The King of Fighters (film)
Encyclopedia
The King of Fighters is a film loosely based on SNK Playmore
's The King of Fighters series of fighting game
s. It stars Sean Faris
as Kyo Kusanagi
, Maggie Q
as Mai Shiranui
, Will Yun Lee
as Iori Yagami
, and Ray Park
as Rugal Bernstein
.
headset.
At a museum in Boston
, Rugal Bernstein steals three relics: The Kagura Mirror, the Yagami Necklace and the Kusanagi Sword. He uses them to disappear into a dimensional portal to awaken the mythical entity known as the Orochi
, which would grant him limitless powers. However, the sword is revealed to be a fake - thus, Rugal's quest is delayed. Mai Shiranui is told by an injured Chizuru Kagura that the whereabouts of the real sword are with Saisyu Kusanagi, who is housed at a mental institution. She is also warned that she alone must defeat Rugal and her boyfriend Iori Yagami should not be involved. At the institution, Mai meets a catatonic Saisyu and his son Kyo, but Iori's presence suddenly breaks Saisyu's catatonic state, and the elder Kusanagi threatens to kill Iori before losing consciousness and dying.
Meanwhile, at another hospital where Chizuru is recovering from her injury, she is informed by her colleague Scott that Rugal has altered the King of Fighters database and issued challenges to all fighters around the world. CIA
agent Terry Bogard enters Chizuru's room, demanding for information on Rugal's whereabouts and the tournament. She tells him of the different dimensions that exist, but he does not believe a word. Chizuru then tells Terry to go to Seattle and ask Mai, who is actually an undercover operative sent by the CIA to infiltrate Chizuru's organization a year ago.
At a cemetery in Seattle, where Saisyu is buried, Kyo and Iori confront each other once again. Iori explains that both Kusanagi and Yagami clans were destined to be enemies. Mai hitches a ride with Kyo to his home, where she explains to him that she is looking for the Kusanagi Sword. Kyo tells her that centuries ago, according to family folklore, a Yagami ancestor attempted to release the Orochi, but it consumed him with murderous rage. Kyo's ancestor killed the Yagami and returned the Orochi into its world. Mai tells Kyo that Rugal is out to unleash the Orochi once again. Kyo, meanwhile, wants to confront Rugal, who destroyed his father's mental state.
At a hotel, Mai and Kyo meet up with Iori and Terry. It is revealed that Rugal is using the tournament dimension to merge it with the real world. After Mai blows her cover in front of Kyo, Iori puts on his Bluetooth headset and enters the tournament dimension to confront Rugal. There, he defeats Rugal's servants Mature and Vice in combat, only to have his mind consumed by the Orochi.
The next day, Kyo is lured into the tournament dimension, where he first fights Rugal and loses, but is allowed to live as a warning. This prompts him to bring out his ancestral sword and join Chizuru and Terry into the tournament after Mai is dragged in by Rugal. When the four meet up, they are separated into different dimensions, with Kyo fighting Rugal and Mai and Terry facing Mature and Vice. In the middle of a sword fight, Rugal is about to decapitate Kyo when Iori suddenly appears and intervenes. Here, Rugal reveals to Kyo that several years back, he battled Saisyu, Chizuru and Iori over control of the Orochi. During that fight, Iori allowed the Orochi to take over his body, defeating Rugal, but also destroying Saisyu's mental state by bashing his head against a wooden barrier several times. This leads to a fight between Kyo and Iori. Kyo slashes Iori in the back, releasing the Orochi from his body.
Disappointed by the outcome of the fight, Rugal sends Kyo, Iori and Mai into another dimension to face them with his full potential. Chizuru and her multiple clones appear, revealing that she has found the mirror and the necklace. The heroes fail in their first attempt to combine the relics and trap Rugal, with Chizuru mortally wounded. Mai takes her place as the mirror holder, but as she, Kyo and Iori corner Rugal, they are once again overcome by his powers. Rugal destroys Kyo's sword, but as he is about to finish him off with a fireball, Kyo magically generates a new sword to block it. He then throws the sword and destroys Rugal.
Back in the real world, Scott places a lantern on the ocean in memory of Chizuru. Kyo decides to keep the family tradition by continuing with the tournament. He reflects on his late father's teachings while Iori stares at him from the other side of the pier.
, British Columbia, Canada. Shooting finished on January 19, 2009.
in the United States
on September 7, 2010 through Vivendi Home Entertainment. It was re-released in the U.S. by Well Go USA Entertainment.
