Absolutely brilliant

A different way of telling a story

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

I rented this awesome anime film based on the popular Capcom video game series many years ago on VHS at a video store, and I really loved it. The story is very well done, it is about Ken getting captured by Bison and made into one of his Shadaloo demons and everyone must save him.The animation is top notch for a 1994 film but the real winner here is the awesome American soundtrack featuring heavy hits from bands such as Alice in Chains, Korn, Silverchair, Smokin' Suckaz Wit Logic and KMFDM.Now, anyone that is a fan of this movie would know that there are three versions: The original PG-13 edit, the Unrated version (which really is not really THAT much unrated), and the Fully uncut version which was previously only available in Australia but Discotek Media has licensed it and will be putting it out on Blu-ray with both the fully uncut version and the PG-13 version as a special feature (it doesn't have the Unrated version footage (it has the audio only but you can get the Unrated version on DVD for less then 5 dollars), This is a awesome movie that every SFII fan should see! I give Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie a 7/10

While I haven't exactly seen that many of them, I keep hearing over and over that anything based on a video game is bad. This was a wonderful exception and it is without a doubt one of the best things ever made based on a video game! It's just great to see all of these wonderful classic characters together and looking and acting just like they do in the games. I admit that I am not that big a fan of the "Street Fighter" series, but seeing as how it's been referenced so many times, it's very hard for me to not be familiar with it. My only complaint is that some of the appearances of the characters don't mean that much.I have yet to see any other Street Fighter adaptations at all, which mostly can't be better than this. Chun-Li is probably the best here. She is indeed represented as a powerful woman. She's also smart, funny and just enjoyable to watch. While I don't like the idea of her being taken out of commission halfway through the movie, it doesn't matter that much. I appreciate how realistic this was represented. The animation is absolutely gorgeous in this and it perfectly represents the characters. M. Bison is possibly the best one, if only because he's presented just how a villain should be, strong, stern, and scary. This more or less featured him trying to take over the world ("Of course!"). A pity the bad live-action movie came later this year. It still doesn't tarnish a wonderfully colorful film. ***1/2

I haven't played a Street Fighter game in twenty years, so I didn't approach "The Animated Movie" expecting spot-on character treatments, backstories, etc. The story on this thing's fairly nonsensical, everyone's either a mercenary or government op. But it does benefit from great production values; this looks damn good. And no one comes to this expecting anything deep, I mean it's full of 'roided out physiques squaring off against each other. It's whether or not the movie delivers on the fight scenes, which are top-notch (especially the tense Vega/Chun Li face-off). I imagine that, were I a more devoted fan of the games, I would've given a rip about the story. But again, fights and quality animation are the focus. My only gripe with the U.S. version are the songs, none of which fit (Korn, seriously?).Scratch that, I've got one more gripe. Internet lore tells of an extended Chun Li shower scene, the juicy parts of which were missing here. Manga Entertainment apparently forgot that "sex and violence" is a package deal. You put that T&A back where it belongs! Are we really pretending teens aren't this movie's target audience? 6/10

. . . for an anime based on a video game (a fighting game, no less.) So how does this anime succeed in sticking 16 (technically 17) characters into a single feature where its live action counterpart failed? Simple: most characters are no more than a backdrop participating in a fight in whatever location the film needs them in.This gives the main characters (mostly Ryu) more room for more development and lengthier, flashier fights. The character exploration of Ryu and Ken, their history together, proved a nice touch, and Capcom wisely choose not to pursue it too much; afterall, this anime is about Street Fights not Street Dramas. I've always liked Ryu and Ken's rivalry which does not interfere with their friendship that Capcom established, especially the link via Ryu's headband; the two won't hold back when battling one another, but at the same time there's a line neither will cross.Which brings me to the villain, M. Bison (or Vega, depending on where you live), and his posse. Somehow I liked Bison better in the original incarnation of Street Fighter 2 where he was just a guy (with pupils) before they started getting carried away with his 'Psycho Power' and, in the Zero series, the 'Psycho drive' (whee!). It's not enough to have a mean guy as the villain, nope, we absolutely must have the son of Satan. No matter how hard I try to suspend my disbelief, I'll always see Bison as a scrawny guy in a red suit (with pupils) who happens to have a few cool abilities . . . oh yeah, and Akuma can kick the crap out of him any day of the week.The arcade Street Fighter 2 and its numerous variants never really gives much glimpse into the character's personalities, and as a result we have to rely on their back stories (for those who care enough to read into them) and the snippets of between-bout dialogue for such traits. With that in mind, all of the characters are portrayed accurately (surprise surprise). Come to think of it, how did the live action film manage to screw them up when 95% of the personality is left up for interpretation of the gamer? I loved the fights in this anime, the fluid and flawless animation. It was actually one of the first anime's that I ever caught a glimpse of, and then years later revisited to find the battles still hold up against some of the more recent animations I've seen. The animators paid careful attention to weight, balance, centers of gravity, and momentum which I greatly appreciated. I've seen one too many animations with battles involving characters anchored to their place with arms and legs mechanically jabbing at their opponent in alternation with one another. Not to mention the camera follows some creative angles in narrating – in particular, one sequence follows Vega (Balrog) as Chun Li nearly knocks him to the ground, and it follows him as he straightens back up to come face to face with her.Though I'm not particularly a fan of anime, I did like and appreciate Capcom's efforts in Street Fighter 2: the animated movie. I feel anime definitely suits fighting games that originate from Japan (surprise, surprise), and I'm dismayed that none of the SNK fighting-game based animes (Art of Fighting, Samurai Showodown, Fatal Fury) really compare. Then again, Street Fighter was the leader, so I guess it's only appropriate that its anime would rank above its SNK competition.