Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

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

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 16, 2023

Fighting games have never been my gaming lane or my gaming forte, but I certainly put a lot of hours into Street Fighter II on the SNES way back in the day. The Street Fighter games (and the fighting genre in general) have evolved significantly since then, especially with the advent of more buttons on controllers to make moves more complicated beyond the genre's origins and, I think, almost inaccessible for those who are not hardcore genre fans. Games like Mortal Kombat and Injustice follow suit: they're fun, they look great, but they feel more tailored to the hardcore rather than the casual audience. But, regardless of how one perceives the genre, there is little doubt that it was Street Fighter II that absolutely defined the fighting genre in a single title. With its impressive cast of characters, unique moves, great environments, and overall fun play style, it peaked the Street Fighter franchise in a way that even the more graphically and technically modern games just can't match. So, as one of the most legendary games ever (and a 2017 inductee into the video game hall of fame), it's not surprising that the film earned an animated feature film which manages to maintain the simplistic spirit of the game while building a healthy, vibrant, though focused world and narrative around the action.

Get your quarters ready, because the world's top fighters are about to go head to head in this explosive animated adaptation of the classic Street Fighter II arcade game! M. Bison's plan to crush those who would oppose his organization, Shadowloo, is simple: brainwash the strongest martial artists around with his dreaded psycho power, and turn them into living weapons! To stop him, Interpol agent Chun-Li must team up with Major Guile of the United States Air Force, but that's no small feat.

They'll have to put aside their differences and learn to work together, and fast. Bison is closing in on Ryu, a traveling vagabond said to be the best fighter in the world. Fortunately (or not), Ryu is a hard man to find, but the same can't be said of his eternal rival, Ken. And it might just be through Ken that Bison will get what he wants! Can the World Warriors beat Bison to the punch? See the action (and we mean all the action!) in Street Fighter II the Animated Movie, presented for the first time ever entirely uncut!

Many problems that face game-based movies stems from diverted focus. If a Street Fighter movie is to be successful, it needs to fit into and fill the mold of the game on which it is based. That was definitely a problem for Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, and it was also a problem for the campy Street Fighter with Raul Julia and Jean-Claude Van Damme, but it is not a problem for Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie. While this is not a straight game recreation where it's nothing but fighter-versus-fighter, it is definitely a lean, focused, and effectively action-oriented experience that foregoes a lot of the narrative fluff that so many filmmakers seem intent upon inserting into their films. The story is focused and effective in building towards various action scenes. Character development is more than sufficient and allows for all the necessary depth to give meaning to the plot and action. Kudos to the film for knowing its source and the sort of film that fans of that source would enjoy. It's a rare treat in the video game-based movie genre, and Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie just about nails the tone, tenor, and tempo of the game.

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

Aside from the odd pop, splotch, and speckle, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie looks terrific on Blu-ray. The presentation is very nearly described as "top notch" for its retention of its natural film-transfer characteristics, including a nicely satisfying grain structure. The animation is crisp and efficient, boasting excellent line definition and wonderful details that the 1080p resolution brings out to a high degree of excellence, especially in static environments but also in fluid character models as well. Color depth is excellent. The image is well balanced with colors ranging from deep and bleak to punchy and vivid. The palette never wanders into the tonal extremities and maintains a nice, natural balance for the duration. Black crush is never a problem, even in low light, and while whites are not super dynamic and vivid, they are nicely balanced. This is a quality animated Blu-ray image from Discotek Media.

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

Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie punches onto Blu-ray with a plethora of lossless, lossy, and uncompressed audio options, including English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 unrated as well as English (UK, Unrated) LPCM, English (PG-13) Dolby Digital 2.0, an original English score track (LPCM 2.0), Japanese (LPCM 2.0), and isolated Japanese score (Dolby Digital 2.0). No matter the track selected, the listening experience is impressive. Even the lossy tracks offer rich and full audio, limited of course to the front channels but all offering excellent separation and fidelity, spot-on detail, and impressive width. I spent the most time win the English 5.1 track and came away impressed with its depth, immersion, and clarity. The track is aggressive but well balanced and never comes across with any element dominating, critical especially when the action shares space with dialogue. The track handles the spoken word very well, as it does atmosphere, but the key component here is the action and immersion, which satisfy as an excellent presentation for oomph and clarity alike with oftentimes frenzied surround activity. Listeners will never be left wanting regardless of how they choose to listen.

