Let me set the scene, it is 1994 and Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat are the two biggest video game franchises going! I loved and I mean loved Street Fighter II. Getting Street Fighter II Turbo for the Super Nintendo in the tin for Christmas of 1993 is an all time Christmas memory for me. By the time this movie came out, we had Super Street Fighter II, which introduced four new characters to the mix.
Where to Watch Street Fighter
Street Fighter was released on December 23, 1994 in the United States. You can stream the film from a digital platform.
The Movie Review
Childhood Hype and Anticipation for Street Fighter
I had Street Fighter t-shirts, a couple of the figures, and despite having both versions of the game for the Super Nintendo, I also regularly played the game in my local arcade! I was a Street Fighter fanatic, and my favorite actor was Jean Claude Van Damme. So, him being the star of Street Fighter honestly up to this point, made this the movie I was more excited for than any other movie before it!
Street Fighter’s UK Release and Early Reactions
While this is regarded as a 1994 movie, for me in the UK, this did not come out until 1995, and by then, the word was out that Street Fighter was a dud, just like The Super Mario Bros. Movie! However, I did not care, I did not even care that a kid I knew had seen the movie while on vacation and said that they thought it was just ok. I was so excited to see this, and I was sure it was going to be the greatest movie of all time. Yes, in writing that now, I know it sounds crazy, but that is how big a Street Fighter II fan I was.
Jean Claude Van Damme as Guile
The star of the movie is Guile, who is played by Jean Claude Van Damme. I loved Van Damme, but the All-American hero Guile being played by a guy who is clearly not American is kind of funny to think about. To be fair, apart from the accent, I think that Van Damme did a decent enough job, and he even pulled off a few of the Guile trademark moves like the Flash Kick.
M. Bison and the Shadoloo Conflict
The story takes place in the land of Shadoloo, where warlord M. Bison is ruling with an iron fist and trying to take control of pretty much everything. Getting an actor with the talent of Raul Julia to be M. Bison was a pretty big get for the movie. It is common knowledge that this was the very last role for Raul Julia before his passing, and I honestly think that he was a lot of fun in this role. It is even more impressive when you realize that he was far from 100 percent while filming this.
Heroes and Misfits: The Cast of Characters
The plot of the movie is pretty simple. We have Guile and Cammy, along with a few helpers such as Ken, Ryu, Chun-Li, and E-Honda, trying to take down M. Bison. A lot of the characters were not what I expected. Ryu and Ken being these kinds of asshole smugglers was not something that I was expecting. Ken was and still is my favorite Street Fighter character, and his characterization here, from the way he looks and the way he talks and acts, did not feel like Ken Masters to me at all.
Unusual Character Choices and Missed Opportunities
Chun-Li, E-Honda, and Balrog are a news team, Balrog being one of the heroes, made no sense to me as a kid, and it still doesn’t now. In addition to M. Bison, we also have Sagat and Vega; not having Balrog tied with them felt so weird to me. Almost like it was a massive mistake. However, the characterization of Blanka is by far the weirdest aspect of this movie. He looks so dumb, laughable if I am being honest and truthful. If Blanka was not so poorly done, I am sure more people would complain about what they did to Dhalsim.
Missing Characters and Original Additions
To be fair to the movie, they managed to get 15 of the main characters from the Street Fighter franchise; the only character missing was Fei Long from Super Street Fighter II. Personally, I would have had him in the role of Captain Sawada, who was an original character that they made for this movie. Hey, they changed the characters of pretty much everyone else, so Fei Long being some kind of soldier who helped Guile would not have been the weirdest thing that this movie did.
Street Fighter Through Nostalgia-Tinted Glasses
If you did not grow up when Street Fighter was becoming this global phenomenon or when Jean Claude Van Damme was the coolest action star around, Street Fighter is just going to be a terrible action movie from the 90s for you. However, I have so much nostalgia for this movie, I always have fun when watching it. It is almost like it is one of those, so bad it is good movies for me.
Street Fighter: The Movie – The Game
Before I bring this to a close, I want to talk about Street Fighter: The Movie, The Video Game. This game is often talked about as being garbage, and the arcade version is not great. However, the home version of Street Fighter: The Movie for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn was actually made by Capcom and uses the Super Street Fighter II Turbo engine and it is a very fun game. People often get the home version confused with the arcade one. This was actually one of the games that made me want a Sony PlayStation!
Final Thoughts
Look, I will not try and pass off Street Fighter: The Movie as something that is great, but for me, it has a ton of nostalgia, and I probably watch this like once a year and always have fun. The movie was a decent box office hit and did very well on home video. Plus, while I doubt this would ever happen, but if this got a fancy 4K collectors edition, I would be there, Dragon Punching money at whoever made this happen. Please note, my score is purely based on my nostalgia for this movie; it takes me back to being a kid every time I watch this!
