Based on the massively popular video game franchise, this adrenaline-pumping adventure stars martial arts superstar Jean-Claude Van Damme (Double Impact, Kickboxer) as Colonel Guile, who leads an international strike force against the mad General M. Bison (Raul Julia – The Addams Family, Presumed Innocent). Bison, who has hatched an evil plan for world domination, takes dozens of relief workers hostage and gives the world only 72 hours to respond to his twisted demands. In that time, Guile must find the captives and confront Bison in an electrifying battle for the fate of the free world. Along the way Guile recruits intelligence officer Cammy, reporter and martial arts expert Chun-Li, two young con men Ken and Ryu, and a sumo wrestler E. Honda.
For thoughts on Street Fighter, please see my previous article here.
Video Quality
Street Fighter gets a decent new release on Blu-Ray courtesy of Mill Creek Entertainment with a 1080p master in the original aspect ratio. The transfer does not seem to be a new, polished-up master, but it appears to be of the same origins of the previously-released Universal disc. Compared to some recent releases from the company, this release does not suffer quite as much in terms of compression artifacts and macroblocking. They are definitely still present, just not quite as egregious as other discs. Skin tones fall a bit more on the side of pasty and unnatural, and the presentation offers up some fairly unimpressive black levels. The disc experiences a decent amount of black crush, but once again it is not as overwhelming as some Mill Creek discs. Thankfully the image retains some texture in small aspects of the photography such as costumes and interior settings. The colors are one of the standout aspects of the disc, as particular elements of the production design pop off the screen with a nice vibrancy. The disc does experience some excessive sharpening and edge enhancement. Mill Creek Entertainment has provided a Blu-Ray disc that is a fine step up from DVD, but it does not quite hit it out of the park like a new master may have. Given the lower quality of the feature, this might be good enough for most people.
Audio Quality
This new Blu-Ray comes with a lossless DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix that offers a powerful but inelegant listening experience. The film is an audio heavy-hitter in terms of volume, but precision is a bit lacking as most of the sounds radiate through all of the channels without a thought towards placement. The dialogue holds up well, coming though clearly without being stepped on by the music or sound effects. The environmental effects lack delineation when it comes to showcasing the ambience of the various settings. The track mostly avoids instances of age related wear and tear or distortion. This is a track that gets the information of the film across without capturing the complexities.
Special Features
Mill Creek has provided Street Fighter with a sleek new Steelbook that is truly lovely in person. The case comes with a removable slipcase with only the Street Fighter logo and the names of the top-billed actors. The artwork underneath is an animated depiction of many of the key characters from the film, and the rear features an animated depiction of M. Bison on a stallion which is featured in a painting in the film. The interior sports a still photo of Guille on one side and M. Bison on the other. The case also includes a replica Bison Dollar. Photos of the Steelbook and Bison Dollar can be found at the end of this review.
- Audio Commentary: Director Steven de Souza delivers a solid commentary track in he discusses the process of bringing the video game to the big screen, the final performance from Raul Julia, the desire to play with aspect ratios, trying to service as many characters as possible from the game, easter eggs that are scattered throughout for video game fans and more.
- Operation Shadaloo – Making Street Fighter: A new 20-minute audio interview with director Steven de Souzao over clips from the film in which he discusses his pitch to the CAPCOM team to make the film, the deteriorating health of Raul Julia on screen, the various obstacles that arose during production, adding extra fight scenes after principal photography, the film’s legacy and reevaluation and more.
- I Will Crush You – Ken Vs. Chapa: A new 11-minute Zoom interview with actor Damian Chapa in which he discusses why he initially passed on being in the film, his admiration for Raul Julia, his lack of fighting experience, being a “court jester” like character, the choreography of the film and more.
- Game Over – Scoring Street Fighter: A new 10-minute audio interview with composer Graeme Revell in which he discusses coming to the project, his intention for the film, playing off the CAPCOM theme, his technical skill set at the time, introducing different styles of music to the project and more.
- It Was Tuesday – Producing Street Fighter: A new five-minute audio interview with producer Ed Pressman in which he discusses his family’s history in the game business, getting involved with this project, putting all of the pieces together for the feature, the gravitas that Raul Julia added to the film and more.
- The Strongest Woman In The World – Ming-Na Vs. Chun-Li: A new eight-minute audio interview with actor Ming-Na Wen in which she discusses her experience with the games, collaborating with director Steven de Souzao, the process of inhabiting Chun-Li, her most memorable scenes and more.
- Ultimate Badass – JCVD at Universal: A new 12-minute interview with author David J. Moore in which he traces Van Damme’s career from his small background role in Breakin’ to his history at Cannon and on to his successful tenure at Universal. There is a lot of fun information throughout this one.
- Attack Me If You Dare – Game Vs. Film: A new 11-minute interview with Street Fighter game historian Oliver Harper in which he gives background on the game franchise in the early days up to the decision to make the film and how the characters were portrayed in live action form.
- The Making Of Street Fighter: A six-minute vintage promotional piece in which the cast and creative team give a general overview of the project with brief personal insights.
- Outtakes: Three minutes of silent footage from the production of the film.
- Deleted Scenes: Two scenes totaling two minutes of unused material is provided here centered on Chun-Li.
- Crisis in Shadaloo: A four-minute look at some of the news reports featured in the film.
- Archives: A two-minute look at some of the classic arcade games.
- Trailers: Nearly four minutes of trailers and TV spots are provided here.
Final Thoughts
Street Fighter is a total cheesefest that holds some level of entertainment value thanks to just how poorly it is executed. This is the perfect film to get a group of friends together and watch and delight in how cringeworthy most of the dialogue and acting is on the most basic level. Even for all of its flaws, this is the final performance from Raul Julia and for that reason alone it is worth checking out. Mill Creek Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray which does not wow when it comes to the A/V presentation but shockingly includes a substantial amount of special features along with fantastic SteelBook packaging. If you happen to be a fan of the film, these two improvements alone might be worth seeking this one out.
Street Fighter (SteelBook) is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: Mill Creek Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