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

This Blu-ray release of Street Fighter II contains a few extras. No DVD or digital copies are included, but is does ship with an alternate artwork non embossed slipcover.

• Interactive Movie Game Cutscene Collection (480i, 18:02): On-screen text reads, "In 1996, a tie-in game, asl with the title Street Fighter II MOVIE, came out exclusively in Japan for the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn. Largely an FMV (full-motion video) game, the player took control of an advanced Monitor Cyborg tasked with scanning the World Warriors and analyzing their fighting movies as performed in the movie footage. The Minotir Cyborg's goal was to use this data at the end of the game in order to try and defeat Ryu in a minigame based on the engine from Super Street Fighter II: Turbo. The game mostly used footage pulled directly from the animated movie, but it also featured some all-new animation and extended scenes that were entirely unique to the game. These include a scene of Chun-Li performing her Kikoken (fireball) move originally intended for the movie itself, as well as multiple alternate endings showing the Cyborg's victory over Ryu What follows is a compilation of these unique scenes."
• English Home Video Opening & Closing Credits (480i, 4x3, 15:33): Various versions of the opening and closing credits in English.
• Titleless End Credits (1080p, 1:59): Enjoy the animation at the end of the film minus on-screen text.
• Trailers (480i):
  
  
  • Japanese Trailers (5:35 total runtime)
  • English Trailers (2:21 total runtime).
• Video Liner Notes (1080p):
  
  
  • The Different Cuts (9:30): Discussing the various English language cuts that have existed over the years. The extra is included in order to address any various rumors about what exists and where. It explores the original Japanese version and looks at various differences between the versions (dialogue, music, pacing edits, changes to violence and nudity levels, etc.).
  • Alternate Takes (6:08): On-screen text reads, "To accommodate the many different English versions of Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, the actors were asked to record their lines in various ways. They called out their special attacks in both Japanese and English, and sometimes used different levels of harsh language. What follows is a collection of all the alternate takes for these lines, including some of which were never used."
• Text Liner Notes (1080p):
  
  
  • Production History: Viewers can key through a text-based history of the game franchise and the film's production story. The supplement is set to score.
  • Translation Notes & Trivia (1080p): Viewers can key through various character details and translation anecdotes. The supplement is set to score.
  • Character Biographies: On-screen text reads, "These character biographies were written around the time of the movie's release, thus they include some antiquated terminology such as 'shadowlaw,' as well as some rough choices in grammar and punctuation. They are presented here as faithfully as possible, minus some parentheticals to denote regional character name differences and the correction of some spelling errors for clarity." Viewers can key through various character biographical sketches. The supplement is set to score.
• Production Art Galleries (1080p):
  
  
  • Key Art: On-screen text reads, "The following key art was used to promote and market Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie in various regions, while the lineup artwork was created as character reference to help in animating the movie." Viewers can key through a number of high-quality images. No slideshow option is available. The supplement is set to score.
  • Model Sheets: On-screen text reads, "These model sheets served as a standard guide to help the animators render the characters, machines, and backgrounds consistently throughout the film's scenes. Some additional production art is also included." Viewers can key through a number of high-quality images. No slideshow option is available. The supplement is set to score.
  • Layouts: On-screen text reads, "These layouts were sued to block out shots for the movie, filling in the finer details such as camera angles, perspective, lighting, shading, and character poses." Viewers can key through a number of high-quality images. No slideshow option is available. The supplement is set to score.
  • Move Studies: On-screen text reads, "These move studies were created specifically for Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie to explore how the game's special moves would translate from their original 2D perspective into a more three-dimensional space. First you will see the animation play a few times at full speed, then once more in slow-motion to showcase each frame." Rather than key through, this auto-plays. The supplement is set to score.

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

Street Fighter II is a solid movie that delivers exceptional entertainment value as a standalone film but more so as a wonderfully vibrant and satisfying translation of a classic video game. The movie is lean and straightforward and holds up very well today. Discotek has done a wonderful job on this Blu-ray, offering plenty of quality, and necessary, extras in support of the film. Various cuts and soundtrack options are included as well. The picture and sound presentations are very good. Highly recommended, but do know that the film is getting a 4K UHD release in November 2023.