|
Only the Strong (1993) 6.1
Ex-Special Forces soldier Louis Stevens returns to Miami to find his former high school overrun by drugs and violence. A master of the Brazilian martial art, capoeira, Stevens pledges to ... See full summary » Director:Sheldon Lettich |
| Watch Trailer 0Share... |
User Lists
Related lists from IMDb users
Share this Rating
Title: Only the Strong (1993)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
Learn more
People who liked this also liked...
Sanctuary
(1998)
Action
Director:
Tibor Takács
Stars:
Mark Dacascos,
Jaimz Woolvett,
Kylie Travis
Action
|
Thriller
Director:
Brad Bird
Stars:
Tom Cruise,
Paula Patton,
Simon Pegg
American Samurai
(1992)
Action
Director:
Sam Firstenberg
Stars:
David Bradley,
Mark Dacascos,
Valarie Trapp
China Strike Force
(2000)
Action
Director:
Stanley Tong
Stars:
Aaron Kwok,
Norika Fujiwara,
Leehom Wang
The Raid: Redemption
(2011)
Action
|
Crime
|
Thriller
Director:
Gareth Evans
Stars:
Iko Uwais,
Donny Alamsyah,
Ray Sahetapy
Wrath of the Titans
(2012)
Action
|
Adventure
|
Fantasy
Director:
Jonathan Liebesman
Stars:
Sam Worthington,
Liam Neeson,
Ralph Fiennes
Ong Bak 3
(2010)
Action
Directors:
Tony Jaa,
Panna Rittikrai
Stars:
Tony Jaa,
Primorata Dejudom,
Dan Chupong
Ong bak 2
(2008)
Action
Directors:
Tony Jaa,
Panna Rittikrai
Stars:
Tony Jaa,
Sarunyu Wongkrachang,
Sorapong Chatree
American Shaolin
(1992)
Action
Director:
Lucas Lowe
Stars:
Reese Madigan,
Trent Bushey,
Daniel Dae Kim
Edit
Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Mark Dacascos | ... | ||
| Stacey Travis | ... | ||
| Geoffrey Lewis | ... | ||
 |
Paco Christian Prieto | ... | |
| Todd Susman | ... |
Cochran
|
|
|
|
Jeffrey Anderson-Gunter | ... |
Philippe
|
| Richard Coca | ... | ||
|
|
Roman Cardwell | ... |
Shay
|
|
|
Ryan Bollman | ... |
Donovan
|
|
|
Christian Klemash | ... |
Eddie
|
|
|
John Fionte | ... |
Hector Cervantes
|
|
|
Joselito 'Amen' Santo | ... |
Javier
|
|
|
John Gregory Kasper | ... |
Coach Kasper
|
|
|
Phyllis Sukoff | ... |
Mrs. Esposito
|
| Antoni Corone | ... |
Green Beret Sergeant
|
|
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
Storyline
Ex-Special Forces soldier Louis Stevens returns to Miami to find his former high school overrun by drugs and violence. A master of the Brazilian martial art, capoeira, Stevens pledges to straighten out a dozen of the school's worst students by teaching them this demanding and highly-disciplined fighting style. Slowly, his program begins to work, giving the students new hope and purpose. But the local drug lord, himself a martial arts expert, vows to stop Stevens' positive influence. Now Stevens must fight to save his own life, as well as the lives of his rebellious young students. Written by Anthony Pereyra {hypersonic91@yahoo.com}
Taglines:
The ultimate martial art.Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
Edit
See more »
See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
27 August 1993 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Street Fighters See more »Filming Locations:
Miami, Florida, USABox Office
Budget:
$6,000,000 (estimated)Gross:
$3,273,588 (USA)Company Credits
Show detailed
company contact information
on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Dolby SRColor:
Color (Eastmancolor)Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1
Edit
[Stevens picks up his bag]
Louis Stevens: I like the beach - I will sleep on the beach.
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Stunt coordinator and fight choreographer for this movie was Frank Dux - the full-contact martial artist whose life was portrayed by Jean-Claude Van Damme in the movie Bloodsport. Moreover, Dux has a cameo appearance as one of the men fighting Louis Stevens in the car workshop. See more »Goofs
About mid-way through the film, during a training sequence between Louis and Shay as Mr. Carrigan walks into the firehouse, someone off camera shouts out, "Hey Mark!" See more »Quotes
Louis Stevens: All right, you wanna sleep on the bus, sleep on the bus.[Stevens picks up his bag]
Louis Stevens: I like the beach - I will sleep on the beach.
See more »
The real star of "Only the Strong" is the capoeira style of Brazilian martial arts (which is the pre-cursor of many break dancing moves) exhibited throughout the film. There are many movies that concentrate on wushu, taekwondo, karate, aikido, and many others styles from different parts of the world, but capoeira movies are far and few between, which makes "Only the Strong" that much more unique.
The story is nothing short of rehashed and predictable; a well meaning soldier (Mark Dacascos) with martial arts background from his previous station in Brazil, comes back to the U.S. and attempts to take charge of the rebellious, rival students in a troubled neighbourhood. He attempts to give them a focus in life with the art of capoeira, which combines martial arts, music and dancing, as well as stressing teamwork between the players/fighters. The troublesome students take a while to be won over by Decascos efforts, but eventually play along.
Things get complicated when it turns out that one of the students is the son of a Portuguese gangster, a capoeira maestre himself, that is the terror of the town, leading to some battles and a showdown between the ruthless criminal and his followers and the well meaning teacher.
The acting and the story is sub-par as mentioned previously, but this is , at the time of this writing, the only movie focusing on capoeira as a whole, and as such deserves a closer look by martial arts fans everywhere who are ready for something truly different.