Street Fighter (1994) | Pixels, Popcorn

Street Fighter 2

One of the most iconic video games of all time

So naturally, in the mid-'90s, Hollywood got involved — and gave us this:

A movie based on the game

Kind of.

What we ended up with was..

Different. Let’s go with, different…

But first, let's turn back time a little to 1987

The original Street Fighter was… fine.

It was a unique and experimental thing, you literally punched the arcade machine to hit harder in the game.

Which, unsurprisingly, led to injuries — so that didn’t last.

They went back to the drawing board, added a proper joystick, and a few years later:

Street Fighter 2

It didn’t just change fighting games — it defined them. Literally.

It was fast, it was loud, and it was everywhere.

Arcades.

Consoles.

And places it probably didn't belong.

You couldn’t escape it — and honestly, why would you want to?

It blew people away.

CAPCOM had lightning in a bottle, everybody wanted to play it

In total there'd be 5 official versions of Street Fighter 2, each with its own subtitle

We start with World Warrior, and then

Championship Edition, on to

Hyper Fighting,

and then it becomes Super Street Fighter 2 - New Challengers

and Finally Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo

I won’t even mention the home versions, or the bootlegs…

Anyways, it did well enough that soon Hollywood knocked on CAPCOMs door with a big bundle of cash asking if they could play with their toy as well,

and CAPCOM said, “Yes” -

Though, It's unclear if they knew exactly what they were saying yes to

Mmm - There’s a lot to unpack here, so we'll start with the main plot…

Now

The Street Fighter games timeline isn't exactly coherent - and gets more convoluted with almost every release

However, the film is based upon the later versions of Street Fighter 2 and the characters found there,

so we'll draw a line there and work with that.

The game sees various Warriors from around the World - hence the original name -

They are all gathering together to take part in a tournament organised by the leader of the Shadaloo organization, Bison.

His goal is to find the best of these world warriors, brainwash them, and use them in his own private army.

Many of the World Warriors have their own personal reasons for wanting revenge on Bison and are taking part in the tournament in a chance to get to him.

Others, well - they have their own reasons for entering

The film… Well, changes all of that a fair bit.

Instead of a globe-spanning martial arts tournament, we get a hostage crisis.

Bison is now a military dictator holding a bunch of aid workers captive in the fictional nation of Shadaloo.

It's a region which feels like someone squashed together every war-torn country they’d seen on the news in the early ‘90s

So — gone is the tournament,

and gone is the brainwashing plot…

well kind of - but more on that in a bit.

Our World Warriors still band together to stop him, but they all come together in very different ways.

Ultimately, what we’re left with now is an army based hostage rescue mission film, with occasional nods back to the game

Sort of a cross between Die Hard and Commando,

which considering Steven E. De Souza has a hand in writing all 3

Then we shouldn't be that surprised.

OK - Not a great start, but - - there's more.

Moving on to the World Warriors themselves…

And, Oieeee - This is a mess.

As mentioned earlier, the line up of the characters is the one used in the later versions of Street Fighter 2 - with the exception of Fei Long -

I'm guessing he wasn't included in the action due to him being based on the legendary real life martial artist, Bruce Lee.

Other than that the gangs all here.

… So, taking a look at them one by one

Ryu.

In the game he's a martial artist who wanders the Earth, always seeking to better his abilities

his motivation in the game is to enter the Tournament and seek out new opponents to better himself.

In the film, he's played by Byron Mann -

and in almost a 180 from the game - he's one half of a conmen team who partners with…

Ken

The Ken in the games is Ryus best buddy who trained with him originally

much of their story is based on a friendly rivalry - at least at this point in the timeline.

In the film, Ken is played by Damian Chapa and joins Ryu in running various cons

Chun Li

Originally an Interpol agent bent on taking down Bison and his criminal enterprise in revenge for her fathers death.

In the film, she's played by Ming-Na Wen and we find her as a TV news journalist,

but still bent on taking down Bison and his criminal enterprise in revenge for her fathers death.

Same reason, but different angle - I guess.

Honda

A famous Japanese Sumo wrestler in the game,

He's aiming to improve the negative reputation of his sport by proving that he is a legitimate athlete.

The film sees him played by Peter Tuiasosopo and working with Chun Li as a technician for her TV news spot with…

Balrog

Played by Grand Lee Bush and who also works with Chun Li in her journalistic endeavours.

which is interesting because -

in the game -

he’s one of Bisons henchmen trying to get some easy money together for

whatever reason he has,

Guile

In the game a former United States Air Force special operative, seeking to defeat Bison for killing his best friend Charlie.

