by In 1995, the world discovered this action film with feverishness! Adaptation of a cult video game, it is worn by a vanity van Damme but above all, a legendary Raúl Julia! He embodies a fabulous villain and saves the film from the complete sinking!
If you have been a child or a teenager from the 90s, you surely grew up by viewing dozens sometimes the Street Fighter VHS, carried by a Jean-Claude Van Damat Cabotin like never, in total free roll!
At the time, this film was a major event for fans of pop culture, adaptations of video games counting on the fingers of one hand. After the bitter failure of Super Mario Bros in 1993, this Street Fighter was expected at the turn.
As a reminder, the story is based on the cult video game developed by the Capcom studio. In Southeast Asia, General Bison threatens to burst a world war if he is not granted $ 20 billion, in exchange for the lives of 63 members of the Allied nations he took hostage. To stop him in his plans, Colonel William Guile is organizing himself.
Released in 1995, the film was a commercial semi-failure, reporting only $ 99 million in global revenue for a budget of 35 million. In France, the film directed by Steven E. de Souza still attracted 1.1 million spectators.
Obviously the popularity of Van Damme surely encouraged the hexagonal fans to go to theaters, but the big arm was robbed of the show by an actor of which it was the last film, Raúl Julia.
A mythical villain
Before embodying General Bison in Street Fighter, the actor was a marking face of supporting roles in Hollywood. It was not until 1991 that Raúl Julia's career took a decisive turn.
It is indeed chosen to embody Gomez Addams in the film that has become cult, the Addams family by Barry Sonnenfeld. The film is a huge success and generates a suite 2 years later, the values of the Addams family. Star late, Raúl Julia did not have the chance to taste this success for a very long time.
Unfortunately, the actor suffered from stomach cancer detected in 1993. Despite the treatments and declining health, the actor manages to embody General M. Bison forcefully in Street Fighter and delivers his latest fight against Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Raúl Julia died on October 24, 1994 at only 54 years old. Street Fighter will be dedicated to him and he will be rewarded with a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award posthumous for his role as Brazilian ecologist in the TV movie of all dangers.
If Street Fighter ended up being mocked and rejected by the public, he will still keep a soul and a particular sympathy thanks to the boosted performance of Raúl Julia. Rada by the disease, he gave everything in this last filming, embodying an exuberant, cruel, funny and inflamed bison, which will become the best asset of the film and will mark the spirits.
Capcom
A Shakespeare game
The actor completely steals the show from Jean-Claude Van Damme, who parodies himself as a muscular hero Savior of the world. In this slum of mediocrity, Raúl Julia stands out for his flamboyant game, almost Shakespearean. He interprets the dictator with a mixture of charisma, extravagance and irony, which gives the character a magnetic presence, even in a film criticized for his quality.
If all the actors of the film seem lost, not knowing how to understand their characters, Raúl Julia invests seriously and pleasure, as if he were playing in a classic drama. This discrepancy creates an explosive effect, which has rendered its cult performance: its megalomaniac tyrant becomes credible so it is delightfully overplayed.
Note that Raúl Julia accepted the role of Mr. Bison in for a main reason: his children loved the video game franchise, and he wanted to make a film that they could all appreciate together.
The children of the actor helped him to document himself and prepare for the role, which he took very seriously, studying real dictators and integrating some of their behavior in his interpretation of Bison.
Cult replicas
Fans still remember his absolutely memorable aftershocks, like these, legendary: legend: “You thought you were going to face a madman, but you found yourself in front of a god”or even: “For you, the day Bison honored your village was the most important day of your life. But for me, it was a Thursday.”
This tirade is also emblematic of Bison's madness: “Do you still refuse to admit my divinity? Prepare to meet your miserable God, but it is a little late to pray to him one last time because I saw Lucifer fall from the firmament like a flash in the sky!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w7c8qGHPXK
We cannot miss either the famous “Of course !” (“Of Race!”) chanted by Bison while turning around, since one of the most viral “memes” of the Internet. When we talk about the biggest villains in cinema, we don't think enough of General Bison enough, and it is time for the latter to take his place in the Pantheon of the best Bad Guys on the big screen!
