There is a civil war happening in the Southeast Asian port of Shadaloo City. Power mad dictator General M. Bison (Raul Julia) has been using drug money to equip himself with high tech weaponry, and has taken 63 Allied Nations relief workers hostage, demanding $20 billion in ransom within 3 days in exchange for their release. A.N. Commander Colonel William F. Guile (Jean-Claude Van Damme) is in charge of the mission to find Bison’s compound and rescue the hostages. Bison captured his friend Charlie (Robert Mammone), and he is eager to take down the psychotic warlord. Helping Guile with his mission are soldiers T. Hawk (Gregg Rainwater) and Cammy (Kylie Minogue).

Elsewhere, gunrunners Ryu Hoshi (Byron Mann) and Ken Masters (Damian Chapa) are trying to sell some weapons to Bison’s top arms supplier, Victor Sagat (Wes Studi), but the A.N. shows up during their deal and throws Ryu, Ken, Sagat, and his right hand man, cage fighter Vega (Jay Tavare), in prison. Guile offers Ryu and Ken a deal to infiltrate Sagat’s team in order to help him find Bison’s lair. Meanwhile, TV news journalist Chun-Li Zang (Ming-Na Wen) is on location doing a story about the hostages, but she is really on a personal vendetta to get revenge against Bison. As she sneaks around dressed like a ninja, her “news crew”—boxer Balrog (Grand L. Bush) and sumo wrestler Honda (Peter Tuiasosopo)—does the heavy lifting. However, her mission and Guile’s are on a collision course, and they are going to need to work together—a ragtag team of street fighters—to stop the evil Bison before he kills the hostages and starts to implement his plan to build an army of super soldiers to take over the world, making it into his own Bisonopolis.

The 1994 live action film Street Fighter was inspired by the Capcom video game Street Fighter II. However, instead of going in the same story direction of the game, which finds Bison assembling a big tournament of fighters, writer/director Steven E. de Souza (Die Hard, 48 Hours) takes the story in another direction, getting inspiration from the current events of the time with Saddam Hussain and Desert Storm. The film has more of a G.I. Joe team-up feel as the team goes on a James Bond-like adventure, though with a more cartoony and campy feel. I’m sure I must have seen this film when it was originally released, but I didn’t remember anything about it. It’s probably even been decades since I last played the video game. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the movie, and I’m not sure why it gets a bad rap. Maybe folks were expecting a different tone, but I thought it worked perfectly. It’s just a fun, over-the-top popcorn flick with lots of action, but also lots of humor, and violence that borders on cartoony. The inspiration from the video game is definitely there in the characters, but we don’t actually get a lot of one-on-one fighting until the final act of the film, when some of the good guys and bad guys start pairing off for some induvial fights amongst the chaos.

Raul Julia (for whom this film was his final role) is excellent as the evil M. Bison. He is so over the top with his beady eyes and psychotic behavior that it’s like watching a ridiculous Bond villain constantly explaining his overelaborate plan. And part of that plan is making sure that he gets to watch Guile witness it come to fruition. Van Damme, who sports a red crew cut, gets to show off his usual acrobatic kicks and fighting skills when he finally faces Bison. Ming-Na Wen is also a delight, getting to be the mild-mannered reporter by day, but secretly kick-ass ninja with skills to take down the bad guys. The rest of the street fighters also have this entertaining blend of martial arts skills and comical quips. However, two of the characters who stood out to me for the comic relief are two of Bison’s minions. Tech guy Dee Jay (Miguel A. Núñez Jr.) is regularly throwing faces in reaction to Bison’s ridiculous comments and demands to his staff, and has some great one-liners, especially when things in the lair start to go bad, and he exclaims “Oh man, I should have stayed at Microsoft.” And the dim-witted ogre Zangief (Andrew Bryniarski) is constantly making really stupid (but hilarious) comments. Overall, I found this to be a really fun and entertaining film that I would definitely watch again (and not wait another 25 years to do so).

Mill Creek’s new Blu-ray release generally looks and sounds quite good. The video is generally clean with a nice level of detail, especially in faces. Though it can be a bit inconsistent, with some exterior scenes heavier on the film grain, and some other scenes looking a bit hazy. Scenes that involve graphics on monitors also look a bit dated, such as views of consoles in Bison’s lair, or the newscast footage. The audio track is more consistent, providing clear dialogue and making nice use of the surround channel to provide an immersive viewing experience. The ambiance of helicopters, vehicles and commotion can often be heard in the distance in exterior shots, and inside Bison’s lair, the (often comical) warnings and announcements over the PA fill the room.

Universal had previously released a bonus-packed “Extreme Edition” Blu-ray of the film. Mill Creek’s new SteelBook release ports over the majority of the bonus material from that release, including an audio commentary and about 30 minutes of featurettes, outtakes, deleted scenes and trailers. The exceptions are noted below, but the only real loss are some storyboard comparisons and photos. However, this release adds almost 80 minutes of brand new interviews with the cast and crew, which are quite interesting and entertaining, and make a welcome addition.

The Blu-ray disc comes packed in a beautiful SteelBook case, along with a clear plastic slipcover with the stars’ names at the top in white, and the Street Fighter logo at the bottom. Written on the bottom edge of the case are “ARE YOU MAN ENOUGH TO FIGHT ME?” on the blue front cover side, and “ALL HUMANITY SHALL BOW TO ME” on the red back half. Also included inside is a small folder containing a $100 Bison bill.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:41:30)

Blu-ray:
• 1080p / Widescreen 2.35:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH

Extras:
This release includes seven brand new interviews, which are noted with an *.

