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 ...
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Title: Only the Strong (1993)
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Mark Dacascos | ... | Louis Stevens | |
| Stacey Travis | ... | Dianna | |
| Geoffrey Lewis | ... | Kerrigan | |
| Paco Christian Prieto | ... | Silverio | |
| Todd Susman | ... | Cochran | |
| Jeffrey Anderson-Gunter | ... | Philippe (Jamaican Gang Leader) (as Jeffrey Anderson Gunter) | |
| Richard Coca | ... | Orlando | |
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Roman Cardwell | ... | Shay |
| Ryan Bollman | ... | Donovan | |
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Christian Klemash | ... | Eddie |
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John Fionte | ... | Cervantes |
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Joselito 'Amen' Santo | ... | Javier |
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John Gregory Kasper | ... | Coach Kasper |
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Phyllis Sukoff | ... | Mrs. Esposito |
| Antoni Corone | ... | Green Beret Sergeant | |
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Plot Summary
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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}
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The ultimate martial art.Parents Guide:
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Did You Know?
Trivia
Director Sheldon Lettich was not satisfied with the movie's fight content, claiming years later in Put Up Your Dux (2010) that fight choreographer Frank Dux did not deliver as creative of martial arts scenes as he had conceptualized. See more »Goofs
Donovan says he ran Louis' cassette tape through a midi setup. A cassette tape is an isolated prerecorded audio track which cannot be modified through a midi setup, not the way Donovan is describing. See more »Quotes
Louis Stevens: I've got major news for you. The world can be as big as you want it to be, or as small as your tiny little hood.See more »
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Details
Release Date:
27 August 1993 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
Only the Strong See more »Filming Locations:
Miami, Florida, USAEdit
Box Office
Budget:
$6,000,000 (estimated)Opening Weekend USA:
$1,286,889, 29 August 1993Gross USA:
$3,283,371Cumulative Worldwide Gross:
$3,283,371Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Dolby SRColor:
Color (Eastmancolor)Aspect Ratio:
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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.