Anime! - a brief explanation
Reviews
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Neon Genesis Evangelion
Blue Gender
After the success of the Street Fighter 2 games on the Super Nintendo and Mega Drive consoles, the Capcom ( founder of SF) franchise grew at an incredibly fast rate. These guys had to do something with all this revenue and so started to blow it on a terrible (but mildly amusing) Hollywood action film. The movie was the flop of the century, resulting in Capcom, asking Manga to make what the big-screen film never had.
DVD Front Cover
DVD - back DVD - CD
DVD - Leaflets and extras
The soundtrack is a bit on the dull side. You can notice this from the start as something just doesn't seem right. I can't explain it in words, but I felt it as the opening sequences to the film started to roll out. The English dubbed version gets the holy Dolby 5.1 treatment, while the Japanese get the 2.0 stereo manicure. Kicks and punches sound the bit though and the sound dubbing is generally ok. Nothing spectacular, but ok. The only thing that the soundtrack is probably good for, is providing emotion. The strings in the background capture the moments pretty well since the entire animation seems to revolve around this word. But, on the other hand, this is a fighting film. We need a bit of blood rush in the fight scenes Manga...
Screenshots - 3
The picture quality is astounding on the other-hand. Nothing like I've ever experienced before. It's kind of like the involvement of sound in the film. You can't tell what's wrong, but you know it is. Then you have the hand-drawn animation. You know its beautiful, but what makes it so gorgeous compared to other Manga's I can't say properly! Maybe it's the artist who's worked on the job (sorry I've forgot his name - they tell you in the extras section) who's got a different style of drawing to the other artists.
Just take a look at the screenshots above. The pictures are bright, crisp and clear. There's detail, but only where it is needed. The backdrops are also amazing. This certain sort of clarity is something that I haven't found as of yet in other Japanese animations.
The menu's in the DVD is also an area that need praise. Whilst the interactive menu layout and style is simple, it's also of high quality. The menu page transitions are fast and have moving backgrounds to them, which provide an excellent effect. Thanks goes to MADMAN productions for their creation.
Good news here too guys, the extra's included in the DVD are so good that you actually need to send a thank you letter to Manga. The disc contains Interviews, A brief ‘making of’ feature, Manga Trailers as well as some Street Fighter Alpha ones. The 'making of' bit is probably the best 'making of' I've seen. Period. Honestly it's that good. It's very long and in depth and gives so much information out that the animation studio across the road could produce another SFA. They show all the cast, how they came up with ideas, made the storyline, how the producer got inspirations and everything else.
You can now scream and roll on the floor to hear that SFA does have some very cool fighting scenes. I personally love the bit when Chun-Li lets out her fast combos towards the end of the film. A real treat for the eyes.
It all kicks into gear with the arrival of Shun, a young boy claiming to be our male hero's brother - Ryu. Ryu and his friend Ken who are high level martial artists, living in a remote area of Japan have since been burdened with the death of their master (sensei) who taught them everything they know. Meanwhile there's like a street fighting competition being held near-by where all the strongest martial artists battle it out head to head. Add to this a strange black magic plot and you get an excuse for tons of fighting scenes. Actually, as for stories goes, this isn't a good cookie. It's weird to say the least because as you approach the end of the film you feel as though you've been short listed with something. I couldn't tell what, but there you go! Hold on here, there's an awful lot of "and there's something missing here" going on. Hhhmmmm...
For the fans of SF, they'll soon realise that you don't get to see much of the cast in this film, although you get to see some looks of Zangief, Dan and the even more unexpected Sakura and Rose. Although Ryu is the main guy here, you get to see Ken fight even more than him, which is alright for the fans of the blonde-haired fighter.
Actually SFA has received many comments and reviews, they all seem to big swinging on opposite sides of the see-saw. Some love it and others hate it. This makes it clear that the taste regarding SFA is unto one's decision. I'll sandwich myself somewhere in the middle (but a teensy bit above) in this debate. I loved the film and all, but the story line and the lack of sound influence ruined it for me - not to mention that empty feeling all the way through the film. But, then you have one of the most detailed 'making of' ever created, with the inclusion of some excellent artistic work in the process. SF2 is the superior from the two (check out it's review on the right) it has to be said though.
So there we have it, Street Fighter Alpha - quality fights, excellent extras and beautiful artwork. SF fans need it in their possession, whilst the Anime fan definitely needs to take a look at it. For you regular film critics out there, consider renting it.
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Magna Entertainment, I
DVD Stats
MANGA
Aspect Ratios: Widescreen
Sound: Dolby Digital (English), Dolby Pro Logic (Japanese)
Subtitles: English
Support: Interactive Menus, Scene Access
Extras:
- 2 OVAs
(spliced into a 'movie)
- English Audio (DD5.1)
- Japanese Audio (DD2.0)
- English Subtitles
- Interviews with Japanese staff
- 'Making of' featurette
- Street Fighter Alpha Trailers
- Assorted Manga Video Trailers
Rating: 15 - violence
Original Release: 1996
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Ratings
(Out of 5 Stars)
Ratings (Out of 5 Stars)
Video Quality: * * * *
Sound Quality: * * *
DVD Supplements: * * * * *
Movie: * * * *
Value: * * *
Overall: * * * ½ VERY GOOD