Only the Strong, la loi du plus fort

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.

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.

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.

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

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.