As most trivia nerds, fans of action and video game cinema, and lovers of great screen actors know, Raul Julia’s final feature film was 1994’s “Street Fighter.” In it, he portrayed the evil drug lord-turned-dictator General M. Bison, the character who is generally assumed to be the main antagonist from the “Street Fighter” video games. Julia’s status as a legend of stage and screen could’ve meant that he might easily have phoned in a performance for a paycheck and call it a day. The fact that he was also suffering from stomach cancer would’ve been more than enough of an excuse for him to take it easy and play the character from a distance, as it were.
Yet Julia did nothing half-baked in his entire career, and M. Bison is no different. Indeed, Julia is the main reason to see the film, for although the rest of 1994’s “Street Fighter” has its dubious charms, it’s Julia’s performance as Bison that stands head and shoulders above everything else.
For these reasons, it would feel almost insulting for a new “Street Fighter” live-action adaptation to not reference Raul Julia in some small manner. Fortunately, Kitao Sakurai’s film does not disappoint in this department, as the movie contains at least two noticeable homages to Julia’s indelible take on the character. The first involves a grandiose painting seen in the office of the film’s M. Bison (played by David Dastmalchian). Bison discusses the painting with Chun-Li (Callina Liang), which appears to be done in a similar style as the painting seen in the 1994 Bison’s office, depicting him in a manner akin to Napoleon Bonaparte. It’s a cute nod to the character’s theatrical egotism, as firmly established by Julia. The other reference, of course, is to a line of dialogue that has since gained immortality.
M. Bison has another casual Tuesday
In “Street Fighter” 1994, M. Bison discusses with Chun-Li (Ming-Na Wen) her deep-seated issues with him, mostly to do with the fact that his invasion of her home village resulted in the death of her father. The script, written by ’80s action cinema legend Steven E. de Souza (who also directed the film), has Bison attempt to reason with Chun-Li in his own twisted egotistical way. His argument is that she shouldn’t be angry with him due to the fact that he’s responsible for so many unintentional atrocities as part of his quest for power. He puts it in the following memorable way:
“For you, the day Bison graced your village was the most important day of your life. But for me, it was Tuesday.”
Julia’s cold, snake-like delivery of this line is a large part of why it’s become so beloved over the years. It’s a moment that’s so tied to Bison’s character that the new “Street Fighter” couldn’t avoid calling back to it. So, in Kitao Sakurai’s film, Bison has a fight with Chun-Li, who is there to kill him for his murder of her father. Yet Bison ends up winning, and as he heads off to other business, he leaves Chun-Li with a cold threat:
“For you, today is the day that you die. But for me … it’s Tuesday.”
Though the line is not as poetic or grand as de Souza’s, it’s a nice nod to his script and Raul Julia’s performance, and Dastmalchian delivers it with his own unique brand of cold arrogance. “Street Fighter” movies may come and go, but Raul Julia’s M. Bison will forever be remembered.
“Street Fighter” is in theaters now.
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