Wormwood on Nostr: still thinking about this "After a career full of awards and critical acclaim, actor ...
still thinking about this
"After a career full of awards and critical acclaim, actor Raul Julia made the odd decision to play M. Bison in the infamous Street Fighter movie. At this stage of movie history, it's become a running joke that live-action film adaptations of video games tend to be terrible. This goes right back to the first major instance of that happening, 1993's Super Mario Bros. movie, which bore almost no resemblance to the game world or its characters, and alternated between bafflingly weird and confusingly stupid.
Today, Street Fighter is a cult favorite, and perhaps the biggest reason for that is the legitimately great and highly entertaining performance given by Julia as M. Bison. While he's over the top and chews the scenery with abandon, his performance is a perfect match for the wacky tone of the movie as a whole, and he commands attention every second he's onscreen. Sadly, Street Fighter ended up being Julia's final film, as he passed away after a battle with cancer not long before its release. An actor of notable renown, here's why Julia chose to sign on to the project.
Raul Julia took the M. Bison role in Street Fighter for one main reason, that being his children loved the video game franchise, and he wanted to make a film they could all enjoy together. Julia's kids helped him to research and prepare for the part, which he took seriously, studying real-life dictators and incorporating some of their behaviors into his portrayal of Bison. It was also Julia's choice to give Bison an ambiguously British accent and sophisticated tone, even though the actor was himself Puerto Rican. Another factor was that Julia had been battling stomach cancer off and on for several years, which led to other severe health problems as a side effect. Due to his sometimes frail state, Julia's family would accompany him to sets, allowing his kids to see Street Fighter be filmed as well."
"After a career full of awards and critical acclaim, actor Raul Julia made the odd decision to play M. Bison in the infamous Street Fighter movie. At this stage of movie history, it's become a running joke that live-action film adaptations of video games tend to be terrible. This goes right back to the first major instance of that happening, 1993's Super Mario Bros. movie, which bore almost no resemblance to the game world or its characters, and alternated between bafflingly weird and confusingly stupid.
Today, Street Fighter is a cult favorite, and perhaps the biggest reason for that is the legitimately great and highly entertaining performance given by Julia as M. Bison. While he's over the top and chews the scenery with abandon, his performance is a perfect match for the wacky tone of the movie as a whole, and he commands attention every second he's onscreen. Sadly, Street Fighter ended up being Julia's final film, as he passed away after a battle with cancer not long before its release. An actor of notable renown, here's why Julia chose to sign on to the project.
Raul Julia took the M. Bison role in Street Fighter for one main reason, that being his children loved the video game franchise, and he wanted to make a film they could all enjoy together. Julia's kids helped him to research and prepare for the part, which he took seriously, studying real-life dictators and incorporating some of their behaviors into his portrayal of Bison. It was also Julia's choice to give Bison an ambiguously British accent and sophisticated tone, even though the actor was himself Puerto Rican. Another factor was that Julia had been battling stomach cancer off and on for several years, which led to other severe health problems as a side effect. Due to his sometimes frail state, Julia's family would accompany him to sets, allowing his kids to see Street Fighter be filmed as well."