20 Reasons Why You Rock: Only the Strong
Only the Strong, starring Mark Dacascos, was not a box office or critical success when it was first released back on August 27, 1993. But I have honestly never met anyone who has seen the movie that has a bad thing to say about it.
You definitely won’t hear me say a bad thing about it… in fact I am about to hit you with 20 great things about Only the Strong, a movie near the top of my special edition Blu-ray wish list and movie that absolutely rocks…
#1. Only the Strong was Mark Dacascos’ coming out party as a leading man and from where I sit Mark knocked it out of the park. Mark’s good looks, personality, martial arts skills and overall athleticism all worked to his advantage and made Mark’s character, Louis Stevens, someone that was easy for the audience to get behind.
#2. Only the Strong was written and directed by Sheldon Lettich, who by the time 1993 rolled around already had an impressive action resume with writing credits for Rambo III and Bloodsport and writing/directing credits for Lionheart and Double Impact. There’s no substitute for experience and Lettich’s involvement gave Only the Strong a huge boost for a movie starring a first time leading man.
#3. While 1989’s Rooftops, starring Jason Gedrick of Iron Eagle fame, may technically be the first Hollywood movie to feature the fighting art of capoeira… Only the Strong will always be the movie synonymous with capoeira since it was the very heart and soul of the movie. There’s not many action films that can boast that they broadened action fans’ horizons and opened their eyes to an entirely different culture, but Only the Strong can.
#4. A big part of capoeira is the ginga and you can’t really ginga without the music. The Only the Strong soundtrack is absolutely intoxicating, especially the track “Paranauê”. There’s no way you can watch the movie and not have ‘Paranauê” stuck in your head for at least 48 hours. I would go so far as to say that Only the Strong is a contender for Best Action Movie Soundtrack of the 1990s and quite possibly of all-time.
#5. Only the Strong set itself apart from its martial arts movie contemporaries by incorporating a trope that was becoming popular thanks to movies like Lean on Me and The Principal… the troubled public high school that needed to be cleaned up. There’s even a little Walking Tall vibe thrown in, as Louis returns to a home that’s not quite the same as when he left it.
#6. Geoffrey Lewis is one of those actors that makes anything he is in better and Only the Strong was no exception. Lewis plays Mr. Kerrigan, a teacher who saw something in Louis when he was a student at Lincoln High and became a mentor to Louis. Now, Mr. Kerrigan sees an opportunity for Louis to do the same thing for some of the worst of the worst students at Lincoln High with an outside the box idea.
#7. This one is for the romantics… Stacey Travis plays Anna, a teacher at Lincoln High and the former high school sweetheart of Louis. Despite Anna being involved in a relationship with a fellow teacher when Louis first rolls back into town, old feelings die hard and their romance is rekindled. You can’t help but get a warm fuzzy feeling when those two crazy kids get back together.
#8. Jeffrey Anderson-Gunter plays Philippe the a Jamaican gang leader who is in cahoots with Silverio… the #1 crime boss in Miami and provides Louis Stevens with his first fight in the movie. Jeffrey Anderson-Gunter was basically Jamaica’s answer to Al Leong, playing a villain in a number of 90’s action flicks. I love to see familiar faces like his pop up in action movies instead of generic, forgettable evil minions.
#9. There are three stand out students in Louis’ capoeira class, first and foremost is Orlando (Richard Coca). Orlando is a pivotal character in the movie who really drives the story as he finds himself torn between two worlds… Louis Stevens is trying to send Orlando on the right path, but his uncle is the aforementioned Silverio and Silverio wants Orlando to get into the family business.
#10. The second is Shay (Roman Cardwell). Shay finds himself in a similar situation to Orlando, since his older brother is Philippe. But unlike Orlando, Shay is ready to NOT follow in the footsteps of his brother and he is happy to give Louis’ capoeira a chance if it means he’ll be able to stand up for himself. When the other students see the progress that Shay made after just one night of training with Louis, they all start believing…
#11. Third is Donovoan (Ryan Bollman). Donovan and his ever present boom box may be the source of annoyance to some, but I believe Donovan deserves to be on this list for his remix of “Paranauê” alone. Plus, he got so into the whole culture of capoeira that he gives his life to save the berimbau that Louis brought back from Brazil… ok, that was actually stupid, but “Donovan’s Mix” is a banger.
#12 Paco Christian Prieto is excellent as Silverio, Silverio gets quite the bad ass introduction in the movie and rightfully so. PCP showed great upward mobility in the action world going from guy who fought JCVD in the swimming pool in Lionheart to main baddie in Only the Strong.
#13. It doesn’t take long after his introduction for Silverio to show off his fighting skills as he delivers an ass whooping to Louis Stevens on a basketball court.
#14. Only the Strong harnesses the amazing power of the montage on no less than three occasions. When Louis and Mr. Kerrigan decide to transform an abandoned fire house turned hobo haven into a dojo, there’s only one way they can do it expeditiously… with a montage.
#15. After a rough start to their capoeira training, Louis’ students start showing improvement thanks to… a montage.
#16. And finally, when Louis and Dianna take Louis’ capoeira students on a field trip to the beach, the viewers get to vicariously have some fun in the sun via… a montage!
#17. Silverio also shows the depths he will stoop to after Orlando misses out on some chop shop work because Orlando was off on his beach field trip… so Silverio responds the way any evil villain would, he and his minions cause a bunch of property damage to Lincoln High and attempt to burn Mr. Kerrigan alive.
#18. Speaking of Silverio’s chop shop business, the chop shop fight scene may be my favorite in the entire movie.
#19. The final fight in Only the Strong is a prime example of the power of positivity, the power of music and the culmination of all of Louis Stevens’ work with his students…. as Louis Stevens battles Silverio one last time!
#20. Only the Strong features the greatest graduation ceremony of all-time. You may be asking yourself, how can I make such a bold statement, certainly I have not seen or attended every graduation ceremony ever and while that is true, I doubt any other graduation ceremony ever featured a capoeira demonstration, therefore by default Only the Strong wins!
