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Street Fighter II: Animated Movie Chun-Li vs Vega, best game to movie scene ever?

V

Vespa

Member
Scavenger said:
It's not a Manga release, but a Kaze release. Manga handles the distribution for Kaze. Kaze is notorious for their lack of quality, so it's very unlikely they'll put out a new release.
Click to expand...

Ah, you're right, how did I miss that massive KAZE logo :/ Import it is then!
 
A

Aske

Member
nilbog21 said:
Na, unfortunately the fact that she is half naked and there's pantie shots all over the place takes away from it. There's just too much teenage fanboy cringe to enjoy the fight. The only truely magical part is when she drop kicks his face into the wall at the end. God damn.
Click to expand...

The shower scene is pure fan service, but I can't imagine thinking any aspect of the fight itself is. Fair enough if flashbacks to more exploitative anime are triggered by any and all flashes of cartoon pantsu, but I'm not sure how anyone could depict a fight with that level of dynamism without showing her underwear.

The fact that she's dressed that way at all is valuable to the emotional weight of the scene (in spite of the obvious trope): she's as vulnerable as she could be, and Vega's attack is both perverse and cowardly. The fight is heavily weighted in his favour, which makes Chun-li's victory more impressive. It also contextualises her injuries: she didn't take that damage due to a lack of skill, but because of the disadvantage she was at when she was attacked by surprise in her apartment right before going to bed.
 
N

nullset2

Junior Member
ThoughtsOfSpeaking said:
Even 10 year old me would roll his eyes at this.
Click to expand...

10 year old you needs to chill the fuck out.

EDIT: why is everyone shitting on fanservice now? Is the Internet full of nu-male eunuchs who can't get a stiffy to some onscreen titty in peace or what?

It's a freakin anime movie from the 90s based on a game which already had quite a bit of fanservice to begin with. Chill out dudes.
 
M

Maligna

Banned
Aske said:
The shower scene is pure fan service, but I can't imagine thinking any aspect of the fight itself is. Fair enough if flashbacks to more exploitative anime are triggered by any and all flashes of cartoon pantsu, but I'm not sure how anyone could depict a fight with that level of dynamism without showing her underwear.

The fact that she's dressed that way at all is valuable to the emotional weight of the scene (in spite of the obvious trope): she's as vulnerable as she could be, and Vega's attack is both perverse and cowardly. The fight is heavily weighted in his favour, which makes Chun-li's victory more impressive. It also contextualises her injuries: she didn't take that damage due to a lack of skill, but because of the disadvantage she was at when she was attacked by surprise in her apartment right before going to bed.
Click to expand...

Well said!
 
M

MANGOD

Banned
Vespa said:
Saw this on twitter, I do hope this makes it to the UK!
CprUADYWEAAsMt-.jpg
Click to expand...
What region is this? I have a multi player
 
G

Garlador

Member
nilbog21 said:
Na, unfortunately the fact that she is half naked and there's pantie shots all over the place takes away from it. There's just too much teenage fanboy cringe to enjoy the fight. The only truely magical part is when she drop kicks his face into the wall at the end. God damn.
Click to expand...
I showed the movie to my VERY feminist friend, who often rolls her eyes as gratuitous, pointless fanservice... and she was more than okay with the whole thing and her explanation why made a lot of sense to me.

SO many fighting game anime adaptations had gratuitous, legitimately pointless shower scenes that served absolutely no purpose: Battle Arena Toshinden, Fatal Fury, Tekken, etc. They were just "there" with the hot girl without her clothes exclusively and entirely for the fanservice, halting the story, pacing, and even tone of the movies to shoehorn the scene in.

But Street Fighter II, she reasoned, served an actual point, because it was showcasing Chun-li just prior to an attempted assassination, at her most vulnerable and exposed (literally and figuratively). It wasn't just "there" and the scene isn't just titillating; it's a CREEPY scene, one spliced in with footage of a murderous psychopath breaking into her home, violating her security and privacy, and spying on her like a hunter stalking his prey. It's very similar to a certain very famous horror scene:
psycho.jpg
Click to expand...

And it's paced like a Hitchcock thriller too. The scene isn't just there and over with... it's slow and drawn out. It builds. The POV of the killer slowly creeping from room to room. The scene of Guile trying to contact her but getting no response. Shots of her assailant getting into position, finding the perfect moment and angle to strike... Everything is building towards a horrific and untimely end for our heroine, following the thriller tropes perfectly as the vulnerable and beautiful girl is entirely unaware of the blade-wielding psychopath peaking in on her in the shower and hiding in her very bedroom. He is, by most definitions, a masked slasher villain getting ready to pick off the girl in the bedroom, a cliche that was incredibly predictable and well-worn already.
halloween.jpg
Click to expand...

And that's what my friend (and I) love about the scene so much. It averts the trope HARD. Rather than a quick and clean kill, the prey demonstrates herself to be MORE than capable of viciously fighting back on even footing. No running away. No chase sequence. Guile actually becomes the "male hero" who hears she's in trouble and races to "save" her, but in the actual encounter, she is spilling blood for blood and making every hit an eye for an eye.

While Vega starts off the fight every bit the indestructible masked serial killer (initially shrugging off attacks and laughing at her attempts to strike back), his unshakable bravado starts to crumble the longer the fight goes on, the harder he has to work for every hit, how her blows start wearing him down, how she begins to get under his skin and not just out-fight him but also out-think him and he soon finds himself a few steps behind her. We see the gradual loss of his advantage and control.

When she was in the shower and in the bedroom, all the cards where in his hands. He had all the advantage. He had all the power (even, if you wish to read into it, the power of "male gaze" to look at Chun-li from his POV as "just fanservice" to ogle and savor before the kill). By the end of the fight, he's been stripped of his power and advantage. Even with everything supposedly in his favor, he gets absolutely wrecked.

And all that build-up, all that dehumanizing and predator-esque behavior prior to it (calling her just a "cute little bunny" sums up his opinion of her, I think), made Chun-li's ultimate victory not just the ending of one of the best fights in movie history - animated or otherwise - but a very dramatic climax to a supremely well-paced, well-shot power-play between the two individuals that played into, and then defied, the tropes it exploited and deconstructed.
chun-li-vega-o.gif
Click to expand...

It's cathartic in a way few fights and finales are.
 
petran79

petran79

Banned
Garlador said:
I showed the movie to my VERY feminist friend, who often rolls her eyes as gratuitous, pointless fanservice... and she was more than okay with the whole thing and her explanation why made a lot of sense to me.

SO many fighting game anime adaptations had gratuitous, legitimately pointless shower scenes that served absolutely no purpose: Battle Arena Toshinden, Fatal Fury, Tekken, etc. They were just "there" with the hot girl without her clothes exclusively and entirely for the fanservice, halting the story, pacing, and even tone of the movies to shoehorn the scene in.

But Street Fighter II, she reasoned, served an actual point, because it was showcasing Chun-li just prior to an attempted assassination, at her most vulnerable and exposed (literally and figuratively). It wasn't just "there" and the scene isn't just titillating; it's a CREEPY scene, one spliced in with footage of a murderous psychopath breaking into her home, violating her security and privacy, and spying on her like a hunter stalking his prey. It's very similar to a certain very famous horror scene:


And it's paced like a Hitchcock thriller too. The scene isn't just there and over with... it's slow and drawn out. It builds. The POV of the killer slowly creeping from room to room. The scene of Guile trying to contact her but getting no response. Shots of her assailant getting into position, finding the perfect moment and angle to strike... Everything is building towards a horrific and untimely end for our heroine, following the thriller tropes perfectly as the vulnerable and beautiful girl is entirely unaware of the blade-wielding psychopath peaking in on her in the shower and hiding in her very bedroom. He is, by most definitions, a masked slasher villain getting ready to pick off the girl in the bedroom, a cliche that was incredibly predictable and well-worn already.


And that's what my friend (and I) love about the scene so much. It averts the trope HARD. Rather than a quick and clean kill, the prey demonstrates herself to be MORE than capable of viciously fighting back on even footing. No running away. No chase sequence. Guile actually becomes the "male hero" who hears she's in trouble and races to "save" her, but in the actual encounter, she is spilling blood for blood and making every hit an eye for an eye.

While Vega starts off the fight every bit the indestructible masked serial killer (initially shrugging off attacks and laughing at her attempts to strike back), his unshakable bravado starts to crumble the longer the fight goes on, the harder he has to work for every hit, how her blows start wearing him down, how she begins to get under his skin and not just out-fight him but also out-think him and he soon finds himself a few steps behind her. We see the gradual loss of his advantage and control.

When she was in the shower and in the bedroom, all the cards where in his hands. He had all the advantage. He had all the power (even, if you wish to read into it, the power of "male gaze" to look at Chun-li from his POV as "just fanservice" to ogle and savor before the kill). By the end of the fight, he's been stripped of his power and advantage. Even with everything supposedly in his favor, he gets absolutely wrecked.

And all that build-up, all that dehumanizing and predator-esque behavior prior to it (calling her just a "cute little bunny" sums up his opinion of her, I think), made Chun-li's ultimate victory not just the ending of one of the best fights in movie history - animated or otherwise - but a very dramatic climax to a supremely well-paced, well-shot power-play between the two individuals that played into, and then defied, the tropes it exploited and deconstructed.


It's cathartic in a way few fights and finales are.
Click to expand...

I fully agree! Very well explained. Also worth mentioning that prior to SF, the director also took part in the animation of Adachi mangas. He certainly had experience in portraying character relations.

Regarding shower scenes, watch this scene (from minute 13:38 and for 1 minute). I remember this scene from the manga but the anime makes it perfect. Completely opposite of SF scene but amazing direction.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x18zlr1_hiatari-ryoukou-episode-01-raw_shortfilms
 
M

Maligna

Banned
Garlador said:
I showed the movie to my VERY feminist friend, who often rolls her eyes as gratuitous, pointless fanservice... and she was more than okay with the whole thing and her explanation why made a lot of sense to me.

SO many fighting game anime adaptations had gratuitous, legitimately pointless shower scenes that served absolutely no purpose: Battle Arena Toshinden, Fatal Fury, Tekken, etc. They were just "there" with the hot girl without her clothes exclusively and entirely for the fanservice, halting the story, pacing, and even tone of the movies to shoehorn the scene in.

But Street Fighter II, she reasoned, served an actual point, because it was showcasing Chun-li just prior to an attempted assassination, at her most vulnerable and exposed (literally and figuratively). It wasn't just "there" and the scene isn't just titillating; it's a CREEPY scene, one spliced in with footage of a murderous psychopath breaking into her home, violating her security and privacy, and spying on her like a hunter stalking his prey. It's very similar to a certain very famous horror scene:


And it's paced like a Hitchcock thriller too. The scene isn't just there and over with... it's slow and drawn out. It builds. The POV of the killer slowly creeping from room to room. The scene of Guile trying to contact her but getting no response. Shots of her assailant getting into position, finding the perfect moment and angle to strike... Everything is building towards a horrific and untimely end for our heroine, following the thriller tropes perfectly as the vulnerable and beautiful girl is entirely unaware of the blade-wielding psychopath peaking in on her in the shower and hiding in her very bedroom. He is, by most definitions, a masked slasher villain getting ready to pick off the girl in the bedroom, a cliche that was incredibly predictable and well-worn already.


And that's what my friend (and I) love about the scene so much. It averts the trope HARD. Rather than a quick and clean kill, the prey demonstrates herself to be MORE than capable of viciously fighting back on even footing. No running away. No chase sequence. Guile actually becomes the "male hero" who hears she's in trouble and races to "save" her, but in the actual encounter, she is spilling blood for blood and making every hit an eye for an eye.

While Vega starts off the fight every bit the indestructible masked serial killer (initially shrugging off attacks and laughing at her attempts to strike back), his unshakable bravado starts to crumble the longer the fight goes on, the harder he has to work for every hit, how her blows start wearing him down, how she begins to get under his skin and not just out-fight him but also out-think him and he soon finds himself a few steps behind her. We see the gradual loss of his advantage and control.

When she was in the shower and in the bedroom, all the cards where in his hands. He had all the advantage. He had all the power (even, if you wish to read into it, the power of "male gaze" to look at Chun-li from his POV as "just fanservice" to ogle and savor before the kill). By the end of the fight, he's been stripped of his power and advantage. Even with everything supposedly in his favor, he gets absolutely wrecked.

And all that build-up, all that dehumanizing and predator-esque behavior prior to it (calling her just a "cute little bunny" sums up his opinion of her, I think), made Chun-li's ultimate victory not just the ending of one of the best fights in movie history - animated or otherwise - but a very dramatic climax to a supremely well-paced, well-shot power-play between the two individuals that played into, and then defied, the tropes it exploited and deconstructed.


It's cathartic in a way few fights and finales are.
Click to expand...

Man, you should have made the OP!
 
-Amon-

-Amon-

Member
nullset2 said:
10 year old you needs to chill the fuck out.

EDIT: why is everyone shitting on fanservice now? Is the Internet full of nu-male eunuchs who can't get a stiffy to some onscreen titty in peace or what?

It's a freakin anime movie from the 90s based on a game which already had quite a bit of fanservice to begin with. Chill out dudes.
Click to expand...

I love you, I really do. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
 
J

JLynn

Member
Vespa said:
Region A.

Need a region B release somewhere in the world...come on Australia!
Click to expand...

Australia may have a chance since I can't find an official Australia release of the bluray (The few site I've seen seems to have imported the UK bluray). Is Madman still around?

NoctisVsStar said:
Isn't this getting a US release date in oct?
Click to expand...

Yes. But the lucky freaks who attended Otakon got a chance to buy early copies. So far they haven't put them up on ebay.
 
D

Disktrasa

Banned
Omg, i love this movie, it remembers me of my childhood :)

I want a new release on blueray, can we make that happen gaf? :)

Edit: seems like there is a bluerayversion, must have now!
 
A

Aske

Member
Isaccard said:
Do we know what's in the special special edition? Not seeing it on Amazon

Or is this the U.K. Cut version
Click to expand...

The BDs up now for pre-order on Amazon are definitely the Eastern Star/Discotek uncut version, but yeah, I'd like to know if those are also the Collector's Edition, or if that's a separate thing. Want to be sure I get my hands on the CE.
 
S

Syril

Member
Aske said:
The BDs up now for pre-order on Amazon are definitely the Eastern Star/Discotek uncut version, but yeah, I'd like to know if those are also the Collector's Edition, or if that's a separate thing. Want to be sure I get my hands on the CE.
Click to expand...
I think "Collector's Edition" is just what the release in general is labeled. At least, when I got it at their booth at a con recently they certainly weren't selling any other edition of it.
 
-sdp

-sdp

Member
One of my favorite movies and with the most confusing history of releases. I still remember buying the "Uncut" VHS used at a comic book shop only to see it wasn't uncensored since I had already seen a bootleg subtitled version before and then bought the "for the first time uncensored" version that came out around ten years ago on DVD which had both JP/USA version of the movies since it was "impossible" to splice in the missing footage but now we know it wasn't so impossible.

I prefer the American dub/music over the Japanese one but looking at the even more uncensored clips and they feel like they're trying too hard to be edgy. I think the original "uncensored" dub might still be the best. Who knows it might all be nostalgia.
 
A

Aske

Member
Syril said:
I think "Collector's Edition" is just what the release in general is labeled. At least, when I got it at their booth at a con recently they certainly weren't selling any other edition of it.
Click to expand...

Excellent - that was the impression I had. Might be a first run thing. I'm jealous you scored an early copy!


