Street Fighter Blu-ray Review

The Blu-ray release of "Street Fighter" presents itself with a 1080p, 2.35:1-framed transfer that swings wildly between passable and less appealing territories. The video quality kicks off on shaky grounds with noticeable shimmering during the opening credits and struggles to find its footing thereafter. The transfer frequently suffers from being overly sharp and exhibits signs of edge enhancement in multiple scenes, compromising the film's intended visual finesse. Alongside a smattering of artifacts and an inconsistent noise level that varies not just between scenes but within individual shots, the image quality often succumbs to a pervasive haziness. This particular flaw significantly affects color saturation and detail clarity, at times nearly erasing crucial visual information from the screen.

Despite these shortcomings, the Blu-ray does have its moments where 'Street Fighter's visual palette manages to shine. Exterior sequences, for example, fare relatively better in showcasing the film's vibrant colors and detailed environments, from the bustling streets of Shadaloo City to its verdant outskirts. The Allied Nations uniforms benefit from the high-definition transfer, displaying sharp details like flag patches with clarity. However, the enhanced resolution unforgivingly highlights the film's lower-quality set pieces and props, revealing imperfections that detract from the overall immersion.

Moreover, while the Blu-ray avoids severe compression issues like banding or blocking, its picture quality is inconsistent at best, hindered by a distracting noise level throughout. The presentation does boast commendable black levels and shadow detail, lending some depth to the visuals despite a sometimes smoky aesthetic that obscures finer details. Overall, while this 1080p/VC-1 transfer for "Street Fighter" might escape being outright dismal thanks to a few redeeming technical aspects, it ultimately falls short of providing a satisfactory high-definition viewing experience for this cult classic.

The Blu-ray release of "Street Fighter" delivers an aural experience that is as aggressively loud as it is technically inconsistent. Powered by a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, the soundscape brims with the potential for immersive audio yet often falls short of delivering a cohesive and clear environment. Despite the ample action sequences — characterized by forceful punches, roaring explosions, and a persistent deluge of gunfire — the soundtrack struggles to fully capitalize on its surround setup, leaning heavily on the front channels and underutilizing the rears for atmospheric depth. While moments of crowd noise and environmental effects hint at a dynamic sound field, they rarely escape a sense of artificiality, failing to truly envelop the listener in the film's world.

Graeme Revell's score, noted for its intensity, at times crosses into discordance, overshadowing scenes with a presence that could be likened more to auditory assault than musical accompaniment. This is compounded by sound effects that, though substantial in their impact, contribute to an overall soundscape that can feel cluttered rather than meticulously crafted. Dialogue remains one of the soundtrack's more consistent elements, maintaining clarity across various scenes — with the notable exception of some of Van Damme's speeches, where the articulation of sentiments feels as muddled in delivery as in content.

Accommodating a wider audience, the inclusion of French and Spanish DTS 5.1 tracks alongside optional subtitles in three languages rounds out the audio offerings. However, this does little to ameliorate the core issues plaguing the English track: a lack of clarity, an over-reliance on frontal audio dominance at the expense of surround sound nuance, and an eccentric musical score that occasionally detracts from rather than enhances the cinematic experience. In sum, "Street Fighter's" Blu-ray audio presentation punches hard but lands only glancing blows — a cacophony of missed opportunities and uneven execution.

The Blu-ray edition of "Street Fighter" boasts a variety of extras, yet, despite the extensive list, the content's depth varies. Among the highlights, director Steven E. de Souza's audio commentary reveals intricate details about the film's production, albeit in a manner that some might find lacks engagement due to its straightforward delivery. The 'Making of Street Fighter,' while brief and somewhat surface-level, offers a rapid peek behind the scenes. A smattering of outtakes and deleted scenes provide additional, albeit not essential, context for die-hard fans. More appealing perhaps are the storyboard sequences and a collection of video game clips that bridge the film with its video game origins. The high-definition trailers for 'Street Fighter IV' stand out for their quality amongst an array of extras that otherwise echo content from previous editions. The 'Archives' section attempts to bulk up the package with various stills and promotional materials, yet might leave fans wanting more substantive fare.

