The Worst Video Game Movie Of All Time Is On Netflix
In the mid-90s Hollywood made a live-action adaptation of one of the most popular fighting games of all time. Some fans—myself included—would say this adaptation still holds up today. Oh, and they also made a Street Fighter movie which you can stream on Netflix.
Street Fighter
The live-action Street Fighter movie was released in 1994, the same year as the far superior Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, and a year before the much more enjoyable Mortal Kombat.
As a video game adaptation, the movie is an unfaithful cluster of fluff of various elements from the Street Fighter franchise. As a film, it’s a fun disaster best enjoyed by those under 10 and adults in possession of mind-altering substances.
To call Street Fighter a trainwreck is an understatement. The script by writer/director Steven de Souza feels like it was written by someone who slept in the same room as a Street Fighter fan and gleaned everything they know about the game through whatever random words that person mumbled in their sleep. Street Fighter, the movie, resembles Street Fighter, the game in only the most abstract ways.
The Story
The movie’s plot is far too convoluted for its own good. De Souza stated at the time that he didn’t want to make a generic martial arts movie, but in hindsight, that would have been far better than what we ended up with.
The story of the Street Fighter movie is that Colonel Guile ( Jean-Claude Van Damme) of the Allied Nations is fighting to stop evil warlord M. Bison (Raul Julia) from conquering the world.
Within that framework, we have several subplots, including Ryu and Ken as wise-cracking weapons dealers, Guile’s friend Charlie being turned into a big green monster, investigative reporter Chun Li covering Guile’s war against Bison, and more.
Reportedly, a lot of this was at Capcom’s insistence. According to De Suza, the company would frequently ask him to include more and more characters until there was barely any room for a story.
Raul Julia Is Great
The Street Fighter movie’s production was a well-documented disaster. Capcom contributed most of the film’s $35 million budget, hence why De Souza was forced to make every little change the company demanded.
Meanwhile, Jean-Claude Van Damme was allegedly on a strict diet of cocaine, which greatly affected his performance.
If Street Fighter the movie has a saving grace, it’s Raul Julia’s performance as M. Bison. Julia was fighting cancer during filming but still managed to turn in the best performance in the movie. Sadly, it would be his last, as he passed away shortly before Street Fighter was released.
The Reception
Even while fighting for his life, Julia portrays Bison with a scenery-chewing madness akin to Emperor Palpatine. It’s possible that Rual Julia was the only actor who really understood what movie he was making or maybe he was just so talented he couldn’t help but be awesome.
Either way, his performance is the one thing keeping the Street Fighter movie from being a completely irredeemable mess.
Despite movie goers and critics alike mercilessly savaging Street Fighter, the movie actually managed to turn a profit at the box office. Street Fighter grossed just shy of $100 million worldwide against a budget of $35 million.
Despite its success, the movie failed to spawn a sequel. You know a movie is terrible if it turns a profit and the studio still doesn’t want to make another one.
Stream It Now
REVIEW SCORE
While the movie is pretty much abysmal, I do recommend checking it out—if only for Raul Julia’s final performance and to laugh at everything else. Can you stream Street Fighter, the movie on Netflix? Shoryuken!
Sorry, couldn’t help myself.
