Ask any Filipino and you have little chance of finding someone who don't have an idea about "Ang Panday" (The Blacksmith). This Carlo Caparas opus tells the story of a blacksmith named Flavio (portrayed by Fernando Poe Jr.) who saw a meteor. When it fell to earth, he forged a sword out of the meteorite.The meteor turned out to be a harbinger of the sinister events to come. The evil force is led by Lizardo (played by mainstay villain Max Alvarado). Flavio wields his sword against Lizardo's minions, and ultimately against Lizardo himself. "Ang Panday" is the first of a series of Flavio's exploits. The anthology won both critical and commercial acclaim especially during the yearly Metro Manila Film Festival. Offshoots, including an animated and live-action TV series, sprang as a result. During Fernando Poe Jr.'s(FPJ) campaign for the presidency, he used the moniker "Panday". No wonder, the movie reasserted FPJ's permanent mark on Filipino popular culture.
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