All the lightning-fisted thrills of the world?s wildest combat video game series explodes onto DVD in this brilliantly animated, sensationally supercharged adventure, Street FighterTM II: The Animated Movie. This all new u... more »nedited and uncensored version now boasts a stunning new 5.1 surround sound mix of the equally popular soundtrack. In the not too distant future, civilization is under attack. Leading the forces of darkness is the evil mastermind Bison, who is determined to capture the minds and bodies of the world?s greatest fighters for use in his manic plan to conquer the world. The only people on Earth with the potential to stop him are Ken and Ryu, two powerful legendary martial arts warriors. Together they face the fights of all fights. The final battle of good against evil is about to begin!« less
Stephen M. Sturgeon | Indianapolis, IN United States | 07/19/2006
(4 out of 5 stars)
"First, let's get the obvious out of the way. I'm sure the main reason the majority of guys are going to buy this is because of the shower scene. Let me just make one note about it and move on. The english version has an EXTENDED version of the shower scene. There is still one shot that's missing (just to be exact). However, the Japanese side of the disc does indeed have the UNCUT version of the shower scene. So feel free to go nuts, take screen shots etc. It is in here.
Now on to the rest of the review. This release is in everyway superior to the original US release.
It has the UK version of the movie (which is vastly extended over the US version) and the Japanese (completely un-cut).
The menu system is also a vast improvement (since the original DVD didn't even HAVE a menu system). The extra's, while sparse, also make it a cut above the original release.
The only thing I could possibly fault this release with is that it's only the Japanese version that's completely un-cut, while the UK version is merely extended.
Even that's not much of a fault. I don't typically watch my anime with the Japanese track, but with this one, I'll make an exception.
Once you see the Japanese version, you'll realize just how bad the english dub is. The dubbing team had to add to the dialogue to fit the mouth-flaps. This made for a lot of (for a lack of a better word) stupid dialogue that made some scenes go on painfully too long. It killed a lot of the flow of the movie. The original Japanese dialogue fits the flow of the movie better, and the voice acting is simply better.
While I may have actually grown to like KMFDM, Alice in Chains and Korn, thanks mostly to this movie, I can't deny that losing their music is a small loss considering how much better the dialogue is in Japanese.
A few notes on the movie itself. Yes the plot is paper-thin. But the fight scenes are what the movie is all about, and in those, Street Fighter II shines. There are a few parts with bad animation (crossed eyes being my major gripe). But taken as a whole, this movie is very well put together. It's well worth the cost. Stay away from the original US release at all costs.
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A great action Anime. A real fireball.
Jim Beam | Los Angeles, CA | 12/06/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"There's been many Anime's based on fighting games, including Street Fighter, Fatal Fury, Tekken, etc... But, "Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie" is probably the most well made one out of the group. Exceptionally well drawn characters, incredible fight scenes, coherent story, there is a lot to like about this Anime. If there is anything that stands out, it has to be the awesome fight scenes. This Anime fully takes advantage of the fact that it is an animation, and not a real movie with real actors, and choreographs some spectacular moves together. Obviously, the reason I mention this is other Anime's have failed that simple task and churned out some real dull fight sequences. Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, however, is a real eye-candy."
Finally, the True Version
Damon Ruffin | Atlanta, GA | 06/08/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I first saw this movie over 10 years ago in its original language and I've loved it ever since. Not only because I'm a Street Fighter fan, but also because it was beautifully animated and had great fight scenes.
I was disappointed to hear how they dubbed it in english. The voices ranged from decent to crappy and they didn't even take the characters' accents into consideration (Cammy's british and Dee Jay's jamaican). Not only that, but they completely changed the soundtrack to hard rock and even edited out some scenes.
In 1997, it was one of the first anime that was put on DVD in the U.S, so that might explain why they didn't add the original japanese audio track for those who didn't want to suffer the bad english dub. But Manga Entertainment re-released it in Europe in 2001 and still didn't include the original language track.
Now finally Manga gets it right. Although it still seems to have the same english audio track, it also contains the original japanese audio too... and it's uncut! I'd be happier if they re-dubbed the english track with better voice acting, but this is great for now. Thanks, Manga!"
Sorry, Van Damme
Daniel Taylor | Bronx, NY USA | 11/22/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"When Jean-Claude Van Damme came out with the live action movie, "Street Fighter", a lot of people, especially video game fans, were disgusted. This movie was a spoof of a video game, not a translation. However, this tragedy would be avenged with the release of "Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie". Unlike the live action film, this movie is extremely intense, decently parallel to the arcade story, and is overall a good movie. In the story, the evil organization known as Shadowloo is unleashing an icy grip over the world powers. Under the leadership of M.Bison, scientists Brainwash expert martial artists to assassinate world leaders. Bison's latest target is the legendary Ryu, who had recently defeated his top henchman, Sagat. Kidnapping his best friend and respected rival, Ken Masters, Bison plans to either add Ryu to his army, or destroy him. With the aid of Air Force Captain William Guile, Interpol agent Chun Li, and Sumo Wrestler Edmond Honda, Ryu wages a war against Shadowlaw, and prepares for a showdown with his best friend. The fights in this movie are spectacular, as the fighters from the smash hit video game execute signature moves. One of the most dazzling fights is the match up between Chun Li and Vega, which is very "Matrix"-like (ironically, this movie was released five years before "The Matrix"). There's eye candy in the movie, too. (Keep your eyes peeled for a cameo appearance by Akuma.) With a dynamic storyline and a cutting edge soundtrack, "Street Fighter II" is a masterpiece."
Best fight sequences and character history storylines!!
neorain | Russia | 05/08/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Are you tired off all those cheap attempts by untalented people to bring Street Fighter to life? Then get this, this is the COOLEST anime I have EVER seen! If you put all the characters into a tournament it would be really dumb and you would never really learn about them...that is why this anime is so cool..it doesnt do that...you have a story behind the movie...Each character has his/her own life and ambitions...the movie is very emotional!! You get to explore the history of Ryu's and Ken's friendship...the movie has EVERYTHING, -EXCELLENTLY CHOREOGRAPHED FIGHTING - real kung-fu and karate movies and styles were studied by the creators to bring this to life...the fight are very smart and emotional..and totally exciting, which make you wanna scream " yyyyyyeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" at some points!!!EMOTION - the movie deals with such things as friendship and love...it emphasizes on something which is very rare in cinema at all, - affections and emotions of 2 friends! you CANNOT stay untouched after very strong emotional scenes in the movie...some would make few people weep..MUSIC - From fast-paced rock songs to beautiful and calm Japanese music...the movie integrates it all very smoothly..I am not really that GREAT of a Street Fighter game fan, but this is the best ANIME i have EVER seen in my LIFE! ANd I have seen alot of anime...I recommend this with all my heart!! =)"