Arma Proibida

In a small Arizona town, 15 year old Zeke Robinson (Rodney Eastman) is a target of casual abuse from educators, bullies, and his abusive stepfather who often escapes into fantasies of being an extraterrestrial waiting for the mothership to return. Near the river, Zeke finds a crate that has gone missing from a U. S. Army transport and inside is a special backpack worn laser pistol that he takes home. After his stepfather flies into a drunken rage and kills Zeke's dog, Zeke in turn kills his stepfather and he embarks aimlessly around town intimidating those who bullied him as the military closes in seeking retrieval of the weapon.

Deadly Weapon is a 1989 direct-to-video sci-fi film from producer Charles Band and written and directed by Michael Miner. Band had initially intended to make a sequel to the 1978 film Laserblast, but when the budget requirements proved unfeasible the idea was reworked into a standalone film. Miner wanted to make a more psychological film taking inspiration from Terrence Malick's Badlands in terms of thematic content with the aesthetic approach of WarGames. While Deadly Weapon doesn't iron out all the kinks of its premise, it's a much more successful execution of the concept that Laserblast tried and failed to do ten years prior.

With Deadly Weapon, the film has two strong assets at play in that it has a much more structured script and a much more appropriately cast actor. While Laserblast was often very confusing in its establishment of characters with Billy Duncan not really projecting the "outsider pushed too far" the filmmakers tried and failed to do, Rodney Eastman feels like much more appropriate casting and coupled with his voiceover narration and the vivid fantasy sequences he has of "the mothership" it makes him much more of an unreliable narrator and makes us question as to whether any of this is actually playing out as we're seeing or if it's just a vivid delusion of someone whose finally snapped. In many ways you can see Deadly Weapon is attempting something that's as multilayer and satirical as RoboCop, and while it doesn't quite reach that point it has more effort than you typically associate with this kind of production.

Deadly Weapon is honestly a pretty decent film considering it originated as a sequel to the not very good Laserblast. If you can find a convenient way of watching it's well worth checking out.

I thought this movie was pretty good . The movie had a weird plot but the overall message or theme was good . You would just have to be opened minded.If your the type that you have to follow the usual movie guidelines were every thing is perfect then this is not the movie for you . If your the type who likes watching movies with a fantasy and real life, type angle then this movie is for you . It gets you guessing and like reading a book you can only be intrigued and relate to the character .

My review was written in July 1989 after watching the movie on TWE video cassette.

"Deadly Weapon" is a failed attempt at a high-concept picture from Charles Band's late fantasy factory, Empire PIctures. Story of a bullied youngster who goes high-tech for revenge went unreleased, inherited, as a video, by TWE.

Debuting helmer Michael Miner exhibits technical skill but does not establish a consistent tone for this mishmash. Rodney Eastman is Zeke, a 15-year-old in the small town of King Bee, Arizona, who thinks he's a visitor from Outer Space, waiting for the Mother Ship to come for him. He finds an anti-matter pistol belonging to the army, lost in a train wreck nearby.

Zeke proceeds to blast his enemies (including his mean daddy) with the formidable revolver and comically rounds up the town preacher, sheriff and mayor, locking them up in the car trunk as he goes joyriding in the thrill-seeking Kim Walker's pink Cadillac convertible.

While the army mobilizes to carefully put Zeke out of commission (the gun's power source can explode like a 200-kiloton bomb), pic turns maudlin en route to a tragic finish.

Eastman displays convincing angst in the central role, with Walker, a beautiful blonde who was one of the "Heathers" in the recent New World release, making a solid impression in an underwritten part. Special effects and other the credits are fine.

Deadly Weapon (1989) was another one of those badly made and low budgeted sci-fi films that came out during the mid to late 80's. This one actually had some promise but it was squandered after the first ten minutes. If you have a limited budget and a cast of small time actors at least direct the movie with some flair and have a decent script. Sadly this retread of Laserblast never gets off the ground. The film started out okay but it never went anywhere. The only thing cool about this movie was the video cover. If they spent as much time on the movie as they did on the cover, they could've had something instead of nothing.

Too bad...

Not recommended.

D+

Like many other people, I only bought this movie because Joey (Rodney Eastman) of A Nightmare On Elm Street Part's 3 and 4 was the lead in it. And, erm....It totally sucks!! Occasionally you can get some pretty good "b" movies, but its movies like this wich make all "b" movies look crap.

Lets start of with "the gun". What the hell was its cable lead made out of? Tin foil??! It was extreamly fake looking and looked like a rejected quazer lazer gun.

And the acting was terrible! I'm sorry Rodney fans, but this movie is deffanitly made for you. There is no other reason to watch it unless you like Rod. Its very badly written. I wish I didn't buy this junk! Whoa, really. If Rods reading this (hmmm, a bit unlikeley) but I'm sorry man, the movie bites. And youve been in way better.

DO NOT EVEN RENT THIS MOVIE