Extras included in this disc:

• Audio Commentary: Director Steven de Souza discusses the movie's production, casting, and more.
• The Making of Street Fighter: A brief overview featuring cast interviews and film clips.
• Outtakes: Behind-the-scenes footage.
• Deleted Scenes: Two scenes featuring Chun-Li.
• Storyboard Sequences: Storyboards for "Boardroom" and "Prison Break" scenes compared with actual footage.
• Video Game Sequences: Clips from 'Super Street Fighter II' and 'Street Fighter: The Movie' game.
• Cyberwalk: Includes "Recruiting Center" and "Crisis in Shadaloo" news footage.
• Archives: Publicity stills, trailers, concept drawings, set stills, ad campaigns, trading card images, and toy tie-ins.
• Street Fighter IV Trailers: Three trailers for the 'Street Fighter IV' game and anime in high-definition.

The film adaptation of the beloved video game, "Street Fighter," as rendered in its Blu-ray incarnation, notably struggles under the weight of its own ambition. Presented in the painfully crisp 1080p high definition, every flaw of the production is laid bare, serving to amplify the incredulity of its viewers rather than enhance their experience. The setting, in the fictional nation of Shadaloo, and its narrative - a convoluted tale of war, kidnap, and an attempt at tyranny by General M. Bison (Raúl Juliá) and resistance led by Colonel Guile (Jean-Claude Van Damme) - seems to wrestle uncomfortably with its source material, morphing what was once a straightforward fighting premise into an overstuffed action-drama that neither captivates nor entertains.

The film's execution does little to salvage its script's deficiencies. Under the direction of Steven de Souza, "Street Fighter" flounders with performances that range from the marginally serious to the unabashedly campy. While seasoned actors like Juliá and Wes Studi attempt to bring a semblance of gravitas to their roles, their efforts are undermined by a screenplay that lacks coherence and respect for the original game's lore. Fight sequences, supposedly the film's backbone given its title and origin, are executed with a lack of intensity and creativity, leaving much to be desired. The special effects and costume designs, particularly those of Blanka and Bison’s troopers, cross into the territory of parody, failing to impress or invoke anything more than disbelief and unintentional laughter.

This Blu-ray presentation does little more than shine a high-definition spotlight on a misfired adaptation, one that veers too far from its source material with an overly complex story and mutilated character portrayals. De Souza's venture into directing reveals a misunderstanding of both the source material and the medium's transition from game console to film screen. The ambition to transform "Street Fighter" into a cinematic experience that rivals its interactive counterpart proves overly ambitious, resulting in a film that is difficult to take seriously, despite its moments of unintentional comic relief and a few notable performances. It serves as a cautionary tale that not all games should make the leap to film, especially without a clear understanding of what made them successful in the first place.

Despite the critical consensus branding "Street Fighter" as a misguided cinematic venture, its transition to Blu-ray format presents a unique dichotomy. On the one hand, the film's narrative and character work remain as bewildering and lackluster as ever, criticized for its ham-fisted dialogue, underwhelming action sequences, and caricatured portrayals that fail to engage or entertain. Yet, on the other hand, Universal's Blu-ray release showcases a commendable effort in technical presentation. The image quality, while not groundbreaking, offers a satisfactory visual experience that elevates the movie slightly above its original, dismal impression. The audio track, despite veering towards the excessive at times, manages to provide a robust auditory experience that is surprisingly more immersive than the film perhaps deserves.

Moreover, the Blu-ray edition of "Street Fighter" features an array of extras that, while extensive, struggles to contribute meaningful value to this package. This seeming attempt to pad out the release does little to distract from the film’s inherent flaws or justify its reissue beyond a transparent capitalization on the franchise's more recent endeavors. It appears that Universal’s strategy leans heavily on leveraging nostalgia and the momentum of "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li" alongside the excitement surrounding "Street Fighter IV," though the end result feels more exploitative than celebratory.

In conclusion, "Street Fighter's" Blu-ray incarnation represents a paradox of visual and audio upgrading clashing with the core deficiencies of the film itself. Although technically proficient in picture and sound quality, this does not redeem the movie from its fundamental criticisms of narrative disarray and lackluster action. Essentially, while this release might appeal to completists or die-hard fans of the franchise eager to own every iteration, for the average viewer or critic, it encapsulates a missed opportunity to revitalise or reassess an infamous chapter in video game adaptations. The Blu-ray disc serves as a reminder that no matter the polish applied to presentation, it cannot mask the underlying inadequacies that tarnish "Street Fighter's" legacy.