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VHS cover art
Street Fighter (거리의 무법자) is a 1992 Korean animated film directed by Sang Il Sim. It is loosely based on the Street Fighter series, though unauthorized by Capcom.
Plot[]
World War III has depleted most of Earth's population. Soryong and Saeng spend their days playing Street Fighter II and fighting each other at the arcades, until one day Chun-Li appears before them in real life and reveals that the two friends are the only ones that can stop Bison from taking over the world.[1]
Differences from the game series[]
Many of the characters, as portrayed in this film, are very different from their video game counterparts. Ryu and Ken are completely absent; instead, the main protagonists are two ordinary teenagers named Yi Soryong and Saeng Yegal who dress up as the aforementioned characters. M. Bison, who wears sunglasses and a black cape here, keeps his hair long and is associated with Swastikas instead of Shadaloo skulls. Blanka is portrayed as Dhalsim's pet, as opposed to a lone feral human.
Production[]
The film was produced and animated by Daiwon Animation, and directed by Sang Il Sim. Daiwon was a popular animation studio often used by Japanese and Western producers, and have notably worked on series such as Transformers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Armored Fleet Dairugger XV. The film features unauthorized cameos from other franchises, such as April O'Neil, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dracula and Frankenstein's monster.
Release[]
The film was released directly to VHS on September 4, 1992 in South Korea. It received a DVD re-release in 2007 by New Media under the Daiwon Classic Animation label alongside Sang Il Sim's Red Hawk. The movie never received an official release outside of South Korea, but has been uploaded to YouTube.
Reception[]
The film was featured on Hardcore Gaming 101's blog in 2010, who felt that "the animation is nothing to brag with, and at least 15 minutes of the film are boring BS, but the ridiculousness of it all makes it a good time watching nonetheless".[2]
The film was largely criticized for the low production values, the absence of Ryu and Ken, the uncharacteristic use of the game series' cast and the plot, which was deemed "nonsensical".