Street Fighter: The most bonkers big-budget action movie of the '90s hits TVNZ+
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Street Fighter (M, 97mins) Directed by Steven E. de Souza ***
Generally acknowledged as one of the greatest arcade games of all-time, Street Fighter II also inspired one of the most bonkers action flicks of the 1990s.
What other film could boast Raul Julia, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Ming-Na Wen and Kylie Minogue, while delivering non-stop action and, often unintentional, laughs?
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Commando, The Running Man and Die Hard screenwriter Steven E. de Souza’s first big-budget tale behind the camera focuses on the evil drug lord turned dictator M-Bison’s (Julia) plans for global domination. “All I want to do is rule the world, is that so much to ask?,” he opines at one point.
The only man seemingly capable of stopping him is Allied Nations enforcer Colonel William F. Guile William F. Guile (Van Damme) and that’s only with the assistance of his eclectic bunch of blue-beret-sporting assault team members.
Weirdly, while Van Damme has plenty of opportunities to flex his muscles (while, surprisingly for the era, keeping his shirt on, because, you know, this one is aimed at kids) and gets a few choice lines (“now who wants to stay and who wants to come with me?”), he actually disappears from proceedings for long stretches at a
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