In 1994, what is widely considered to be the greatest film adaption of Street Fighter was released. No, not that awful live action travesty. I'm talking about Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie. While the film mainly centers around Ryu, Ken, Guile, and Chun-Li get the most screen time, all sixteen fighters from the Street Fighter II games are featured in some form or another. While browsing around on Amazon, I was surprised to see Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie would be getting a re-release on October 25th, 2016.
SFII: TAM could not have been released at a better time. The early to mid 1990s was the peak of SF's popularity. 1994 was also the same year the box office live action bomb, Street Fighter came out, so the animated movie was a great way to wash the taste of that travesty out of our mouths.
A marvel on multiple fronts, SFII: TAM has gorgeous animation, stunning fight scenes, incredible music and a surprisingly good dub. Anime hadn't exploded in America at the time, so a good dub in 1994 was incredibly rare. Although, considering the talent on board, Steven Blum (Cowboy Bebop Samurai Champloo), Beau Billingslea (Cowboy Bebop), Lia Sargent (Trigun, Big O), Tom Wyner (Gun Grave), I guess it shouldn't come as that much of a shock. A lot of SF fans saw this movie around the time it was originally released. I didn't see it until 2004 when I purchased Street Fighter II Anniversary Collection on the PS2. Even thought it was edited, I was taken back by just how good this movie was.
There have actually been several re-releases of SFII: TAM. The uncut 2006 DVD release, the Street Fighter Anniversary Collector's Box, in 2012, containing an edited Blu-ray release, and the Kaze, France Blu-ray release in 2013. This 2016 re-release makes will make the Blu-ray version more easily obtainable. While the DVD version can still be picked up, I'm happy to see this film get the Blu-ray treatment. If for some reason, you haven't seen this film, pick it up.
1 comment:
I have the "Manga" special edition DVD which comes with a subbed Japanese version (my personal preference) on a second disc and it is uncut.
Honestly, if they release another cut version then I'm not buying it. There's no reason for any of it to be cut in 2016 and there wasn't in 1994 either! Not saying that the cut content detracts from the film (it really doesn't) but it's just the principle of it. Wonder if they knowingly still cut these releases or they just can't be bothered to use anything other than the cut edition? I suppose going for a lower age rating is probably their motivation.
But yeah, top film indeed. The live-action Assassin's Fist series was another great adaptation.
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