Ajouter une intrigue dans votre langueStan Dryer, a teen afraid to even ask a girl to the prom, finds courage and extreme martial arts skill when he is given a ring by an old man he tried to save from a group of attackers. The r... Tout lireStan Dryer, a teen afraid to even ask a girl to the prom, finds courage and extreme martial arts skill when he is given a ring by an old man he tried to save from a group of attackers. The ring is a mate to a ring stolen by a double-dealing art thief who had been hired to steal i... Tout lireStan Dryer, a teen afraid to even ask a girl to the prom, finds courage and extreme martial arts skill when he is given a ring by an old man he tried to save from a group of attackers. The ring is a mate to a ring stolen by a double-dealing art thief who had been hired to steal it by a criminal mastermind who wanted it for its mystical powers.
- Réalisation
- Scénario
- Casting principal
- Sandy Applegate
- (as Tracy Lindsey)
- Drunk Surfer #1
- (as Joe Hart)
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It teaches you not to think of yourself a failure all the time but to put in what you've got. To be able to show others I CAN DO IT.
Stan Dryer (Ted Jan Roberts) is an average teenager who's having trouble making the grade in school, gets beaten up by the bullies on the school's football team (despite the fact that Stan is taking lessons in Karate and is not very good at it), and is being urged by his best friend Eric Graves (Keith Coogan) to ask pretty popular girl Sandy Applegate (Tracy Melchoir) out to prom - but he's too scared to do so. In other words, he lacks any sense of self-confidence.
To top it off, one day, Stan manages to save the elderly martial arts master, Master Yung (Gerald Okamura), from thugs. Master Yung dies not long after the struggle, but not before having passed the mysterious and mystical Ring of Power onto Stan, who now finds himself in possession of incredible strength and martial arts skills. It turns out that the Ring of Power is actually the SECOND of two Rings of Power, the other belonging to Raymond Vonn (William Zabka, of "The Karate Kid"), an art thief and master criminal, who now wants both rings for himself.
"The Power Within" is very much a "B" movie for teenagers with some after-school special trappings, though it's not one without a good message about believing in yourself and your abilities. The acting is a mixed bag; Ted Jan Roberts, a kiddie actor known for his martial arts skills in Tae Kwon Do, is easily identifiable as the Everyman that the audience can latch onto, even if his performance is a little bit hammy at times. William Zabka is by far the film's strongest performer, even if he comes off as nothing more than just a standard movie bad guy (which is not too far removed from the violent teenage black belt he played in "The Karate Kid").
6/10
P.S.: International Kickboxing legend Don "The Dragon" Wilson makes an inspiring walk-on cameo as himself...
The story: When one of two ancient, magic rings comes into the possession of a timid high schooler (Roberts), he acquires not only impressive new abilities but also an adversary in a dangerous thief seeking the ring (William Zabka).
The screenplay by PM Entertainment regular Joe Hart is a bit problematic. I don't think it's very effective in getting its point across. The lesson it imparts is that you ought to fulfill your potential, something which Ted's character eventually learns he can do even without magic jewelry, but the setups used to illustrate this are unrealistic and unfair. Prior to acquiring the ring, Ted gets chastised by everyone from his martial arts instructor (Michael DePasquale) to his little brother (the kid from EVENING SHADE) for getting beaten up by no less than five bullies, and after he gets the ring, a teacher challenges him with ridiculously complex history questions as though purposely trying to make him fail. Later he's arrested for beating up a load of goons in self-defense. Lighten up, folks!
Gerald Okamura, the wise old man Ted receives his ring from, plays a pretty strange character who introduces the inexplicable magical feats seen in the movie (e.g. teleporting, projecting visions, shooting explosive lightning), but I don't mind him since he delivers what might be the best fight scene of the movie, using smooth kung fu to take on a group of thugs. This is one of the few fights unmarred by unnecessary editing, which hurts the remaining six brawls to varying degrees. They're still watchable, especially the one wherein Ted gets back at the aforementioned bullies, but disappointingly, the worst fight is also the most important one: the final showdown between Ted and William Zabka. Zabka's fun to watch throughout the movie, with his crazy sunglasses and English accent, and by all means it should be intriguing to see him antagonize another karate kid, but it's all for naught when their only battle is a short, one-sided little thing that takes place in front of an unconvincing backdrop. I've definitely seen better.
Not unlike Roberts' previous MAGIC KID, a good portion of the film takes place in and acts as a pseudo-advertisement for the Universal Studios theme park, which is fun in a campy and corny way. Karen Valentine is interesting as Ted's on screen mother, and there's a lot of enjoyable weirdness throughout the film, like the unexplained presence of a chimpanzee in Gerald Okamura's house and Ted's inexplicable ninja dream. However, it's not crazy enough to be great on that leg alone, and as a fantasy/martial arts flick it doesn't deliver entirely either. If this sounds like your kind of thing, go for it, but I've seen better from the boy action hero.
Roberts' mother, actress Karen Valentine (as Clyda) worries that her son might be a wimp, but worries more when he is given the other ring of power, which is formerly worn by his mystical guardian angel, Gerald Okamura (as Yung). Wearing the ring, Roberts becomes a martial arts master, and gets his girl. But, he must also battle Mr. Zabka, who wants both rings of power. Nice to see "Griffith Observatory", Roberts as a smaller guy with a killer kick, and Ms. Valentine aka "Pigtail Peggy" - or was it "Alice Johnson"?
***** The Power Within (10/24/95) Art Camacho ~ Ted Jan Roberts, William Zabka , Karen Valentine, Keith Coogan
Le saviez-vous
- AnecdotesWhen Stan, played by Ted Jan Roberts, returns from the beach, Deke and their mother are watching Magic Kid (1993), which Ted Jan Roberts also appeared in.
- Crédits fousDedicated to "HE WHO DESTINES ALL THINGS"
- ConnexionsFeatures Magic Kid (1993)
- Bandes originalesNO ONE'S ROCKIN'
Written by Jim Halfpenny
Performed by Vicky and the Virgins
Strong Domino Music BMI
Meilleurs choix
Détails
- Date de sortie
- Pays d’origine
- Langue
- Aussi connu sous le nom de
- Le pouvoir de vaincre
- Lieux de tournage
- Société de production
- Voir plus de crédits d'entreprise sur IMDbPro