Attack Force is a 2006 American science fiction action thriller film directed by Michael Keusch, and also written and produced by Steven Seagal, who also stars in the film. The film co-stars Lisa Lovbrand and David Kennedy. The film was released on direct-to-DVD in the United States on December 5, 2006.
Maximum Conviction is a 2012 action thriller starring Steven Seagal and Steve Austin and directed by Keoni Waxman. The film follows a former black ops operative and his partner decommissioning an old prison, but are soon dealing with mercenaries going after two female prisoners.
Absolution is a 2015 English-language Romanian action thriller film directed by Keoni Waxman and starring Steven Seagal, Vinnie Jones, and Byron Mann. The film is a sequel to A Good Man, and is the sixth collaboration between Steven Seagal and director Waxman. The film also marks the third collaboration between Seagal and Jones, and between Seagal and Mann.
Code of Honor is a 2016 American action thriller film written, produced, edited, and directed by Michael Winnick. The film stars Steven Seagal and Craig Sheffer and was released to video on demand on May 6, 2016.
China Salesman, also known as Deadly Contract and Tribal Warfare, is a 2017 Chinese action film co-written and directed by Tan Bing. The film stars Li Dongxue and features Mike Tyson and Steven Seagal. It was released in China on 16 June 2017.
Beyond the Law is a 2019 American crime action film directed by James Cullen Bressack. It stars Steven Seagal, Johnny Messner, DMX, and Bill Cobbs. The film follows a former detective who vows to avenge his estranged son's death and eventually takes on the local mob.