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zamber87
Reviews
Street Fighter II: V (1995)
best Street Fighter-related product besides the games themselves
Released shortly after the magnificent feature film (no, not the live-action one!), Street Fighter II: V managed to maintain most of the movie's spirit, and also deliver some new ideas as well.
Whereas the movie was rather dark, you'll notice right off the bat that this series has a lot more humor into it. All the characters are very young, and some characters who are commonly presented as bad guys in the games are still on the light side on this one. The fight scenes are all very good. The humor might be a little on the cheesy side, but you can't help but laugh at the jokes. Here's one quote:
Fei Long: "Don't underestimate them, they know muay thai!" Ruy: "Haha, mai thai? That's a tropical drink, right?"
It's not to say that this is just for kids, though. Quite the contrary; in the very first episode, Ken & Ruy get into a bar fight. Later on, Ruy gets framed for trafficking heroin (!), and one of the best moments is Ken's vicious fight with Vega. Our beloved M. Bison doesn't appear until later episodes, though, which I found a little weird. All the characters are likable, and the bad guys really make you want to hate them. One of the best video game-related series ever!
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Groundbreaking
Imagine that it's 1968 now. What would be the most horrible and gruesome movie you've ever seen? "Dracula" starring Christopher Lee? With at least one deciliter of blood visible in the entire film? Maybe. Add some guts here and there, an unimaginable amount of claustrophobic suppression and break the taboos of the time (eg. matricide and cannibalism, which were considered unacceptable at the time), and voilà, here we have "Night of the Living Dead".
I understand that most critics were not exactly infatuated by the graphic special effects back in the day, but the real horror of the film lies deep between the lines. The surviving people, as in all Romero's movies, have trouble getting along with each other in a critical situation, once again proving that man's worst enemy is man himself.
Although the movie was made in black-and-white due to the tight budget, it is actually a benefit, as it adds to the atmosphere even more. The music score is also very thrilling. The top advantages of the movie is the continuous feel of being trapped in a narrowing space and the growing tension between the characters, which sets the film apart from many of its contemporaries.
All in all, a very touching horror film, not only due to its then-unmatched gore, but because of the criticism of society and human nature in it. All these visions were brought even further on the follow-up, "Dawn of the Dead", which to me stands as Romero's best and also the ultimate horror film of all time.