The American Movie
Street Fighter, the live action movie distributed by Universal Pictures, is worth covering briefly because of its influence on the subsequent American animated series. Its chief protagonist is Colonel Guile, an American military man in the game but positioned here as the commander of Allied Nations peacekeeping forces (a stand-in for the UN) stationed in the fictional Southeast Asian country of Shadaloo. Guile is played by Belgian-born (and accented) martial arts star Jean-Claude Van Damme, who was reportedly the top choice for the role among adolescent players of the game polled by the producers. The plot involves the efforts of Colonel Guile and his team to rescue international relief workers held by terrorist leader General Bison, who seeks to gain control of Shadaloo. The action culminates in a raid on Bison's hidden underground base and consists of by-the-book gun battles, explosions and fist fights, with little in the way of real martial arts. Even Van Damme's final duel with Bison (played by the ailing, nonmartial artist Raul Julia only months before his death), relies heavily on fanciful stunts and the work of doubles rather than actual hand-to-hand fighting.

Street Fighter II, The TV Series. © Manga Entertainment.

The film makes prominent use of all the video game characters, who are played by an impressive multiracial international cast, starting with its Belgian star and including Puerto Rican American Raul Julia; Australian pop singer Kylie Minogue (as Cammy White); Chinese American actress Ming-Na Wen (as Chun Li); Caribbean American actor Grand L. Bush (as Balrog); Indian star Roshan Seth (as Dhalsim); and American Indian actor Wes Studi (as Sagat). Each one of the characters is given their moment in the spotlight and are about evenly divided among Guile and Bison. None, however, is given a story line or character problem significant enough to give the film a narrative focus. The movie turned out to be a disappointment at the box office and no sequels are planned.

The American TV Series
Street Fighter, the animated TV series shown in the United States on the USA Network as a Saturday morning cartoon show, and thus aimed at children, posits "Street Fighter" as a code name for a secret American-based organization devoted to fighting international crime and terrorism. Most of the video game characters are enlisted on the side of this organization, whose motto is "Discipline, Justice, Commitment." Some of the story lines derive from the live action movie, while others draw on the video game lore. The chief protagonist is Colonel Guile, now a covert commando in the guise of a freelance street fighter and sporting his trademark video game look of spiked blond crew cut, army tank top and camouflage pants. The chief antagonist is, again, Bison, leader of the terrorist organization Shadaloo. In each self-contained episode, Guile chooses from among a pool of sidekicks, depending on the demands of the story, frequently teaming up with Chun Li, the mutant Blanka, the American Indian T-Hawk, or British agent Cammy White. Ken Masters and Ryu turn up occasionally as youthful goof-offs and money-hustlers (as they were depicted in the movie) who need Guile's stern hand to divert their energy to heroic rather than selfish purposes.

As seen in the first season, which was produced by Graz Entertainment, the action is executed in the standard limited-animation style of American children's TV-- marked by bright colors, bold lines, rounded shapes for the characters, simple backgrounds, static compositions and an abundance of dialogue. Martial arts are on display, but only in short, perfunctory bursts employing some of the characters' moves from the game. The moves most often seen, because they are the simplest to animate, are the blasts of energy summoned at will, such as Guile's "sonic boom," a ball of energy used to stun opponents.