Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, known as Street Fighter II Movie (ストリートファイター II MOVIE, Sutorīto Faitā Tsū Mūbī) in Japan, is a 1994 anime film adaptation of the Street Fighter II fighting game.
It was written by Kenichi Imai, directed by Gisaburō Sugii and animated by Group TAC. The film, originally released in Japan on August 6, 1994, was released theatrically in the United Kingdom, France, and Spain, and was adapted into English in dubbed and subtitled format by Animaze for Manga Entertainment.
It was distributed by Toei Company in Japan, while 20th Century Fox also distributed in other countries.
The film was a critical and commercial success. Group TAC later produced another loose adaptation of the Street Fighter II game, the anime series Street Fighter II V.
Trivia:
The monitor cyborg's visual printout lists Chun Li's master as "B.Lee". This is a reference to Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee is also an inspiration to the Hong Kong street fighter Fei Long.
In a rare instance of an animated movie cutting out a completely finished animated sequence, Capcom decided to leave out a moment where Sagat had Ryu clinched by the neck while he delivered repeated knee strikes during their first fight in the grassy field. It was thought by the director that even though the knee strikes were a very common Muay Thai move that Sagat was so large and so muscular that each knee strike would break Ryu's arms. You can still see this sequence in the trailer for the Japanese laserdisc release that is included as a supplement on most all DVD and Bluray releases for the film.
The character Fei Long is voiced by Breaking Bad actor Bryan Cranston, however his name is not seen in the credits. His name is replaced by Phill Williams, for voice actor union legalities.
During the scene where Ryu travels to India, a mysterious man wearing a dark gray-blue karate-gi that looks similar to Ryu and Ken's karate uniform who is known by the name of Akuma (also known by the name of Gouki in Japan, Asia, South America and Australia) as he makes first film debut and cameo appearance by sitting beside a wall and selling fruit in Calcutta. Akuma/Gouki is one of the antagonists to the Street Fighter franchise who made his debut in the fourth edition to Street Fighter II: The World Warrior [1991] titled Super Street Fighter II Turbo [1994] (known as Super Street Fighter II X: Grand Master Challenge in Japan, Asia, South America and Australia) as a hidden boss and a secret character in the game to the CP System-II.
A post-credits message in the original Japanese version promotes a Spring 1995 Japan release for the Street Fighter live-action film which stars Jean-Claude Van Damme and the late Raul Julia.
Capcom originally intended for the English dub to be released theatrically, but for reasons unexplained, they decided to make it a straight-to-video release.
In the film, there is mention of a United States Presidential Candidate by the name of "Ed Pressman". This is a reference to 'Edward R. Pressman', producer of the live action Street Fighter (1994).
The movie served as the basis for Street Fighter Alpha: Warrior's Dreams (1995). Many elements and character designs were integrated into future games of the series (the Street Fighter Alpha series in particular) and the film's final battle is loosely adapted into Ryu's story in Street Fighter Alpha 3 (1998), where Ryu's sub-boss is a brainwashed Ken, whom he must defeat before facing Bison.
Ryu and Ken's younger appearances from their flashbacks are an alternate design of their appearances from Capcom's original Street Fighter [1987]. The past takes place in 1987 as Ryu and Ken were both aged 23 on that year and the present takes place in 1991 as Ryu and Ken are aged 27 on that year as well (according to the date of births on there profiles). In the game, the Ryu Vs. Sagat event took place on the past in the dawn of Thailand, in this animated movie, the event takes place on the present in the dusk of Australia.
During the scene where Chun-Li is describing Bison's head troops their Japanese names are shown on the profiles. Balrog is referred to as Bison and Vega as Balrog.
During the scene where Ken has a flashback of Ryu saving his life while driving Eliza home, Eliza interrupts Ken as he evades from an incoming truck with the Capcom logo on the side. Capcom is the creator of the Street Fighter franchise [1987-?].
A year later, Capcom release an interactive movie game simply titled Street Fighter II: Movie for PlayStation and Sega Saturn. They also released the CP System-II prequel to the original game called Street Fighter Alpha: Warriors' Dreams (known as Street Fighter Zero in Japan, Asia, South America and Australia) the prequel borrowed many of elements from the animated movie such as Master Bison's muscular body, Master Bison's VTOL jet is shown in endings, the idea of Ken's long hair originated from the animated movie, Ryu and Ken versus Master Bison in a secret "dramatic battle" stage in the original arcade version while in the Japan arcade version of the game features an instrumental QSound rendition of "Itoshisa To Setsunasa To Kokoro Tsuyosa To" is played instead of Master Bison's regular theme in that game, the overhaul Street Fighter Alpha/Zero 2 [1996] and the sequel Street Fighter Alpha/Zero 3 [1998] also borrowed many elements from SFII: the animated movie and they released an anime series by Manga Entertainment called Street Fighter II: Victory also directed by Gisaburo Sugii.
Shadowlaw's boxer is known in North America as Balrog, he is also known in Japan as Bison. Shadowlaw's claw is known in North America as Vega, he is also known in Japan as Balrog. Shadowlaw's dictator is known in North America as Bison, he is also known in Japan as Vega. Those three Shadowlaw warriors had there names arranged because of Capcom Co., Ltd. and Capcom USA's confirmations and issues during development of the game Street Fighter II: The World Warrior [1991].
When Ken takes the exit to the harbor, a Chevy van passes by with plates stating it to be from "crupornia".
It is mentioned that the President of America's name is Ed Pressman. Ed Pressman is the producer of the American Live action adaptation of Street fighter, starring Jean Claude Van Damme.
Ryu and Ken's younger appearances from there flashbacks are an alternate design of there appearances from Capcom's original Street Fighter [1987]. The past takes place in 1987 as Ryu and Ken were both aged 23 on that year and the present takes place in 1991 as Ryu and Ken are aged 27 on that year as well (according to the date of births on there profiles). In the game, the Ryu Vs. Sagat event takes place on the past in the dawn of Thailand, in this animated movie, the Ryu Vs. Sagat event takes place on the present in the dusk of Australia.
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