Deadly Outbreak

If you're in the mood for a silly 90s Die Hard rip-off that's chock-full of bad one-liners, inept gun fights, and mediocre kenpo karate, Deadly Outbreak is the film for you. Or at least a film you could watch if it happens to be on cable.

Jeff Speakman is probably best known for his first (and best) film, The Perfect Weapon. While it's not exactly a martial arts classic, it's a decent little film that showcases kenpo karate and had a fun cast and some good fights. After this meteoric rise to the heights of actually hitting theaters Jeff began a career of straight to video stinkers. Deadly Outbreak is probably one of his better straight to video movies, which isn't saying much.

Bitter ex-Pentagon Colonel Baron (Ron Silver) has recruited a gaggle of mercenaries to take a chemical weapons research facility hostage in Israel. The first country that comes to mind when demanding money in exchange for hostages, especially in the 90s, is Israel. Great plan. This is an American action movie though, so the Israeli army is going to need some help!

Thankfully there's one US Embassy guard—saddled with the unfortunate name Dutton Elvis Hatfield (Speakman)—on hand to kick some ass and try to make out with the bimbo-esque chemical weapons scientist Dr. Allie Levin (Rochelle Swanson). But can Dutton rescue the babe and kill all the bad guys in time to get to his weirdly androgyonous child's birthday party?

In addition to his mastery of kenpo karate (which some have referred to as bitch-slap fu) Dutton is a man of many terrible jokes. While saving Dr. Allie, he prefaces the inevitable groin-stomping he gives her would-be rapist with the quip "That's not practicing safe sex!" His opponents aren't much better. The snidely evil Colonel Baron spends a great deal of the movie referring to Dutton as "Hatrack" instead of "Hatfield". Dutton responds by telling Baron "Your party stinks! Not enough ice cream, too many clowns!"

The fight scenes range from poor to decent; they're not bad for a low-budget 90s straight to video flick.  Speakman is pretty good; the main problem is that he's not usually fighting anyone else who is all that talented. The end sequence in particular is a letdown. There are quite a few beatdowns, though, and Speakman fans will probably be happy with the movie in this department.

It's stupid stuff to be sure. There are lots of fights in warehouses with empty plastic containers, laughable gun battles, stupid henchman, bus chases, and Dutton manages to get damn near everyone killed. Still, if you have a hankering for some cheesy 90's action you may enjoy it. Speakman has (or had, at this point in his career) a certain amount of charm—although he can't act—and you may snicker at a couple of the one-liners despite yourself.