If you’re like us here at Reel Action, you probably love martial arts movies. And if you love martial arts movies, chances are, you are a fan of Mark Dacascos. And if you’re a fan of Mark Dacascos, then you probably know the movie, Only the Strong. Only the Strong is the best Jean-Claude Van Damme movie that Van Damme never starred in. In fact, if you look at the director’s filmography, he had a successful collaboration streak with JCVD that led to Only the Strong. However, the movie actually fares better without him, because it features a star-making turn by the unanimously perceived underrated martial arts actor Mark Dacascos. Add in the teacher-savior plot and an introduction to a unique brand of martial art and you have an incredibly fun way to spend 90 minutes. We talk Only the Strong on this entry of Reel Action.

The teacher-savior movie is a sub-genre that’s not often explored now. Especially since it’s been kind of a punchline with its many tropes in a limited story range. The genre started out with titles like 1955’s Blackboard Jungle with Glenn Ford and Sidney Poitier. Since then, we have gotten films like Stand and Deliver, Lean On Me and Dangerous Minds. You know, the movies where there’s an inner city school, occupied by unruly, slacker students, some even violent. Then, a new teacher or principal comes in and brings out their potential by inspiring them to turn their lives around. It’s a genre tailor-made for drama. But it’s also been able to provide backdrops for different kinds of movies. Some have been able to twist it into action, like The Substitute or The Principal,and some have even made it into comedies like Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. 

Only the Strong would take the formula and use it as a device to introduce the Brazilian art of Capoeira. Capoeira is a fighting style set to music which helps the combatant pull off intricate, acrobatic fight moves while in a dance. The style was brought to the masses with the video game character Eddy Gordo in the Tekken series. Players would get to see the kinds of moves that the martial art exhibits. Since then, the style has been incorporated periodically in martial arts movies like Van Damme’s The Quest, Tony Jaa’s The Protector and Undistputed 3: Redemption starring Scott Adkins. Only the Strong would be the first and only major American project to shine a spotlight on it. And instead of using just a basic Karate Kid-typepremise — with the usual teacher-student dynamic — Only the Strong teaches Capoeira to the audience as if we were attending the class. 

The film starts with an American special forces soldier named Louis Stevens who comes to the end of his service in Brazil. Once discharged, Stevens goes back to visit his old high school in Miami where he finds out that things have changed for the worse. The school had become a haven for juvenile delinquents partaking in sex, drugs and violence. It’s gotten so bad that they even barred up the stairwell so people can’t be thrown over the railings. The faculty had very nearly given up, including an older teacher named Mr. Kerrigan, played by Geoffrey Lewis, who co-starred in the director’s previous outing, Double Impact. Kerrigan also happened to be the teacher who was responsible for Stevens turning his life around when he himself was an unruly teenager. 

As Kerrigan shows Stevens how destructive his alma mater has become, Stevens takes it upon himself to break up a fight involving a student and his gang leader brother. When he defends himself using his unique fighting style, everyone in the school yard watches on with great interest. Kerrigan realizes that he was actually able to keep everyone’s attention, which is something none of the teachers have been able to do for some time. So, he proposes a trial class where Stevens can teach the art of Capoeira to instill discipline and grace into the lawless kids. 

They use the worst collection of students for the experiment and it goes as well as you may think. Despite its effectiveness, all the students think the style looks too ridiculous to take seriously. One standout delinquent in the class is Orlando Oliveiras, played by Richard Coca. And Orlando’s cousin is Silverio Oliveiras, played by the delightfully sinister Paco Christian Prieto. Silverio is Orlando’s drug kingpin cousin who also happens to be the resident king Capoeira fighter of Miami. He also becomes the main villain of the movie when he feels Stevens is occupying too much of his cousin’s time when he should be working for him. Silverio and Stevens engage in a rivalry when Orlando starts coming around on the class, but his cousin doesn’t believe Stevens is a strong enough Capoeira maestro to teach his men.

The music plays as big a part in the movie as it does in Capoeira itself. From the very first scene, you are introduced to the rhythms and the chantings of “Paranue,” which the Brazilians use for the basis of the moves. And it’s this tune that becomes the theme song of the film as you hear it again and again. You even hear a cool 90s remix of it. And another remix in the end credits. One particular montage features a song that some may recognize from a Mazda campaign from the early 2000s. “Zoom zoom.”

Only the Strong was directed by Sheldon Lettich, who cut his teeth in the action genre writing movies like Rambo III and Bloodsport. Lettich would go on to work with Van Damme a number of times including directing Lionheart and Double Impact. Lettich also wrote Only the Strong and knew if he cast Dacascos in the lead role, he would go onto similar superstardom as Van Damme. Lettich even had the already physically fit Dacascos pump up some extra muscle for the role so he could live up to the Van Dammes and Stallones of the era. Unfortunately, superstardom wouldn’t strike white hot for Dacascos. According to Lettich, the scores for test screenings were incredibly high and he knew the studio would have a big hit. However, when Dacascos had to film for the movie adaptation of Double Dragon, he was stuck when production went over-schedule and was not able to do any promotion for Only the Strong. This would lead the studio, Fox to postpone press tours with the stars and director and eventually cancel it altogether. Without audiences getting the benefit of getting introduced to the film’s star, and having no marquee name to draw people in, the film would not become a success. 

Only the Strong would only make just over 3 million dollars. Which was only half the budget. Slowly but surely, the movie would find an audience through cable and VHS. Dacascos says that he’s surprised with how much the movie is brought up with him, so he’s definitely feeling that it’s become more of a success now than when it was released. Dacascos wouldn’t get to be the lead in many blockbusters, but he’s made a nice little career for himself as he would go on to co-star in the acclaimed French film, Brotherhood of the Wolf. He would square up against Jet Li in Cradle 2 the Grave, as well as go on to fight Keanu Reeves in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. Many people might also know him from his television work as he starred in the TV series adaptation of The Crow, titled The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, where he filled the shoes of Brandon Lee as Eric Draven, as well as hosting Iron Chef: America. You can catch him in recent projects like Warrior and Knights of the Zodiac. Both are available on Netflix.

There isn’t any special blu-ray release of Only the Strong, so not a lot of behind-the-scenes information has been officially distributed. However, the YouTube channel, Viking Samurai, has a lot of great videos with the cast and director talking about the movie. So if you wanna learn more in-depth information about it, check them out! Plus, Sheldon Lettich has recently published a book about his career called From Vietnam to Van Damme. The movie is currently available to stream on Max. So, if you can, give this one a watch!

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