This is one of those films you can't help enjoying. It's light, fun, undemanding, and an absolute joy to watch. It might not be a gritty urban drama that deals sensitively with youth and alienation in high school, but then neither was "Heathers".

Cinema primarily exists to entertain, and "Only The Strong" does this in spades. Dacascos is the most graceful, watchable martial arts star since Brandon Lee, with an easy charisma that really comes across in a film like this and also the brilliant "Drive". The rest of the cast perform quite nicely as well. The plot and characterisation are admittedly 2-D, but what the hell, it's a 100% schmaltz-free feelgood movie.

Two of my friends actually took up Capoeira after watching this film. How's that for life-changing?

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.

ONLY THE STRONG

Aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Sound format: Dolby Stereo SR

A former Green Beret (Mark Dacascos) is employed by his local high school to rehabilitate some of its worst students by teaching them the art of capoeira (a form of martial arts from Brazil, using dance-like moves). But his work brings him into conflict with a local drug lord (Paco Christian Prieto), whose operations are threatened by Dacascos' interference...

Predictable B-movie, elevated above the routine by virtue of its slick presentation and interesting cast (including Geoffrey Lewis), under the assured direction of Sheldon Lettich (DOUBLE IMPACT). The capoeira sequences are exotic and colorful, which blunts the impact of some pretty heavy fight scenes, and the script is alternately naive and obvious. However, the virtues are considerable: Ultra-buff Dacascos flaunts his pumped-up torso through a variety of tight-fitting vests (drool! slobber!), while ultra-cute Stacey Travis (the romantic interest) hovers around the periphery just long enough to temper the film's relentless macho swagger. Good, catchy music score, too.

I thought Only the Strong was a great movie. I would love to learn the martial art. I thought that Ryan Bollman, as well as the rest of the cast, was wonderful. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a good movie. I loved this movie, and am currently trying to find it on video.

A young ex-military man returns to former high school to find it in moral shambles. He gets an idea to try to help out a few of the worst behaved students in the school from his former teacher and mentor. It was rough going to get them involved in the program especially since the criminal family members of the kids were reluctant to let them go. Fights over that ensue But in the end good over evil wins!!!!!!!! I loved it. Especially being a mother myself I loved the storyline!

If you are looking for a plot or a great cinematic feature, you may be disappointed. However, if you want to see some great Capoera (brazilian style) fighting, this is for you. This relatively unknown art is exciting and explosive, with many flips and tumbles along with strikes used to incapacitate your opponent. I am a fan of the Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee movies, but this type of martial art has found a place in my heart. The movie is a great good guy overcomes insurmountable odds to come out on top. Very entertaining.

An exciting feel-good actioner from the director of Double Impact that demands very little from its audience other than the odd cry of adulation at the spectacular, slow-mo'-induced action scenes set before us. Capoeira, the rhythm-based Brazilian martial art / dance, is the movie's chosen subject, and its saving grace: flamboyant and effortlessly acrobatic, accurately pulled off by a cast of the style's best practitioners. Dacascos masters the art while stationed in Brazil working as a Green Beret, and returns to his old school in Miami to find the classes out of control, made up of petty criminals and drug dealers. He is chosen to teach these crazy kids some discipline (by means of Capoeira), and they seem to become pretty good at it. Prieto provides the beefcake villain element as a Brazilian master-criminal determined to sway one of our hero's prime students. All in all, this is an entertaining watch, a perfect showcase for Dacascos.

You know whats going to happen to all the "bad" students as soon as you see them. But, this is still a very good movie. The style used is really amazing and fun to watch. The fights scenes are very good. Why this movie wasn't a big hit, I'll never know. It should have made Mark Dacascos a star.

I really enjoy this movie and have shown it to most of my friends. Most of my friends and I gave it an eight out of ten and some even higher. I think that the capoeira scenes are great, plus it has good music, but the story and characters could've been presented a little better. If you like martial arts movies and don't care too much about character development, you'll probably like this movie.

I think that the movie is awesome!!!!!!! It displays great skills as well as potential and understanding. In the movie...Luis Stevens ( Mark Dacascos ) teaches the guys,not only martial arts,but compassion and understanding towards each other. They are great actors who really fit the parts that were required......actors who really brought the characters to life. Just a few actors...i think,who did a great job and are worth mentioning....... Richard Coca,Mark Dacascos,Paco Christian Prieto,Ryan Bollman,Stacey Travis,Mark Cardwell.The others,although they are not mentioned.....have done a great job also. All in all........'Only The Strong'.......in my opinion is an action packed......thriller movie.It's a must see.I rate it 10.

