The climactic battle in the 1994 live action Street Fighter film features a ton of wire work and explosions as this was really the fight wherein director Steven E. de Souza decided to bridge the gap between the fantastical maneuvers in the game and the limits of actual hand to hand combat. For as obvious and kind of corny as it can be, that battle is still a lot of fun (mainly because of Raul Julia’s perfectly-tuned delivery).
We stumbled upon yet another live action Street Fighter brawl featuring heavy use of wires and explosions that is, somehow, just as fun as the aforementioned showdown between M. Bison and Guile. It’s ridiculous, it’s over the top, it’s everything you’d want out of a goofy Street Fighter match IRL, and Super Sisi has found and shared this gem with modern audiences.
According to Sissi, this is clipped from a Street Fighter New Years special from the 1990’s. The use of Street Fighter Alpha sound effects suggests that it was created some time after 1995, though it primarily references Street Fighter 2.
Chun-Li and M. Bison meet amid a very familiar street scene: an interactive version of Chun’s Street Fighter 2 Chinese street stage. Bison gets a close up with an obvious wire emerging from under his cape, and we settle in for what initially looks like it might be a kind of joke the audience is in on. It’s not, though.
The characters walk up and strike their respective poses, and it doesn’t take much looking around at all the on-point detail to realize there’s a seriousness to this drama. When the 1990’s special effects kick and fire emerges from behind Chun, we realize we’re in for more than we thought.
Just after the battle begins, Bison flies up into the air for a Devil’s Reverse and Chun-Li sends out a sparking fireball, and we’re off. Explosions, destruction of street lights and signs, and utter insanity ensues in the best way possible.
The whole bout only lasts about a minute, though you may want to watch it a few times: