Street Fighter Alpha

This was set before SF ll The anamie movie, and it does a really good job i mean a lot of people say there was not a lot of action, well that dont bother me one bit. I love this movie and its 2nd best, may be they are saving all the action for Street Fighter Alpha 2 due later this yeah?. Anyways i am a big SF Fan have been for the past 11 years now, and this is one of the best if not de best.

What sets this film apart from others in the fighting-game-turned-anime genre us that the plot and character setup are especially important to the actual portrayal of the character. Don't expect to be able to jump into this film and like it, because you won't. If, however, you choose to watch it from the beginning and actually empathize with the characters, you will most likely enjoy yourself.

Street Fighter Alpha (the videogame) was the turning point of the street fighter universe because Ryu ceased to be the wandering, invincible (and emotionless) street fighter who is thrown into the plot by accident, and became the central character of the story, in a far more convincing fashion than Guile and Chun Li ever really managed in Street Fighter II. This movie is the expression of that story in film.

The fighting scenes are spectacular and the story well-paced, but in the end, if you're looking for the kind of popcorn-action flick that guys watch during frat parties, the original Street Fighter Animated Movie is much more your cup of tea (or beer). If, however, you're looking for a sensitive film which deals with the personal side of each of the characters involved, Alpha is much better.

Okay, granted, this animated film is based upon an arcade game. Not just an arcade game--an arcade *fighting* game. The requirements for a good arcade fighting game (especially back when Street Fighter set the standards) did not involve having a plot. If it played well and was fun, then you had a hit. It's a given that to make a film the creators are going to have to expand on the three sentences of backstory each character has, and the equally shallow endings they all have; sometimes even substancially change them . . . so why did they feel it necessary to invent a whole new villain with artificial fighters at his disposal? No.

Granted, I haven't played the original SF Alpha in ages, but I recall Bison (generally speaking) still being the villain in the Alpha/Zero series (yes, I know, not everyone fought Bison in the first one). I can understand them not wanting to introduce Bison in this film to preserve the storyline of the existing SF Anime, but you still have Sagat from SF1. Heck, this film even brings up Akuma (who would have made an excellent lead villain if given the spotlight) but he's not pursued. Instead we're stuck with a throwaway guy no one cares about who has no connection to the Street Fighter game universe. The only thing worse is they don't make much attempt to make him or his underlings as interesting as the "true" SF characters. He's just a cliche mad scientist. That's all.

Then the presence of annoying existing SF characters doesn't help either. I hated Sakura in the game; I hate her in the anime. Ryu's brother issue started out all right; however, it quickly dissolved into meaningless drivel as the "plot" involving the "villain" consumed him.

Much of Street Fighter Alpha/Zero's vast cast of characters is not utilized (understandably so considering the volume of faces they've developed over the years), but even the ones who are really don't do much but get beat up until Ryu overcomes his inner demons, discovers the true warrior spirit, yadda, yadda, yadda, and ultimately saves the day. Every Street Fighter player knows that Ken is just as bad as Ryu, if not he's even badder; they even fight to a standstill in this, and yet Ken can't put a dent in the android/robot/artificial guy/whatever he was supposed to be? No. If nothing else, Ken would be able to severly hurt the thing.

I liked the original anime and even the V series because in the end Ryu & Ken ultimately team up. One or the other (usually Ryu) has to get the final hit, but it takes both of them for a victory. Akuma would have given them both a run for their money with his raging demon; Street Fighter fans don't want the throw-away Sadler crap, we want the real deal--bring on Akuma.

I was disappointed after watching this movie. As a Street Fighter fan I was expecting this to show us the mother of all battle, Akuma vs. Ryu&Ken. The script writer of this movie have obviously had not play the game before, much more read the story behind the game. Where the Alpha series were suppose to be after the famous Sagat vs. Ryu battle (in SF1) and before the Street Fighter 2 tourament. This is where all the magic take place. Here is a list of what should be in the movie:

1.Ken giving Ryu the famous red headband after a sparring battle 2.Death of Charlie during a mission with his buddy Guile 3.Unfolding the mystery between the Akuma and Ken&Ryu 4.Fighting more in the style of SF2: the animated movie rather then DBZ 5.Hyper moves we use in the games 6.One of the Shotos (thats Ken or Ryu) commenting on the similiarities of Dan's fighting style (same master) (or small stuff like this thats derived from the game) 7.Chun Li hunting down Bison 8.Bison having an interest in Ryu's dark ability 9.have fights with back drops that remind us of the game stages 10.Fill the rest up with game's minor character having fights with one another 11.Showdown between Akuma and the Shoto boys

This movie is not bad, but its not a Street Fighter movie. Its like they pick up a random script and call it ST:A just to cash in from the fans.

Street Fighter Alpha (1999) is a movie I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows Ken and Ryu training one day when an orphan claiming to be Ken's brother arrives. The brother trains with Ken and Ryu and eventually they are attacked by a man who wants to steal Ryu's power and kidnaps his brother as a trap to get Ryu into his lair. Can Ken and Ryu save the brother and stop the tyrant?

This movie is directed by Shigeyasu Yamauchi (Dragon Ball Z) and contains the voices of Kane Kosugi (DOA: Dead or Alive), Kazuya Ichijô (Cowboy Bebop), Ai Orikasa (Sakura Wars) and Bin Shimada (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind).

The animation in this is just okay and hasn't aged well. The characters are fun to see, especially Vega. The scene he arrives is very well done.

The every day environments the fighters reside in is very well delivered and interesting. There are some clever scenarios our heroes need to overcome, the wooden ghosts were very cool. The fight scenes are good and the final battle is unpredictable and entertaining.

Overall this is a slightly above average addition to the animated genre that is a must see for fans of the video game series. I would score this a 6/10 and recommend seeing it once.