First off, the capoiera scenes in the movie are amazing! Capoiera is the Brazilian martial art designed to allow one to fight while in chains ergo the cartwheels and acrobatics. The music is a lot of fun too and the soundtrack is a lot of fun!

However, this is one of the worst offenders of movies that have thirty year old high school students - er - actors in their late 20s playing 16 year olds. The main character does a Michelle Pfeiffer-esque dangerous minds revolution in what is supposed to be the worst high school in LA by taking a group of the "worst" students and teaching them martial arts. Well these "worst" students actually just seem like wise cracking slackers and not all that bad. Many are just quiet and look bored. The bad guys in the movie are also capoiera experts. Who'd have thought there'd be a Brazilian capoiera gang right there in Los Angeles? Okay the movie is utterly unbelievable but the funnest thing about this movie is the blatantly thick overtones of homo-eroticism. Seriously it's just a crack up seeing these guys trying to act all macho while doing these martial arts. Perhaps it's bad acting combined with excess testosterone but it's a hoot to behold! Very much a party movie for your gay friends!

Saw this movie and was very intrigued by it..Had it for a few years and still watch it..My daughter is learning the dance through the movie as a protection for her and enjoys the dance moves as well..We're from Hawaii also and I think Mark is a great actor..One of my all time favorite movies..Much Aloha to all!!

Cyndi

This movie is simply quite incredible. The acting and dialog run on the cheesy side, and some of the fight choreography needs work, but just consider this a full length Capoeira advertisement. There is no denying the beauty and allure of this African cum Brazilian martial art. My only regret is that the producers saw a need to speed up some of the Capoeira play, as though it weren't impressive enough to stand on its own.

Plot and acting aside, the only real flaw with the movie is that the entire movie, they use a fairly accurate Capoeira fighting style with legs being the predominant weapons, but in the second half of the final fight scene, the fighting style completely shifts to a more street style involving only elbows and fists. While Rio style Capoeira incorporates these as a regular part of the style, it just doesn't fit in the movie at this point.

If you haven't seen this movie, rent it, then go find a Brazilian restaurant and watch a Capoeira/Samba/Lambada show. Then find a Capoeira mestre and start learning.

I'm 25 years old and when this flick came out I was only 13. Without exaggerating, I must have seen it in the theater between 10 and 15 times. Watching it not only entertains you, but it gives a glimpse of what life was like and was going on in the early to mid '90s. From the gang element, the drugs and the music that was popular at the time... Some of these things we still see or hear quite often (the Mazda commercial uses the song "Zoom Zoom Zoom (The Capoera Song)"). It also explores a "martial art" that was little known, since Capoeira is actually more closely related to a dance, than a fighting style (made popular in the U.S. in the fighting game "Tekken 2" and Tekken 3"). Aside from the fact that some of the actors needed a few more acting lessons, I think it was a very good movie and would (and do) recommend it whole-heartedly.

this flick is the type of movie that is timeless and will continue to inspire many generations of martial art's movie fans like myself to explore and venture into new territory.this hit of a flick does just that as it intrigues jackie chan,jet li,vann damme,steven seagal and don the dragon wilson fans like myself.

i've ventured into alot of different style exploitations and this one(capoeira)definetely has my respect for it's grace,athleticism,finesse,and most of all it's upbeat enthusiasm.i can hardly believe that myself,a longtime practitioner and martial arts movie buff first saw this flick on hbo in 1996 and was'nt particularly enthralled by it back then,but guess what?i really decided to watch it(the whole thing and not just in bits and parts while i was doing other stuff on the side,like cooking and reading like i apparently did back in 1996.like i said,this time i gave it a chance and i really became enthralled, fascinated and rejuvenated from watching this very underrated breakthrough masterpiece of a martial arts classic that it obviously deserves to be.

in other words,and putting it rather bluntly and frankly,check this flick out,please.give it the chance it deserves.you won't be disappointed.the only thing that disappoints me is that they haven't made a sequel for it yet and it's been out for 9 years.how freaky is that?

my rating?definetely a strong 8.5.the music video is really cool too.