He’s represented here by the Muscles from Brussels himself, Jean Claude Van Damme

The film version has him as a full-blown Colonel in the Allied Nations army - - which is the film’s idea of the UN

Guile is pretty much leading the whole war against Bison, for, reasons.

One of the men who is being held hostage by Bison is his best friend, Charlie -

So now he has even more reason to bring him down as he leads the charge to rescue him and the others

Blanka.

In the game he's a Brazilian Beast who was raised in the jungle - and in the film he's - Charlie.

Yes, Guiles friend Charlie.

Played here by Robert Mammone

when Bison learns that Charlie is Guiles friend, he has one of his scientists try and brainwash him to become part of his army

(See, I told you we’d come back to that)

The diabolical scientist's name?

Dhalsim

(sigh)

Yes. That one.

Played in the film by Roshan Seth -- Dhalsim is no longer a fire-breathing pacifist yoga master from India…

In the game, his sole reason and motivation for fighting is to use the money earned from tournaments to lift people out of poverty.

Here, in the film, Hes - a scientist - working for Bison, albeit somewhat reluctantly.

Cammy

In the game she’s a 19-year-old special forces agent from England with a mysterious past tied to Bison somehow.

The film?

A Lieutenant reporting to Guile, fighting for Allied Nations Army and is played by Australian Pop Princess Kylie Minogue

Guess they had to explain her somehow - So, why not?

T. Hawk

Originally a Native American warrior from Mexico, whose homeland was taken from him by Bison and Shadaloo

And… Here we see him played by Gregg Rainwater and a Sergeant in the Allied Nations Army.

Barely - He's not in it a lot, and honestly it could be anyone else in his scenes.

Zangief

The lovable Russian Rogue Wrestler played by Andrew Bryniarski

- Famed in the game for wanting to prove his “Soviet Strength” by beating as many Americans to a pulp as he can get his bear like hands on.

Remember, this was the 90s.

Film? - None of that business.,

he’s a hench man for Bison,

and basically used for comic relief.

Dee-Jay

Played by Miguel A. Núñez Jr.

and has for, some reason,

gone from a kick boxing musician looking for inspiration for his next song in the game to -

Bisons computer expert in the film.

Which…

Oh, your guess is as good as mine at this point…

Vega

Originally a Spanish bullfighter-turned-assassin, obsessed with beauty and masks

, who for reasons,

is on a mission to eliminate ugly people from the world…

represented here by Jay Tavare

And, according to the film…

Because I guess they needed a reason to have him in the film…

A henchmen who reports to arms dealer…

Sagat

Who, originally entered Bisons Tournament in the game after losing his title to Ryu in the last Tournament they fought in, and he wants to prove himself again…

… Played by Wes Studi - Sagat, is now an Arms dealer and his only connection to Ryu is being conned by him at the start of the film,

Ryu and Ken try to sell him fake guns.

Sagat, or course, works for…

Bison

The leader of the criminal organization Shadaloo in the game, and leader of the nation state Shadaloo in the film.

Just a small difference, but an important one…

Shadaloo is complete with a flag, currency, and Bisons face on everything, so he’s not complaining about the upgrade.

Bison, is of course, played by the late Raul Julia and his performance is without doubt the best thing about the film.

and,

without exaggeration,

hes the only person in the cast who seems to understand what kind of movie this is.

It's no secret he knew he was ill when he agreed to be in Street Fighter

his kids love the franchise and took the part so they’d have something of his to enjoy.

He gives everything, even though he knew he didn’t have much time left.

He doesn’t just steal scenes —

he builds his own movie around him - and then invites everyone else to catch up.

But, they don’t.

It's notable that most of the characters in the film, don't wear the same outfits from the games

so aren't really recognisable that way

But, Bison seems to have been spared this decision and his uniform is pretty spot on.

AND…

If all those changes weren’t enough, we've more

Hollywood decided that they were going to ground the film somewhat in reality.

Which meant that a lot of the special moves that gamers loved, were gone.

No Hadoukens.

No Sonic Booms.

No Hundred Hand Slaps

No Stretching Limbs

And, well - You get the idea.

That said, there are nods to, some, special moves in the film

If you watch the fighting sequences you’ll see the odd thing you recognise here and there,

but nothing too fantastical

Bison and his powers, again, fairs better than most

BUT - his powers are grounded in reality and explained as using the same technology as Japanese trains for his levitation

So, yeah.

That's the Street Fighter film in a nutshell.

the movie… isn’t good -

But it’s not boring either

It’s a fascinating, and pretty powerful, example of what happens when the wrong people get hold of a popular brand and decide to ignore nearly everything about it.

yet, people still find things to watch and enjoy about it

- It’s weird that way,

it shouldn’t work,

but now time has passed and people have calmed down - there are worse ways to kill an hour and a half.

at some point Hollywood and CAPCOM decided to double down, and a game of the film, based on a game, was released into the world.

