Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie is an action-packed thrill ride for fans of the classic CAPCOM video game that inspired the creation of the film. Featuring production by CAPCOM and SEDIC, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie is essential viewing for fans of the video game who appreciate high-octane action anime filmmaking.

Executive produced by Akio Sakai (Street Fighter, Street Fighter II V), Hiroshi Inagaki (The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Nana Toshi Monogatari), and Kenzo Tsujimoto (Mega Man, Street Fighter), Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie features original theme music performed by Ryoko Shinohara and Tetsuya Komuro. The animation for Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie is produced by Kenichi Imai (Street Fighter II V) and the studio animation is by Group TAC (Be Forever Yamato, Fighting Foodons). Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie features voice-performances by Kojiro Shimizu, Takeshi Kusaka, and Kenji Haga.

Vega (M. Bison) (Takeshi Kusaka) is an evil menace and his diabolical plans include brainwashing the other fighters who oppose him and turning them into his own slave martial artists – working their martial arts abilities in his favor while fighting in the form of living weapons. A psycho with unwieldly power, Vega will stop at nothing to take control of the other fighters and see his mission through to the end. The main opponent? Ryu (Kojiro Shimizu), a wandering warrior who is considered to be one of the world’s strongest fighters. Meanwhile, the World Warriors are gathering – and plenty of action-packed mayhem is sure to ensue. Can Ryu defeat Vega and stop his evil plans?

The action is one of the highlights of the film and reason enough for audiences to see Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie. The action-packed filmmaking is tense and gripping – it packs a mighty wallop throughout the film. The fight scenes feel well thought out and are well choreographed for the animators to bring to life. It is well-balanced, too. The action feels essential to the filmmaking (completely averting the chokehold some video game adaptations suffer from – with the action completely overruling all logic and storytelling).

The animation in Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie is superb and offers some of the best-looking animation provided to a video-game feature adaptation. The film features art direction by Satoshi Matsuoka (Shamanic Princess, Naruto the Movie: Legend of the Stone of Gelel) and chief animation direction by Yasuhiro Oshima (Zaion: I Wish You Were Here, Bio Armor Ryger). The film features some additional animation direction by Marisuke Eguchi (Lupin III: Dead or Alive, Lupin III: The Secret of Twilight Gemini) and Minoru Maeda (Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z). The team of artists involved with creating the animation for Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie did exceptional work with the film, providing audiences with something that is memorable, creative, and visually stunning.

Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie is no typical anime feature-film in regards to the animation. The animation is excellent and there is an obvious amount of care and attention to detail given to the art work. The artistry carries on throughout the film and ebbs and flows into other aspects of the film – including the execution of the character designs by Shūkō Murase (Gasaraki, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing). The character art work is excellent and the styles feel true to the original video game designs while also providing a nice aesthetic for the anime filmmaking.

The cinematography by Hiroaki Edamitsu (Dirty Pair, Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer) makes a big impression, too. The stylized cinematography highlights the tense darkness of the action-packed battlefield and highlights the stakes of Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie. Edamitsu is a talented cinematographer who completely understands the style the film is working to achieve and the use of light and shadow in the film manages to bring out the best in the visuals.

The score composed by Tetsuya Komuro (Vampire Hunter D, Punch Line) and Yuji Toriyama (Koutetsu Sangokushi) is an engaging highlight of the film. The music is a huge part of the experience and the original score elevated the action and brought some intensity to the production. The score is fun – highlighting the tension of the epic battles. A great effort by Komuro and Toriyama.

Written by Gisaburō Sugii and co-screenwriter Kenichi Imai (Street Fighter II V), Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie is more character-focused than one might expect for an action film – especially in terms of films adapted from video games. There is a stoic sense of charm to the story of Ryu. The screenplay doesn’t simply go by-the-numbers with one fight to another and it manages to be a surprisingly engaging script given the source material.

Gisaburō Sugii (Night on the Galactic Railroad, Astro Boy) directs and brings the action fans expect with Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie. The action is delivered in spades and Sugii has a creative way of highlighting it throughout the film. Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie is an exciting experience – a film that doesn’t feel boring for a second. Sugii is a talented director and assembled a film well worth watching for all Street Fighter and action-anime fans.

Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Discotek Media, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie is presented in 2160p HEVC / H.265 in the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 widescreen. The high-definition video presentation is exceptional and a hugely impressive showcase for how great anime can look when presented in 4K 2160p. The native 4K presentation has received a HDR10 encode. The high dynamic range looks exceptional and it brings out the best highlights in the animation – the brightest brights and deepest blacks within the animation itself. The color spectrum is enhanced with the HDR grade and it is one of the strengths of the presentations. The clarity and detail present in the animation helps with the experience, too. The 4K UHD release sports a nice 38 mbps bit-rate.  

Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Discotek release includes a plethora of audio options: English US Unrated Version (5.1) with sign subtitles, English UK Unrated Version (stereo) with sign subtitles, English 13 Rated Version (stereo) with sign subtitles, English with original score (stereo) with sign and song subtitles, Japanese (stereo) with full English subtitles (North American Names), Japanese (stereo) with full English subtitles (Japanese names), and Isolated Japanese score (stereo) with sign and song subtitles. The release benefits from the robust selection of audio options. The lossless audio is remarkably crisp and clear sounding – and it is a terrific thing to see Discotek providing so many different options for audiences. The sound direction by Atsumi Tashiro (Belladonna of Sadness, Space Battleship Yamato) is well reproduced. The audio presentation provides ample room for the score to soar and for the sound effects to make a solid impression. The lossless audio options are superior to any streaming video services – all of which provide only lossy (non-lossless) audio options. For those seeking the best audio quality, the 4K presentation impresses in spades.

Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The PG-13 Cut –

Play with English Score (HD, 1:37:36)

Play with Japanese Score (HD, 1:37:36)

Trailers –

Japanese Trailers (SD, 6:23)

English Trailers (SD, 2:21)

Blu-ray Trailer (HD, 1:06)

Main Features –

Interactive Movie Game Cutscene Collection (SD, 18:05)

English Home Video Opening & Closing Credits (SD, 15:33)

Titleless End Credits (HD, 1:59)

Alternate Insert Song (HD, 1:31)

Video Liner Notes –

The Different Cuts (HD, 9:30)

Alternate Takes (HD, 6:08)

Text Liner Notes –

Production Information includes 11 click-through slides.

Translation Notes & Trivia includes 11 click-through slides.

Character Biographies includes 16 click-through slides.

Production Art Galleries –

Key Art includes 46 click-through slides.

Model Sheets includes 232 click-through slides.

Layouts includes 120 click-through slides.

Move Studies (HD, 2:05)

Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie is a terrific action-packed event film. The filmmaking is fun and there is a sense of energy throughout the production. The animation is top-notch and the classic cell-based animation aesthetic is outstanding. The release is all the better for including the unrated cut (alongside the PG-13 version) and the package comes with a plethora of supplements. The set also contains a huge selection of audio options and there is a viewing configuration for pretty much every fan under the sun. The 4K upgrade is fantastic and fans wanting the best and most definitive presentation will want to own the release. Highly recommended.