Episode 60 — Street Fighter

[admin 330]

Finally a movie stayed true to its video game adaptation by having no plot. John Gemberling joins Paul, June, and Jason to figure out who is a native of Shadaloo, why Jean-Claude Van Damme pretends to be dead for a really long time, and what the hell was the reason for Van Damme to play a home video tape while driving a boat. They’ll also share their favorite lines, explore all the shoehorned elements of the video game, and explain to June what “street fighting” really means.

[lowtideceviche 33]

I'll go first, guys.

 

Guile, the character played by JCVD, is straight up American. That's why he has the american flag tattoo. Unfortunately, JCVD doesn't look or talks anything like him.

[Gym Sockerman 1326]

Oh no. Jason calling Street Fighter a button masher. No one let the EVO community listen to this.

[lowtideceviche 33]

That's really nice outfit June put together for this episode.

[JustinL 216]

My favorite image from the "good" brainwashing video: Albert Einstein. There was just a picture of Einstein. Yes, a context-less snapshot of an old man with cotton candy hair and a push-broom moustache soothes the savage beast.

[KajusX 1807]

I am dying laughing at the discussion around defining what constitutes a 'street fighter.' This is the most amazing episode ever.

[danm_999 30]

There are some bad movies where trying to get into their heads is great because when you realise what they were actually going for, it makes the ways in which they failed all the funnier.

 

And there are some bad movies where trying to figure them out is actually fucking dangerous to your mental health because there's no rhyme or reason and the movie is just a metaphorical pool of vomit with chunks of non-sequiturs and shittyness floating around near the surface. Street Fighter is such a movie.

 

Why was the movie called 'Street Fighter' and not 'Stupid Confusing Stakes during an International Crisis Fighter'? Hell, Capcom, the game's developers, re-released the original video game a few years ago with the title 'Fighting Street', so I'm not sure even they could tell you what the title means.

[Herself 107]

I would like the natives to be called "Shadaloonies"

[wakefresh 689]

Jason, black people are regular people too.

[imhatch 271]

Why was the movie called 'Street Fighter' and not 'Stupid Confusing Stakes during an International Crisis Fighter'? Hell, Capcom, the game's developers, re-released the original video game a few years ago with the title 'Fighting Street', so I'm not sure even they could tell you what the title means.

in fairness, fighting street was a port and originally released in the 80s, which i would assume is the ultimate excuse for anything weird and almost inexcusable.

[JamesCrackCorn 33]

I thought JCVD's choice to begin the inspiring speech with a Wiseauian dialect was brave.

[RobotsPJs 123]

"They're characters from the video game!" That's what I was thinking. Is this a cultural / age gap or just the fact that me and my friends are all super nerds?

[garrick_greathouse 2]

Interesting facts about the naming of the Street Fighter characters and copyrights.

 

 

In the original Japanese release, the boxer is modeled after Mike Tyson and is named “M. Bison”

Vega (claw guy) was Balrog

Raul Gulia (main bad guy) was Vega

 

Fearing a lawsuit, Capcom swapped the character names around for the US release of the game. I actually like the American names better myself.

 

 

 

Also, I’ve heard that the script for this movie was originally a G.I. Joe script that the studio had been sitting on for several years. I have no idea if this is true, but the plot does seem to fit the G.I Joe world better than Street Fighter.

[imhatch 271]

a lot of my favorite moments from this podcast are signaled by june saying, "guys, i'm gonna ask a really dumb question."

[wakefresh 689]

Hell no, the UN didn't want their name attached to this craziness. Kofi Annan was the UN Secretary General at the time, and he kept dodging Capcom's calls.

[Lukas Holmes 2287]

Did everyone else fall madly in love with June in this episode? 'I'm going to do some research on this, on my own.' Amazing.

[wakefresh 689]

Ok, am I missing something, but what is so funny about 'vaya con dios'? It means 'go with God' and is a common thing to say after someone has passed.

[imhatch 271]

i would guess it's more the placement and timing of the message than anything. like all the characters pose like they do from a video game, right after zangief and honda do their godzilla thing, then suddenly there's a black screen with white text that attempts to quickly hit a solemn note. but idk, i havent seen this movie in a couple years so maybe it isn't quite as weird as that.

[Supwichu 1]

This episode was too funny.

[qaop_space 87]

Yes June was gold in this one. Tears running down my face at whoever was laughing uncontrollably in the background.

 

Not everyone will know about the game. Personally I play vid games and I know a bit about it, but most of my friends who are all the same age as me know nothing about video games. So it's just a nerd thing I guess.

[Wien 401]

BTW guys, Charlie is a character from the videogame... but he's a separate person from Blanka.

 

http://streetfighter.wikia.com/wiki/Charlie

[Wien 401]

"What..... exactly... IS... a 'STREET FIGHTER'?"

 

June is adorable.

[ughanotherforumtogoto 3]

There are some bad movies where trying to get into their heads is great because when you realise what they were actually going for, it makes the ways in which they failed all the funnier.

 

And there are some bad movies where trying to figure them out is actually fucking dangerous to your mental health because there's no rhyme or reason and the movie is just a metaphorical pool of vomit with chunks of non-sequiturs and shittyness floating around near the surface. Street Fighter is such a movie.

 

Why was the movie called 'Street Fighter' and not 'Stupid Confusing Stakes during an International Crisis Fighter'? Hell, Capcom, the game's developers, re-released the original video game a few years ago with the title 'Fighting Street', so I'm not sure even they could tell you what the title means.

 

Actually Fighting Street was the name of a port to a video game console back in 1988. The arcade game Street Fighter came out in 1987.

 

The characters most people know about and the story of the series however starts with Street Fighter 2.

To show you how popular this was the game got released in 1991 and by 1993 had a revenue of over a billion dollars which was unheard for a video game still is for 99% of video games hell most anything. Most people who have played Street Fighter games have never played the first one or even know it exists.

 

This movie btw spawned an animated series that lasted two seasons in the US and was 26 episodes.

 

There are in fact more Street Fighter movies planned and a tv series planned for coming out in late 2013 called Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist if they get the fund raising for it.

[garrick_greathouse 2]

I give you the official Street Fighter 2 G.I. Joe action figures.

 

[JustinL 216]

I'm having trouble finding examples online (the rental period's up so I can't double-check or do screengrabs), but weren't all the signs in Shadaloo written in English but in a Thai font style? Kind of illustrative of the issue with the strangely European inhabitants of this small Asian country.