-sdp said:
One of my favorite movies and with the most confusing history of releases. I still remember buying the "Uncut" VHS used at a comic book shop only to see it wasn't uncensored since I had already seen a bootleg subtitled version before and then bought the "for the first time uncensored" version that came out around ten years ago on DVD which had both JP/USA version of the movies since it was "impossible" to splice in the missing footage but now we know it wasn't so impossible.

I prefer the American dub/music over the Japanese one but looking at the even more uncensored clips and they feel like they're trying too hard to be edgy. I think the original "uncensored" dub might still be the best. Who knows it might all be nostalgia.
Click to expand...

My original dub was the UK uncensored version. I didn't even notice the handful of fucks tossed around - but of course they felt weirdly absent when I saw the censored dub. I wouldn't say they were too try-hard. Shadaloo are some badass motherfuckers, and it's important we don't try and kid ourselves about how they were viewed by people at the time.
 
A

Ashura

Neo Member
I just thought to check this thread, and I'm happy to see it's still active.

After my mom passed it was really hard to push through and finish this, but it makes me happy to see everyone's really excited for the release. All the kind words of support earlier on in the thread made a lot, so thank you guys.

If you guys have any questions about it, let me know.

"Collector's Edition" is just what the release is called in general. There's no "Standard Edition" or anything. Sorry for the confusion...

Here's a breakdown of everything that's on it:

Main Feature:

Uncut video from the same source as the UK disc, only with better compression that keeps the grain.

Audio options:
-English (US Unrated w/ Rock Music, 5.1)
-English (UK Unrated w/ Rock Music, Stereo)
-English (13-Rated w/ Rock Music, Stereo)
-English (w/ Original Japanese Score, Stereo)
-Japanese (Stereo)
-Isolated Japanese Score (Stereo)

Subtitle options:
-English (US Names)
-English (JP Names)
-Signs & Japanese Songs only
-Signs only

Special Features:

THE PG-13 CUT (a 1080p HD restoration of the original US VHS edit)
-English Audio
-English w/Japanese Score
(includes optional signs subtitles)

Interactive Movie Game Cutscene Collection
English Home Video Opening & Closing Credits
Titleless ("Clean") End Credits

Japanese Trailers
English Trailers

LINER NOTES FEATURETTES
-The Different Cuts
-Alternate Takes

LINER NOTES
-Production History
-Translation Notes & Trivia
-Character Biographies

PRODUCTION ART
-Key Art - Major artwork pieces used for film promotion
-Model Sheets - Line art depicting all the film's characters
-Layouts
-Move Studies
 
-sdp

-sdp

Member
Sounds like you did an amazing job with it, I've been following you on twitter and seeing the progress as well as some of your other projects; The Magic Knight Rayearth BR looks to be coming along nicely.
Ashura said:
Interactive Movie Game Cutscene Collection
Click to expand...

Wow the ones from the CD game? Didn't expect that feature at all!
 
B

Blueblur1

Member
Ashura said:
I just thought to check this thread, and I'm happy to see it's still active.

After my mom passed it was really hard to push through and finish this, but it makes me happy to see everyone's really excited for the release. All the kind words of support earlier on in the thread made a lot, so thank you guys.

If you guys have any questions about it, let me know.
Click to expand...

Oh gosh, I'm so sorry for your loss. You have my condolences.

Thank you for your hard work. I have a copy pre-ordered but will likely buy a couple more to give to my friends who also really enjoy Street Fighter. :)
 
L

Lupin the Third

Member
TheAznOne said:
Is the new BD release being only sold on Amazon?
Click to expand...

It's also on RightStuf.com and will probably also be on sites like Deep Discount and so forth. I would say "check your local Hastings," but uhhh....not so much anymore. Possibly Best Buy at some point. I'm not involved in distribution, but that's what I know.

"Collector's Edition" is just what the release is called in general. There's no "Standard Edition" or anything. Sorry for the confusion...
Click to expand...

Yeah, the reason it's called this is because there have already been two US DVD releases of it, so we want people to be able to easily distinguish that it is a newer (and IMHO better) release. Of course, the Blu-ray banner should also give that away, but for DVD buyers.... well, you get the idea.
 