• Operation Shadaloo: Making Street Fighter (Extended Version)* (19:58)
  Audio interview with writer/director Steven E. de Souza presented over clips, behind-the-scenes footage, production stills and concept art. He talks about creating the initial pitch for the film, casting the movie, the filming locations, some of the challenges they faced while filming in Thailand, working with Raul Julia, editing the film to get a PG-13 rating, the negative reactions to the movie, and more.
• I Will Crush You: Ken vs. Chapa* (11:18)
  Black & white interview with actor Damian Chapa (“Ken Masters”) presented side-by-side with clips, behind-the-scenes footage, video game footage, production stills and concept art. He talks about his initial naïve hesitations to take the role, meeting an emaciated Raul Julia for the first time, providing some comic relief for the film, filming the fight sequences, how his character differs from the game, and more.
• Game Over: Scoring Street Fighter* (10:08)
  Audio interview with composer Graeme Revell presented over clips, behind-the-scenes footage, video game footage, and production stills. He talks about getting involved with the film, selecting the songs for the soundtrack, the comedic tone of the film, finding the musical voice for the movie, the orchestral themes for each character, bringing in rap and hip-hop songs, competing with Mortal Kombat, and more.
• It Was Tuesday: Producing Street Fighter* (5:19)
  Audio interview with producer Edward Pressman presented over clips, behind-the-scenes footage, video game footage, production stills and concept art. He talks about how he got involved with the film, casting the movie, hiring a first time director, the challenges of filming in Bangkok, the initial reactions to the film, and more.
• The Strongest Woman in the World: Ming-Na vs. Chun-Li* (8:00)
  Audio interview with actress Ming-Na Wen presented over clips, behind-the-scenes footage, video game footage, production stills and concept art. She talks about her familiarity with the game when signing onto the film, being a lead in a movie, her audition, filming the action sequences, working with the director, finding the motivation of her character, meeting Raul Julia for the first time, working on action projects, and more.
• Ultimate Badass: JVCD at Universal* (11:49)
  Black & white interview with author David J. Moore (“The Good, The Tough, and The Deadly”), who talks about the career of actor Jean-Claude Van Damme, starting with the first time audiences saw him in the background in the film Breakin’ to the various other roles that helped him rise to stardom. Includes clips and stills from many of Van Damme’s performances.
• Attack Me If You Dare: Game vs. Film* (10:32)
  New interview with documentary filmmaker/film critic/Street Fighter game historian Oliver Harper, who discusses the history of the Street Fighter game franchise, the characters’ backstories in the live-action film adaptation, the negative reactions to the film, how they filmed footage for the video game while filming the movie, and more. Includes video game footage, photos of merchandise, film clips, and production and behind-the-scenes photos and footage.
• The Making of Street Fighter (5:55)
  1994 EPK featurette that introduces the premise, characters and stars of the film. Includes behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with writer/director Steven E. de Souza, stunt coordinator/2nd unit director Charlie Picerni, producer Edward R. Pressman, and actors Jean-Claude Van Damme (“Guile”), Raul Julia (“Bison”), Ming-Na Wen (“Chun-Li”), Kylie Minogue (“Cammy”), Byron Mann (“Ryu”), Damian Chapa (“Ken”), Andrew Bryniarski (“Zangief”), Wes Studi (“Sagat”) & Peter Navy Tuiasosopo (“Honda”). Presented in 4:3 format.
• Outtakes (3:08)
  Behind-the-scenes footage. Presented in 4:3 format.
• Deleted Scenes (2.09)
  Two deleted scenes play back-to-back. The first finds Chun-Li doing some reconnaissance. The second finds Cammy trying to stop Chun-Li at the Warlords of Shadaloo gathering.
• Cyberwalk (3:46)
  Chun-Li’s full newscast from Shadaloo City. Presented in 4:3 format.
• Archives (2:09)
  Video game footage of Bison vs. Guile from the Super Street Fighter II game (:32), the Arcade Movie Game trailer (:50), and video game footage of Bison vs. Guile from the Street Fighter: The Movie game (:46) play back-to-back. Presented in 4:3 format.
• Feature Commentary (1:41:30)
  Originally recorded for the 2009 “Extreme Edition” DVD release, writer/director Steven E. de Souza shares many fun and interesting behind-the-scenes stories and insights about the production.
• Trailers (3:34)
  Four trailers play back-to-back. Presented in 4:3 format.

Missing from the previous Blu-ray release are photo galleries (“Publicity Stills”, “Concept Drawings by Nikita Knatz”, “On the Street Fighter Set”, “Ad Campaigns”, “Trading Cards”, “Toys and Tie-Ins”), video game trailers (“Street Fighter IV Game Trailer” (3:08), “Street Fighter IV Game Teaser Trailer” (:36), Street Fighter IV Anime Trailer” (3:12)) and two “Storyboard Sequences” (runtime unknown). The previous “Cyberwalk” feature also included a “Recruiting Center” section that went through some of the phrases every Bison soldier must learn, but that portion is not present on this release.

Final Thoughts:

Street Fighter is a fun, action-packed adaptation of the popular video game franchise, with a great cast. While the initial theatrical audiences may not have been fans of the more campy, comical tone of the film, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It feels like a comic or cartoon come to life, and captures the spirit of the games, but without resorting to just a series of one-on-one fight tournaments. It’s a shame this never got a sequel. Mill Creek’s new SteelBook release looks and sounds great, and includes over 75 minutes of brand new interviews. It also ports over the majority of bonus material from the previous Blu-ray release. The disc is packed in a beautiful new Steelbook case and includes a fun $100 Bison bill. This release comes highly recommended for any fan of the film, and likely worth the upgrade/re-purchase. It’s also recommended for anyone just looking for a fun action/comedy throwback video game movie.