They digitised the actors and created a Mortal Kombat-style mess that nobody really wanted or, asked for.

It’s called Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game — yes, really — and it somehow it manages to make the whole thing even weirder.

Somehow, the characters in the game look more like their original counterparts than they ever did in the film — thanks to some costume swaps.

- which is odd.

And, for whatever reason their special moves are all in place.

Back are the Hadoukens etc.

Although they apparently didn't know what to do with Dhalsim or T Hawk as they aren't in the game for whatever reason, who knows?

While it’s a Street Fighter game in name - It’s never appeared on any of the collected anniversary edition releases,

which traditionally collects all the older versions together for a special release every 10 years or so.

Odd, that.

For those wanting a proper, true and correct Street Fighter 2 film then you’d have to look for the Manga version, which also released in 1994.

THIS is where the true action is -

It’s not perfect,

but - It keeps the tournament structure, keeps the characters mostly intact,

and the fights feel like they belong in the Street Fighter universe.

It's violent, stylish, and all wrapped up in a much more adult take on the whole thing

Some scenes aren’t for kids, which might seem like an odd decision,

but personally I think it adds to the idea of how much more seriously this version was taken.

The manga version would become sort of a template for the games, it’d have an impact — visuals and story would be centered around it for quite some time afterwards.

The iconic opening fight from the manga film was even echoed in Super Street Fighter II New Challengers,

one of the games which the live-action movie is supposedly based on.

Kind of ironic, really.

The Manga version — if nothing else — proves they could get it right if they wanted to.

Manga would churn out other films and even a TV series based on the other games in the series, but it kind of peaks at the original film - Not that some of the other Manga stuff isn’t worth watching.

Just, hold back your expectations a bit.

Hollywood would try their Street Fighter luck again years later with The Legend of Chun-Li.

Somehow, it was worse…

… I - - I don't know.

CAPCOM don't seem to learn and have never quite got the hang of this video game live action stuff,

one day I might even tell you about Resident Evil and Dead Rising.

The best attempt so far to bring Street Fighter to live action was actually a low key kickstarter film and was eventually released as a Machinima web series on YouTube, and eventually saw a physical release.

Street Fighter: Assassins Fist

It’s largely considered to be one of the best live action adaptations of video games by both fans and critics.

But for some reason it never took off like it should have -

A sequel, Street Fighter Resurrection was filmed and released around the same time as the Street Fighter 5 game,

but it wasn’t promoted as well as it could have been and it was kind of dead on arrival.

And, that was the end of that, it seems - It just all went quiet after that.

Shame.

The games are still going strong -

There are more of those than I can count now,

but the numbering system is up to Six, for what it's worth.

There are countless spin offs of each game, and then spin offs of spin offs,

cross overs with other franchises,

dips into other styles of games,

mobile games

- and…

Well.

Suffice to say, the Street Fighter name didn’t suffer from the poor reception of the film.

So yeah.

Street Fighter — the game? Iconic.

Street Fighter — the movie? Not so much.

But, it exists.

And whether you love it,

hate it,

or just kind of sit there confused by the whole thing

— either way, it’s part of the history now.

Anyways

I’ve been Paul and this has been Pixels, Popcorn

Thanks for watching.

REDO / ADDS:

Hollywood would try their Street Fighter luck again years later in 2009 with The Legend of Chun-Li.

Somehow, it was worse…

… I - - I don't know how they managed it, but they did…

That’s a whole other video on it’s own at some point.

The Manga animated movie should never be confused with the short lived American Street Fighter 2 cartoon which aired in 1995

This would see Guile and his band of super hero Street Fighters taking on Bison and Shadaloo in Saturday Morning Cartoon style adventures.

think GI Joe but Street Fighter.

And to be clear, never confuse them.

For those wanting a proper, true and more or less correct Street Fighter 2 film then you’d have to look for the Manga version, which also released in 1994.

THIS is where the true action is -

It’s not perfect,

but - It keeps the tournament structure, keeps the characters mostly intact,

And more importantly, the fights feel like they belong in the Street Fighter universe.

It's violent, it’s stylish, and it’s all wrapped up in a much more adult take on the whole thing

Some scenes aren’t for kids, which might seem like an odd decision,

but personally I think it adds to the idea of how much more seriously they took this version.

It would become sort of a template for the games,

it’d have an impact on the whole series

— visuals and story would be centered around it for quite some time afterwards.

The iconic opening fight from the manga film was even echoed in Super Street Fighter II New Challengers, one of the games which the live-action movie is supposedly based on.

Kind of ironic, really.

The Manga version — if nothing else — proves they could get it right if they wanted to.