R

RedSwirl

Junior Member
I actually grabbed the Blu-Ray at Otakon. Had to get a second copy for my brother too. So dope.

Garlador said:
I showed the movie to my VERY feminist friend, who often rolls her eyes as gratuitous, pointless fanservice... and she was more than okay with the whole thing and her explanation why made a lot of sense to me.

SO many fighting game anime adaptations had gratuitous, legitimately pointless shower scenes that served absolutely no purpose: Battle Arena Toshinden, Fatal Fury, Tekken, etc. They were just "there" with the hot girl without her clothes exclusively and entirely for the fanservice, halting the story, pacing, and even tone of the movies to shoehorn the scene in.

But Street Fighter II, she reasoned, served an actual point, because it was showcasing Chun-li just prior to an attempted assassination, at her most vulnerable and exposed (literally and figuratively). It wasn't just "there" and the scene isn't just titillating; it's a CREEPY scene, one spliced in with footage of a murderous psychopath breaking into her home, violating her security and privacy, and spying on her like a hunter stalking his prey. It's very similar to a certain very famous horror scene:


And it's paced like a Hitchcock thriller too. The scene isn't just there and over with... it's slow and drawn out. It builds. The POV of the killer slowly creeping from room to room. The scene of Guile trying to contact her but getting no response. Shots of her assailant getting into position, finding the perfect moment and angle to strike... Everything is building towards a horrific and untimely end for our heroine, following the thriller tropes perfectly as the vulnerable and beautiful girl is entirely unaware of the blade-wielding psychopath peaking in on her in the shower and hiding in her very bedroom. He is, by most definitions, a masked slasher villain getting ready to pick off the girl in the bedroom, a cliche that was incredibly predictable and well-worn already.


And that's what my friend (and I) love about the scene so much. It averts the trope HARD. Rather than a quick and clean kill, the prey demonstrates herself to be MORE than capable of viciously fighting back on even footing. No running away. No chase sequence. Guile actually becomes the "male hero" who hears she's in trouble and races to "save" her, but in the actual encounter, she is spilling blood for blood and making every hit an eye for an eye.

While Vega starts off the fight every bit the indestructible masked serial killer (initially shrugging off attacks and laughing at her attempts to strike back), his unshakable bravado starts to crumble the longer the fight goes on, the harder he has to work for every hit, how her blows start wearing him down, how she begins to get under his skin and not just out-fight him but also out-think him and he soon finds himself a few steps behind her. We see the gradual loss of his advantage and control.

When she was in the shower and in the bedroom, all the cards where in his hands. He had all the advantage. He had all the power (even, if you wish to read into it, the power of "male gaze" to look at Chun-li from his POV as "just fanservice" to ogle and savor before the kill). By the end of the fight, he's been stripped of his power and advantage. Even with everything supposedly in his favor, he gets absolutely wrecked.

And all that build-up, all that dehumanizing and predator-esque behavior prior to it (calling her just a "cute little bunny" sums up his opinion of her, I think), made Chun-li's ultimate victory not just the ending of one of the best fights in movie history - animated or otherwise - but a very dramatic climax to a supremely well-paced, well-shot power-play between the two individuals that played into, and then defied, the tropes it exploited and deconstructed.


It's cathartic in a way few fights and finales are.
Click to expand...

This is pretty much how I've interpreted the scene for a while. Even back when it came out I noticed EVERY damn fighting game anime adaptation had that same shower scene. I'm pretty sure the one in this movie had to be lifted from Psycho.
 
A

Aske

Member
Mine's pre-ordered with Amazon Canada and I'm not a Prime member, so it'll be here when it's here. I can be patient a little longer.
 
H

HueyFreeman

Banned
Popped into see if this was finally released and realized I had missed a great discussion about the pros and cons of that scene. Much enjoyed, thanks guys/gals!
 
9

99Luffy

Banned
Such a great movie. Weird that capcom couldnt make anything half as good since then. Street fighter Victory and that alpha movie.. Uggh.
 
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