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Only the Strong

Play trailer Poster for Only the Strong PG-13 1993 1h 36m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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13% Tomatometer 15 Reviews 77% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Louis Stevens' (Mark Dacascos) service as a member of an elite military unit kept him out of the country for several years. Now that he's back home in Florida, he's dismayed at what's become of his old high school. He sees that drug dealers, dispatched by local overlord Silverio (Paco Christian Prieto), sell on school grounds with little fear of getting caught. A skilled martial artist, Louis is determined to end the drug peddling, but to do so he'll probably have to duke it out with Silverio.

Critics Reviews

View All (15) Critics Reviews
Steve Rhodes Chicago Tribune The cinematography is jarring and dizzying at times; the acting mediocre. Rated: 1/4 Jun 17, 2014 Full Review Brian Lowry Variety Only the simple-minded will find much to cheer in this martial arts actioner, which has the queasy feel of a movie slapped together by the marketing department. Mar 26, 2009 Full Review Brian Case Time Out A paean to the Brazilian martial art of capoeira harks back to those break-dancing quickies. Jan 26, 2006 Full Review Justin Brown Medium Popcorn Mark Dacascos did the work in this. Capoeira is not easy and I think the movie did a good job representing this fighting style. I greatly enjoyed this movie. Rated: 4/5 Feb 26, 2023 Full Review Brandon Collins Medium Popcorn This film is so out of control yet incredibly boring and uninteresting. The acting was either stiff as wood or absurdly over the top. Rated: 1/5 Feb 26, 2023 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins It wraps up neatly with a touch of silliness, but, ultimately, as an action-packed demonstration of capoeira, this film is wholly proficient. Rated: 6/10 Sep 21, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (320) audience reviews
Michael W This martial arts movie was great. Mark Dacascos, Stacey Travis, Geoffrey Lewis, Paco Christian Prieto, Richard Coca, Todd Susman, and the rest of the cast did a great job in this movie. The story of the movie was dramatic, inspirational, and intense. It's about teaching teenage juveniles something that can make them better people and give them the ability to defend themselves. If you haven't seen this movie yet, check it out sometime. It's a must see. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/10/24 Full Review Luke W As a kid, I owned the soundtrack and wanted to move to Brazil just to learn Capoeira. I can't wait until my kids are old enough to watch it with me. I still know every song and can recite most of the script word for word. Even to this day, when I need to make a U-turn, I say, "Make a u-turn!" in my best Jamaican accent, and my wife laughs every time. True fans will understand! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/12/24 Full Review Audience Member This martial arts crime drama from 1993 with bad acting, typical main character with a trouble childhood who visit his old town or neighborhood after coming from the army or reforms school to save the day with drug dealers, money laundering or even prostitution and order to change that you know he begins a monitor with teenagers and of course they start to better who they are and even begun better a people, They are three cons and three pros of this movie: first pros: 1) Great Score 2) Beautiful Location 3) Choreography Is surprisingly with the dance plus like they use it for kicking butt and cons: 1) Bad Acting 2) The Bad Guy seems more annoying then threatening in the whole movie. 3) Most of the teenagers you can see is obviously in their 20s but guess since works since they are seniors. All in all not a bad movie in the early 90s but am give a C- 👍🏽 definitely worth a watch at least once. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/16/24 Full Review Dappa D 187 meets Cobra Kai. Pretty bland but has an excellent soundtrack. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/30/23 Full Review Steve D Passable entertainment but not much more. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review RONALD M ¡La sexta de las mejores películas de mi vida! ¡La mejor película de Mark Dacascos! ¡La mejor aparición de Stacey Travis! :) Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/01/22 Full Review Read all reviews
Only the Strong

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Louis Stevens' (Mark Dacascos) service as a member of an elite military unit kept him out of the country for several years. Now that he's back home in Florida, he's dismayed at what's become of his old high school. He sees that drug dealers, dispatched by local overlord Silverio (Paco Christian Prieto), sell on school grounds with little fear of getting caught. A skilled martial artist, Louis is determined to end the drug peddling, but to do so he'll probably have to duke it out with Silverio.
Director
Sheldon Lettich
Producer
Samuel Hadida, Stuart Shapiro, Steven G. Menkin
Screenwriter
Sheldon Lettich, Luis Esteban
Production Co
Davis Films
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 30, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$2.9M
Runtime
1h 36m
Sound Mix
Surround, Stereo