Beyond Hollywood gave the film a negative review, saying that it "wastes a lot of unnecessary time trying to convince itself that the audience needs to know everything there is to know about its history (we don’t, by the way), when it should have just accepted that it’s a movie based on a 2D fighting game, spend 10 minutes tops on the explanations, and get to the fighting already." Felix Vasquez, Jr. of Cinema Crazed gave the film one-and-a-half out of four stars, commenting that "yet another semi-classic video game from the nineties is butchered in to yet another half assed lazily made film."
SNK Playmore
SNK Playmore Corporation is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. SNK is an acronym of , which was SNK's original name. The company's legal and trading name became SNK in 1986....
's The King of Fighters series of fighting game
Fighting game
Fighting game is a video game genre where the player controls an on-screen character and engages in close combat with an opponent. These characters tend to be of equal power and fight matches consisting of several rounds, which take place in an arena. Players must master techniques such as...
s. It stars Sean Faris
Sean Faris
Sean Hardy Faris is an American model and actor. He is well known for his roles as Jake Tyler in Never Back Down, Kyo Kusanagi in The King of Fighters, and Rick Penning in Forever Strong.-Life and career:...
as Kyo Kusanagi
Kyo Kusanagi
is one of the main characters in SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters video game series; he was first introduced in The King of Fighters '94 as the leader of the Japan team. He is one of the iconic characters of the series and regularly appears on publicity material and merchandise. His name and...
, Maggie Q
Maggie Q
Margaret Denise Quigley , professionally known as Maggie Q, is an American-born actress and former fashion model. She currently stars as the titular character on the action-thriller TV series Nikita.-Early life:...
as Mai Shiranui
Mai Shiranui
is a player character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series of fighting games by SNK and in related media, also appearing in a large number of other games...
, Will Yun Lee
Will Yun Lee
Will Yun Lee is an Korean American actor.He is best known for his roles on TNT's supernatural drama series Witchblade as Danny Woo and as Jae Kim on NBC's science fiction television drama Bionic Woman...
as Iori Yagami
Iori Yagami
is a character from the SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters video game series that first appeared in The King of Fighters '95 as the leader of the Rivals Team. He is an iconic character of the series, and regularly appears on publicity material and merchandise. Iori is a central character to the...
, and Ray Park
Ray Park
Raymond Park is a Scottish actor, stuntman and martial artist, best known for his playing the physical part of Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Toad in X-Men, Snake-Eyes in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and Edgar on Heroes.-Early life:Park was born in Glasgow, Scotland...
as Rugal Bernstein
Rugal Bernstein
is a video game character created by SNK. First introduced in The King of Fighters '94, he is a recurring boss in the The King of Fighters fighting game series. As the host of the tournaments from The King of Fighters '94 and 95, Rugal plans to turn all the competitors from the tournament into...
.
Plot
The King of Fighters is a tournament held in an alternate dimension. When contestants are issued challenges, they enter the tournament via a special bluetoothBluetooth
Bluetooth is a proprietary open wireless technology standard for exchanging data over short distances from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks with high levels of security...
headset.
At a museum in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Rugal Bernstein steals three relics: The Kagura Mirror, the Yagami Necklace and the Kusanagi Sword. He uses them to disappear into a dimensional portal to awaken the mythical entity known as the Orochi
Orochi
or Orochi, translated as the Eight-Forked Serpent in English, is a legendary 8-headed and 8-tailed Japanese dragon that was slain by the Shinto storm-god Susanoo.-Mythology:...
, which would grant him limitless powers. However, the sword is revealed to be a fake - thus, Rugal's quest is delayed. Mai Shiranui is told by an injured Chizuru Kagura that the whereabouts of the real sword are with Saisyu Kusanagi, who is housed at a mental institution. She is also warned that she alone must defeat Rugal and her boyfriend Iori Yagami should not be involved. At the institution, Mai meets a catatonic Saisyu and his son Kyo, but Iori's presence suddenly breaks Saisyu's catatonic state, and the elder Kusanagi threatens to kill Iori before losing consciousness and dying.
Meanwhile, at another hospital where Chizuru is recovering from her injury, she is informed by her colleague Scott that Rugal has altered the King of Fighters database and issued challenges to all fighters around the world. CIA
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
agent Terry Bogard enters Chizuru's room, demanding for information on Rugal's whereabouts and the tournament. She tells him of the different dimensions that exist, but he does not believe a word. Chizuru then tells Terry to go to Seattle and ask Mai, who is actually an undercover operative sent by the CIA to infiltrate Chizuru's organization a year ago.
