8Bit/Digi

Pax Bisonica

Street Fighter was red hot as a gaming franchise, so it was no surprise that Capcom would pursue a live-action film for their IP and wanted it out by the holiday season of 1994. Sure, it made money, but many fans were divided on the film, critics hated it, and so did I. What we received didn’t feel like the games I’d fallen in love with, and later Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie (released the same year) would show me how it could be done well. I’d seen this revolting display of an adaptation in the theaters and walked away somewhat crushed, disparaging the movie for years, but after learning more about the art of cinema and reading up on what everyone went through to make it, I’ve come around on Street Fighter.

The movie was written and directed by Steven E. de Souza (Die Hard, Commando, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs) on a quick turnaround. He impressed the video game company with his ideas. Instead of doing a normal tournament-style story, he’d raise the stakes, make it more like a war film with Bison as an evil dictator set on world domination, leaving Colonel William Guile of the Allied Nations and a motley crew of fighters to stop him. Although this was his first time directing a major motion picture, de Souza was familiar with the business. Capcom wanted all of their new combatants involved, but he convinced them that having more than seven main characters would take away from the story, at first that was. The company eventually forced him to increase the roster and even had an actor (who spoke English poorly) they wanted to play Ryu, but that wasn’t going to work. This meant that a brand new character had to be made to fulfill this request, which is why we have Captain Sawada (who still had to be dubbed).

That was just the beginning though, barely scratching the surface of the problems de Souza would soon face. This type of interference from one of the financiers isn’t uncommon in blockbuster filmmaking, but even after script and casting woes, the movie still has to be shot. The original plan was to split the production period between Thailand and Australia, but that first stop proved too much on the cast and crew, putting the film over two weeks behind and sending them to The Gold Coast early.

Thailand was hot, affecting everyone there, and so was the food, making many of them sick. This explains why certain characters look heavier and more muscular in some scenes, but not in others that occur around the same time. One crew member had to receive medical care for a skin irritation received in the river, a producer crashed into an oncoming bus due to being unfamiliar with driving rules there, and another person had a heart attack. Many of the crew simply didn’t return after these events. The soundstage in Bangkok was also a problem, riddled with holes while the season was lousy with rain. Oh, did I mention the coup? It was a potential one, but still, enough that the military closed the roads, causing delays, and the production couldn’t use helicopters for the final raid on Bison’s compound. That’s how we get the stealth boats instead.

Every Bison Dollar will be Worth Five British Pounds 

On the plus side, everything was cheap, even the messages. All of the actors and much of the crew were taking advantage of this, and it sounds like they were utilizing some of the other services at these places too. Everyone was young, hot, and according to Byron Mann who played Ryu, horny. He described them all as Vikings and Cavemen. It seemed like everyone was indulging in some way or another, as one actor was stopped at customs in Australia for having steroids, and several others were using drugs, especially the star.

Capcom wanted a huge American action film so you need a big action star and they were keen on Jean-Claude Van Damme, thinking he’d be perfect for Guile. No matter what we think of casting The Muscles from Brussels in the lead role, the video game developer thought he was perfect, perhaps because they had seen most of his movies dubbed. There was originally a line in the script to say that Guile was from Louisiana, to try and help explain the accent, but that line was cut at some point. It doesn’t matter, his speech is still epic. 

They also weren’t aware of his severe cocaine problem, which ramped up after dealing with legal issues from his third divorce. Van Damme’s partying caused him to constantly be late to set, to misread his lines, and not show up some days, claiming to be sick or just so he could pump up his muscles. To put a cherry on top of his disruptive rock star behavior, JCVD also admitted to having an affair with co-star Kylie Minogue (you know that one song) who de Souza hired for the role of Cammy as a favor to the Australian Actor’s Gig and a thank you for being allowed to shoot in the country.

One of the famous stories from the set is of Van Damme thinking he flubbed a line in one of the larger action scenes, to the point he yelled ‘cut.’ He hadn’t, but the actor was so insistent that they reset everything, from squibs and bullet holes to parts of the set, only for him to actually mess up the word he thought he had the second time. Classic JC. 

…You Got Paid? 

The original plan also called for shooting most of the talking scenes early on, which would give Charlie Picerni, the film’s stunt coordinator, and second unit director, time to train the actors for all the fighting and wire work they’d be doing. Unfortunately, Raul Julia had kept his stomach cancer a secret and was very weak when shooting started, meaning he needed time to put on weight and look screen-ready, and the shots that couldn’t wait were altered to help conceal his condition. I didn’t know until years later that the post-credits scene featuring his return was taken out of the theatrical showings, a small display of respect for their friend, but it’s put back into the movie on all home releases.  

