Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal may have had the action movie market cornered in the early ’90s, but true martial arts cinema fans know there was another guy worth watching: Jeff Speakman. A skilled Kenpo practitioner, Speakman was given the spotlight for only a couple of Hollywood theatrical ventures before moving into the straight-to-video world. His 1991 debut, The Perfect Weapon, remains his undisputed standout.
Now, after 20 years away from movies, Speakman is making his comeback with Lost Echoes, an upcoming thriller based on Joe R. Lansdale’s novel of the same name. The film will be directed by Chef Joe Gatto (yes, an actual chef), who is perhaps best known for his extreme scratch-cooking philosophy and his hit Pluto TV series From Scratch.
Lost Echoes follows Harry Wilkes, a young man who has a strange ability to see and hear crimes from the past. After struggling with alcohol, Harry meets Tad, a martial arts expert who helps him turn his life around and control his unusual gift. When an old friend asks Harry to look into her father’s mysterious death, he finds himself pulled into a dangerous mystery.
“After 20 years, I am returning to the motion picture world because of Lost Echoes. We go live on Kickstarter September 1st, so become a part of the solution and let’s make this happen,” Speakman said on his official Facebook account.
🔥 Footnote: Jeff Speakman had a fighting style that felt different from what Jean-Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal were doing at the time. Instead of flashy kicks or Seagal’s trademark aikido moves, Speakman relied on fast Kenpo combinations, hard hand strikes and quick, close-range movements. Looking back, the fight scenes in movies like The Perfect Weapon, Street Knight and The Expert were ahead of their time.
We’ll keep you updated on this project as we learn more. Until then, check out a personal message from Master Speakman regarding Lost Echoes (now on Kickstarter), followed by Trailers for some of his best-known movies below:
Great to be soon be seeing Jeff Speakman back in films,as the connection with Joe Lansdale(BUBBA HO-TEP) makes this soo-to-happen film project very promising.
This is great news… He is a great talent that due to politics we missed out on a great talent in the arts in the movies.. we still got the artist.. but not the actor side that could have been one of the top as an actor.. I hope to get to work out with Jeff some day… It would be a great honor…
Jeff Speakman is undoubtedly one of the best martial artists of my lifetime. His on-screen fight choreography was about the best and most realistic depiction of martial arts defensive techniques I have seen. It will be good to see him back making movies as I was very disappointed when he stopped making movies. The Perfect Weapon was, and remains, the perfect mix of drama, action, and martial arts that places it at the top of the martial arts film list for me.
Time for these old men to go to retirement homes and make room for the new female generation.
Scott Adkins’ interview with Jeff Speakman on The Art of Action was a great episode. I was never exactly a fan of Speakman, but learning more about him gave me a great appreciation for the guy.
It was interesting to learn how The Perfect Weapon was part of a 3 picture deal at Paramount before studio politics ruined everything. It was especially intriguing to learn that Jeff Speakman was originally going to star in Speed,.
The movie was being re-written so that the bus would stop every now and then for the character of Jack Traven to complete one of Howard Payne’s challenges throughout the city while Payne would send henchmen after Traven for him to fight off before he has to get back on the bus before the bomb is re-armed.
I can imagine that script being used today if the powers that be ever re-unite Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock for a proper Speed sequel.
Speakman is a great storyteller and has a good head on his shoulders, so it will be great to see what he brings to this new project.
Andrew, I recently watched that episode as well. It was my first time hearing about the whole Speed situation, too. Some really interesting insight into the Hollywood business. We only see the glitz and glamor, but behind the scenes, there’s probably more politics happening at producers’ desks than in your typical cubicle office job.