At a cemetery in Seattle, where Saisyu is buried, Kyo and Iori confront each other once again. Iori explains that both Kusanagi and Yagami clans were destined to be enemies. Mai hitches a ride with Kyo to his home, where she explains to him that she is looking for the Kusanagi Sword. Kyo tells her that centuries ago, according to family folklore, a Yagami ancestor attempted to release the Orochi, but it consumed him with murderous rage. Kyo's ancestor killed the Yagami and returned the Orochi into its world. Mai tells Kyo that Rugal is out to unleash the Orochi once again. Kyo, meanwhile, wants to confront Rugal, who destroyed his father's mental state.
At a hotel, Mai and Kyo meet up with Iori and Terry. It is revealed that Rugal is using the tournament dimension to merge it with the real world. After Mai blows her cover in front of Kyo, Iori puts on his Bluetooth headset and enters the tournament dimension to confront Rugal. There, he defeats Rugal's servants Mature and Vice in combat, only to have his mind consumed by the Orochi.
The next day, Kyo is lured into the tournament dimension, where he first fights Rugal and loses, but is allowed to live as a warning. This prompts him to bring out his ancestral sword and join Chizuru and Terry into the tournament after Mai is dragged in by Rugal. When the four meet up, they are separated into different dimensions, with Kyo fighting Rugal and Mai and Terry facing Mature and Vice. In the middle of a sword fight, Rugal is about to decapitate Kyo when Iori suddenly appears and intervenes. Here, Rugal reveals to Kyo that several years back, he battled Saisyu, Chizuru and Iori over control of the Orochi. During that fight, Iori allowed the Orochi to take over his body, defeating Rugal, but also destroying Saisyu's mental state by bashing his head against a wooden barrier several times. This leads to a fight between Kyo and Iori. Kyo slashes Iori in the back, releasing the Orochi from his body.
Disappointed by the outcome of the fight, Rugal sends Kyo, Iori and Mai into another dimension to face them with his full potential. Chizuru and her multiple clones appear, revealing that she has found the mirror and the necklace. The heroes fail in their first attempt to combine the relics and trap Rugal, with Chizuru mortally wounded. Mai takes her place as the mirror holder, but as she, Kyo and Iori corner Rugal, they are once again overcome by his powers. Rugal destroys Kyo's sword, but as he is about to finish him off with a fireball, Kyo magically generates a new sword to block it. He then throws the sword and destroys Rugal.
Back in the real world, Scott places a lantern on the ocean in memory of Chizuru. Kyo decides to keep the family tradition by continuing with the tournament. He reflects on his late father's teachings while Iori stares at him from the other side of the pier.
Cast
- Sean FarisSean FarisSean Hardy Faris is an American model and actor. He is well known for his roles as Jake Tyler in Never Back Down, Kyo Kusanagi in The King of Fighters, and Rick Penning in Forever Strong.-Life and career:...
(Tomokazu SugitaTomokazu Sugitais a Japanese voice actor employed by Atomic Monkey. Best known for his role as Gintoki in Gintama, he also voices Kyon in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. He is also one of the three hosts on the radio show Bururaji promoting the videogame Blazblue which is produced and released on Nico Nico...
in the Japanese dub) as Kyo KusanagiKyo Kusanagiis one of the main characters in SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters video game series; he was first introduced in The King of Fighters '94 as the leader of the Japan team. He is one of the iconic characters of the series and regularly appears on publicity material and merchandise. His name and...
, a Japanese-American motorcycle enthusiast and the son of martial artist Saisyu Kusanagi. He is also a descendant of the Kusanagi clan. - Maggie QMaggie QMargaret Denise Quigley , professionally known as Maggie Q, is an American-born actress and former fashion model. She currently stars as the titular character on the action-thriller TV series Nikita.-Early life:...
(Ami KoshimizuAmi Koshimizuis a Japanese voice actress affiliated with Production Baobab management. She was born in the city of Kokubunji in Tokyo Prefecture. She is an award winning voice actress.-Career:*She graduated from Aomori Yamada High School...
in the Japanese dub) as Mai ShiranuiMai Shiranuiis a player character in both the Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters series of fighting games by SNK and in related media, also appearing in a large number of other games...