Most of the actors weren’t ready for an action movie like this, physically or with the choreography. It was a rough shoot with a lot to memorize, people were getting beat up and bruised. On the other hand, Ming-Na Wen (Chun-Li), was in great shape – though jealous that Van Damme’s ass got more attention than hers – had trained heavily for the role, and referred to several of her co-stars as, “big wussies.” Wen also claims she made one of the men cry when she punched him. Picerni reportedly had to whip some of the performers into better shape before he could work with them. The switch meant that actors had no training and were being taught their moves mere hours before shooting, or in Mann’s case, having to learn an entire sword technique from a random extra because the fight trainer was too busy and didn’t do much with blades.

Many of the actors had taken on these roles because their kids were big fans of the games – though a few didn’t know Street Fighter was a game at all until after the film was released – meaning they knew very little about their characters or the special moves, and de Souza wasn’t sure he wanted something like a Hadouken in the film anyway, but Capcom did. There were attempts to add more of the signature maneuvers than what we saw in the finished product, but a rough editing process and a lack of time meant several of them didn’t materialize.

Even after the bulk of shooting was finished there were still several problems. While blowing up Bison’s temple for the film’s climax, the stunts group overdid it and the explosion got much closer to the actors than intended, also destroying $240,000 worth of scaffold equipment. Additionally, Picerni got into several arguments with de Souza and had different takes on who shot what scenes, with the Stunt Coordinator having almost nothing good to say about the director or his abilities on the set.

I Guess You Didn’t SEE That, Did You?  

Everyone agreed on shooting for a PG-13 rating, that sweet spot where the older kids are interested but parents might also take the younger ones with them and advertisers were on board to do toys, video games, and fast-food tie-ins. Due to a publicized shooting around that time, the MPAA seemed particularly hard on Street Fighter, giving it an R rating. This meant that de Sousa had to re-edit and remove most of the blood from the film and file down much of the fighting, resulting in some jankier action scenes that didn’t flow correctly, even if the transitions were solid. It was like lobbing parts off of a statue that had already been painfully stitched together. The less violent cut received a G, which no one wanted, so Van Damme was quickly brought back in to record a new line, featuring the word ‘shit,’ granting them that PG-13.

Capcom genuinely liked the final version of Street Fighter. They saw all of the characters they wanted – even the ones shoehorned in, like T. Hawk – the actors they had asked for, a few of the special moves—it was the American action movie they’d wanted and it made almost three times the money put into it. Moreover, it continues to make them money and influenced other parts of the franchise. Around 2003, it even looked like fans would get a sequel – A “Street Fighter II” if you will – with Van Damme returning and Dolph Lundgren joining the cast, but that never came to pass and instead, we received the even more hated Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (2009). 

Street Fighter wasn’t kind to anyone while it was being filmed and didn’t do most of the actors many favors after its release. Sure, they went on to do other things, but most of them succeeded because they already had other projects or found work on different paths, this is one you cautiously put on the resume. Van Damme’s career took a bit of a hit, but some of that might have also been due to problems from his personal life, while the movie looks to have truly broken de Souza’s streak and maybe even his success altogether.

Many fans said that Street Fighter was unfaithful to the games, critics didn’t like the tone and thought it didn’t provide much of anything in the way of acting – other than Raul Julia’s performance, everyone loved that – and both groups took issue with the action scenes. There are silly parts that still make me groan, like the music Guile is listening to while reminiscing on the boat, but some work, such as when Chun-Li and Cammy are picking on each other’s hair, or the classic, “Change the channel!” We can still see elements of that rated-R version here, Bison starts by just snapping necks, Guile is a dick at first and almost mercy kills Blanka, or when E. Honda makes the hand job joke after he’s just been tortured. There are little things I missed the first few times too, like some of the background announcements at the base making fun of the Shadaloo troops, which almost made me chuckle.

The movie has this odd campy side, but years later, I appreciate that Street Fighter doesn’t take itself too seriously. I may never get used to good guy Balrog, but knowing what they went through to make this film happen, learning about the strife and turmoil involved in something that tried so hard and almost failed spectacularly, I admire it.  

Much of my research came from this excellent article by Chris Plante on Polygon. 

Have you ever watched Street Fighter: The Movie? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

8Bit/Digi is an independent news outlet that provides insight into the video game and fandom community of the San Francisco Bay Area.