Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie – Uncut, Uncensored, Unleashed – DVD Review

credit: www.amazon.com

Manga Video presents Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie – Uncut, Uncensored, Unleashed. Written by Kenichi Imai and Gisaburo Sugii. Based on the video game Street Fighter II. Running Time: 99 minutes (UK version) 101 Minutes (Japanese version). Not Rated. Originally rated PG-13 for non-stop animated martial arts and mild language. Contains brief nudity. Originally released in 1994

Director:

Gisaburo Sugii

Japanese Cast:

Kôjiro Shimizu……….Ryû
Kenji Haga……….Ken Masters
Miki Fujitani……….Chun-Li
Masane Tsukayama……….Guile
Kaneto Shiozawa……….Balrog Fabio La Cerda
Jôji Nakata……….Mike Bison
Takeshi Kusaka……….Vega
Shigezô Sasaoka……….Sagat
Daisuke Gôri……….Edmond Honda
Yukimasa Kishino……….Dhalsim
Ginzô Matsuo……….Deejay
Yôko Sasaki……….Cammy White
Unshô Ishizuka……….Blanka
Tetsuo Kanao……….Zangief

UK Cast:

Skip Stellrecht……….Ryu (as Hank Smith)
Eddie Frierson……….Ken Masters (as Ted Richards)
Lia Sargent……….Chun-Li (as Mary Briscoe)
Kirk Thornton……….Captain Guile (as Donald Lee)
Phil Mathews……….Lord M. Bison
Richard Cansino……….Vega (as Steve Davis)
Peter Spellos……….Sagat (as David Conrad)
Joe Romersa……….Balrog
Richard Epcar……….Edmond Honda (as Patrick Gilbert)
Don Carey……….Dhalsim
Beau Billingslea……….DJ (as John Hammond)
Debra Rogers……….Cammy White (as S.J. Charvin)
William Johnson……….Zangeif
Tom Carlton……….Blanka

The Movie:

Lighting strikes across black and grey clouds. Grunts and impacts are heard as credits roll across the screen. Slowly the images of Ryu and Sagat come into view. A brutal fight plays out leaving Ryu the victor. The words Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie fly in your face and you know exactly what to expect for the next hour and a half, and you smile.

If you’re like me you played Street Fighter II when you were a kid. If you’re not like me you were probably good at it. And if you’re weren’t a fan of the game then you can stop reading right now cause you’re not going to like the movie and nothing I say below is going to change your mind.

Just Street Fighter fans left? Good, let’s continue.

The Plot: M. Bison is collecting street fighters, puttin them under mind control and turning them into assassins. We see this when Cammy snaps a dignitary’s neck. After Ryu defeats Sagat in a fight he jumps high on Bison’s list. Bison learns that Ken trained with Ryu and captures him to lure Ryu. Chun-Li is an Interpol operative in charge of bring down M. Bison’s crime syndicate, Shadowloo (or Shadow Law if you’re watching the UK version) down. She decides to team up with U.S. soldier Guile, however he wants to bring down Bison on his own. Inner mixed with this plot are a whole bunch of random fights that rarely if ever move the plot forward. But hey, this is as Street Fighter movie, right? Oh and there’s a love interest that brews between Chun-Li and Guile.

The Characters: The main plot as stated above focuses around Ryu, Ken, Chun-Li and Guile. M. Bison, Sagat, Vega and Balrog are all members of Shadowloo. Cammy gets a cameo as a brain washed assassin. DJ is in it for a few seconds as a bar owner. Zangief and Blanka have one scene where they fight each other. As do E. Honda and Dhalsim. Later Ryu hangs out with E. Honda giving him a little more screen time.

Ryu getting ready to kick Sagat’s ass.

Some Confusion: In the Japanese version M. Bison is referred to as Vega and Vega is referred to as Balrog, and Balrog is Mike Bison. Which I hear was how it was supposed to be but Mike Tyson’s legal council didn’t want a black boxer named Mike Bison in the game so they switched the names around. Interestingly, even though the names are switched around when Interpol is looking at them on their computers the names aren’t switched around there, adding more to the confusion. However, the UK version does the names in the way we’re used to.

The Differences: So you get two versions of this film here. On one side of the disc you get the Original Japanese Master with never before seen scenes. Having never seen the film before myself, I couldn’t tell you what the new scenes are. The original was 94 minutes and I can only assume that some of the added footage to this uncensored version is the shower scene with Chun-Li. On the other side is the UK Edition with never before seen scenes and a kickin’ KMFDM soundtrack. I have to admit I enjoy the KMFDM soundtrack much more than the other one. (They even stick Alice in Chains: Them Bones and Korn: Blind in the UK version) However, the English dialogue is kinda cheesy so in that respect the Japanese Version is better. The Japanese Version is two minutes longer and honestly, I couldn’t see any difference in the films. It’s great that you get both versions here so you can watch them both and see which one you like better without having to buy it twice.

The Verdict: This is a fun movie. It’s exactly what you expect from a Street Fighter Movie. Not like that crap Van Damme was in. The dialog is a little silly, especially in the UK version, but who cares? That’s not why you watch a Street Fighter Movie. You watch it for the fights and this film is chalk full of them. The fight scenes are great cause you get to see your favorite characters busting out their best moves, without getting cramps in your fingers trying to pull them off. Oh yeah, and Chun-Li gets naked in the shower! When she gets out she puts on a t-shirt just in time for Vega to show up and fight her, so his claw is cutting her shirt off left and right. And don’t think that being half naked makes Chun-Li any less of a fighter. No sir, don’t think that for a second. This is probably the best fight in the movie.

STORY: 7/10
ACTING: 7/10
LOOK/FEEL: 9/10
ORIGINALTY: 8/10
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 10/10
FINAL SCORE: 8.2/10

A glimpse of Chun-Li.

The DVD:

The menus screen here is great cause it starts with the words: insert coin. Then goes to a Street Fighter menu screen with the classic music playing. This movie is based on a video game and they’re not afraid to admit it.

The Video:

This film is widescreen, 1.85:1. This film looks really good. All the colors are crisp and clean. It’s a very well animated film and this is a fantastic presentation.

The Audio:

This film is presented in Dolby Digital 2.0 and 5.1 (both versions). The sound here is great too. All the punches and snaps of broken bones come through crystal clear.

Extras:

This is where the DVD lags, besides having the two versions of the film you don’t get much else.

Interactive Playing Cards:For the major characters you get a little bio about them and you can watch a snippet from the movie of them fighting. But it’s nothing a fan of the show wouldn’t know already.

Trailer