, an undercover CIACentral Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
operative sent to infiltrate the King of Fighters tournament. - Will Yun LeeWill Yun LeeWill Yun Lee is an Korean American actor.He is best known for his roles on TNT's supernatural drama series Witchblade as Danny Woo and as Jae Kim on NBC's science fiction television drama Bionic Woman...
(Sho Sudo in the Japanese dub) as Iori YagamiIori Yagamiis a character from the SNK Playmore's The King of Fighters video game series that first appeared in The King of Fighters '95 as the leader of the Rivals Team. He is an iconic character of the series, and regularly appears on publicity material and merchandise. Iori is a central character to the...
, a King of Fighters participant and descendant of the Yagami clan. - Ray ParkRay ParkRaymond Park is a Scottish actor, stuntman and martial artist, best known for his playing the physical part of Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Toad in X-Men, Snake-Eyes in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and Edgar on Heroes.-Early life:Park was born in Glasgow, Scotland...
(Hiromichi Tezuka in the Japanese dub) as Rugal BernsteinRugal Bernsteinis a video game character created by SNK. First introduced in The King of Fighters '94, he is a recurring boss in the The King of Fighters fighting game series. As the host of the tournaments from The King of Fighters '94 and 95, Rugal plans to turn all the competitors from the tournament into...
, a mysterious man who steals the three relics and uses them to take over the King of Fighters dimension. - Françoise YipFrançoise YipFrançoise Fong-Wa Yip is a Canadian actress.Yip was born in North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and was raised in Toronto. Her father is Chinese, and her mother is Québécoise. At an early age Yip began studying both piano and dance, but it was piano that she would excel at...
as Chizuru Kagura, descendant of the Kagura clan and host of the King of Fighters tournament. - Hiro KanagawaHiro KanagawaHiro Kanagawa, born , is a Vancouver-based actor.He was born in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan. He is perhaps best known as Principal Kwan from Smallville. His most notable anime role is Gihren Zabi from Mobile Suit Gundam...
as Saisyu Kusanagi, descendant of the Kusanagi clan and keeper of the Kusanagi Sword. - David LeitchDavid Leitch (actor)David Leitch is an American actor, stunt actor, writer, producer and coordinator in action, fight & stunts has worked with big name actors from Hugh Jackman to Hayden Christensen and directors on Hollywood films like Len Wiseman and The Wachowski Brothers...
as Terry BogardTerry Bogardis a video game character created by SNK Playmore , and is the main character of the Fatal Fury series. In the series, he is an American fighter who enters the worldwide tournaments called The King of Fighters to kill Geese Howard, a criminal who killed Terry's father. Terry becomes a formidable...
, a CIA agent investigating on the activities of the King of Fighters tournament. - Monique GandertonMonique GandertonMonique Ganderton is a Canadian stunt woman and actress who works in television and film.Ganderton was born in Edmonton, Alberta. She started out in modeling before moving to stunt work. She has doubled Tricia Helfer, Leelee Sobieski, Bridget Moynahan, Daryl Hannah, Rebecca Romijn, Famke Janssen...
as Mature, a female King of Fighters participant and Vice's girlfriend, who is lured into the tournament dimension and brainwashed by Rugal. - Bernice LiuBernice LiuBernice Jan Liu is a Chinese Canadian actress, singer, and commercial model based in Hong Kong. She has previously held the title Miss Chinese Vancouver 2000 as well as Miss Chinese International 2001, the latter position bringing her fame in Hong Kong.Liu is best known for her role as Princess...
as Vice, a female King of Fighters participant and Mature's girlfriend. As with Mature, she also becomes Rugal's servant. - Sam Hargrave as Mr. Big, a King of Fighters participant who loses to Mai in the beginning of the film.
Production
The film was shot at Aja Tan Studios, North VancouverVancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia, Canada. Shooting finished on January 19, 2009.
Release and reception
The King of Fighters was released direct-to-DVDDirect-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on September 7, 2010 through Vivendi Home Entertainment. It was re-released in the U.S. by Well Go USA Entertainment.
Beyond Hollywood gave the film a negative review, saying that it "wastes a lot of unnecessary time trying to convince itself that the audience needs to know everything there is to know about its history (we don’t, by the way), when it should have just accepted that it’s a movie based on a 2D fighting game, spend 10 minutes tops on the explanations, and get to the fighting already." Felix Vasquez, Jr. of Cinema Crazed gave the film one-and-a-half out of four stars, commenting that "yet another semi-classic video game from the nineties is butchered in to yet another half assed lazily made film."