Once again Marc is given crap material and is the only redeeming feature of this movie, along with the fight scenes. It is one of the few films to portray the lesser known (meaning no disrespect to it of course) Brazillian martial art of Capoeira. If it wasn't for the pathetic supporting cast and storyline this could've been great.

I think it's a great movie.It displays great martial arts skills as well as potential and understanding. In the movie....Luis Stevens (Mark Dacascos) teaches the guys,not only martial arts but compassion and understanding to one another. All of the members of the cast are great actorsactresses with great talent. I would just like to mention a few whom I think deserve a great deal of credit.....Richard Coca,Mark Dacascos,Paco Christian Prieto,Ryan Bollman,Roman Cardwell,Stacey Travis. They all fit the desired parts.They really brought the characters to life.Especially Richard Coca...who played a character with an attitude but who later learned the concept of compassion. It's a thriller movie.It's a must see.I rate it 10

This is one of the best movies of all time!!! I gave it 10 stars!! The cast is incredible!!!!!! Ryan Bollman and Mark Dacascos are remarkable!!!!! The stunts are terrific!!!!!! I love the way Ryan portrays Donovan! He gets into the role so well!!! This is a must see movie!

This is one of my all time favorite movies here! I must say these are the greatest action sequences I've ever seen, the fighting style is original in the movie arena and is portrayed exceptionally well. What the film lacks in depth, it more than makes up for in intensity. The first and last capoeira scenes are guaranteed to get any viewer quite hyped up! An overall enjoyable movie.

I being a Capoeirist myself I had to watch this movie as soon as I heard about it. Although I had my doubts about the movie the fighting turned out to be great. The plot wasn't too bad but it wasn't too great either. The acting was average but that is true to many Martial Art films. This was however one of the best £6.49 I ever spent at HMV.

So this was not a multi-million dollar movie. The parts were played well,the actors/esses were sincere in their parts. If you like martial arts movies and movies that are inspiring,this is a good choice. Peace!!

This movie was my introduction to Capoeira. The scenes where the capoeristas are in the mandinga facing off were really fun to watch. It's a good way to kill a Saturday afternoon, this was a fun one

not too bad

The acting levels are not high and the film looks like it was shot on a hamstring in Miami locations. Still Only The Strong has a good bit of entertainment going with it. Martial Arts film fans should be happy with it.

Geoffrey Lewis quite unofficially brings in former Special Forces captain Mark Dascascos for a karate program for some of his biggest challenges at an urban Miami high school he teaches at. Among those kids is Richard Coca, cousin of the neighborhood gang leader Paco Christian Prieto.

Though film isn't exactly Citizen Kane, Prieto is such a menacing presence you will remember him long after the rest of the film. Especially next to white bread hero Mark Dascascos.

Prieto doesn't like anyone telling the kids there's an alternative other than gang war for them. Especially when it involves Coca. Then it becomes downright personal.

Martial Arts film fans will love Only The Strong and others will be entertained.

During the late 80's, early 90's a martial arts craze was happening in films, bringing us such films stars as Steven Seagal and Jean Claude Van Damme. When one of the lessor known straight-to-video stars, Mark Dacascos entered the game, he brought us something out of the box with this film which features the Brazilian fighting style, Capoeira. I love this movie so much it's one of my favorites, despite the fact that it does not really withstand the test of time.

Though the message of a Teacher from the hood coming back to his hood to teach the worst kids in his old school how to respect themselves so it will influence them to not let the streets consume them is timeless, the delivery of this message could not be more early 90's.

The acting was straight out of an after school special, and it feels like whoever wrote this movie was watching MTV while he did it, more concern with coming off cool rather than being actuate. Sure in the 90's this would all be more acceptable, but now it just seems cheesy in campy.

However, all this is does not matter, because in the heart of this flick it's a martial arts film, and this they got right. This movie made me obsessed with Capoeira for the next few years and even thought from this obsession I learned that the filmmakers took liberties with the fighting style, that does not matter, because the movie version of Capoeira makes this one of the best Martial art films made.

Watching Mark teach these kids how awesome Capoeira is, puts a smile on my face every time,and watching him use the fighting style for both self-defense and aggressively was just so cool. The filmmakers used low camera angles to really express the high flying kicks and flips. It was just mesmerizing and worth watching.

It does not have the same legs as the Karate kid has but using Capoeira gives this movie an originality that most other Martial arts films don't have.