Do you remember this... Part 1: Classic(?!?) 90's movies based on video games

DOUBLE DRAGON (1994)

Koga Shuko, a crime lord and businessman, explains to his underlings about a powerful, magic medallion called the Double Dragon, which has been split into two pieces. He obtains one half and orders his henchmen to find the other for him.

Teenage brothers Billy and Jimmy Lee, and their guardian/adoptive mother Satori Imada head home after citywide curfew from a martial arts tournament. On their way, they are accosted by gang members, who rule the streets after dark due to an uneasy pact made with the police department to keep them from running amok during the day.

They escape with help from the Power Corps, a group of vigilantes headed by their friend Marian Delario, daughter of the police chief. Unfortunately, Bo Abobo, a gang leader, discovers Satori holds the second medallion half and reports this to Shuko. For his failure in securing it, he is mutated into a hulking giant.

At their abandoned theater home, Satori explains to a skeptical Billy and Jimmy about the Double Dragon and how their piece must be protected, and she places it in the care of Billy. Shuko, with his henchmen in tow, pays the Lees a visit, intent on taking the other half. He reveals the ability of his medallion, the power of the soul, which gives the user the power of possession and a shadow form, by temporarily possessing Satori. Billy and Jimmy successfully incapacitate Abobo, but Shuko has the place doused in gasoline and lit on fire. Satori sacrifices herself so the brothers can escape with the Dragon.

Unable to find the brothers on his own, Shuko unites and takes over the gangs by displaying his power and sends them after the Lees. Billy and Jimmy narrowly get away, and seek refuge in the Power Corps hideout. Marian agrees to help them, using this as an opportunity to get rid of the gangs once and for all, and the three of them decide to go to Shuko’s office building to steal his medallion. They ultimately fail and are forced to flee, and Jimmy is captured in the process... (Wikipedia)

Author's comment:  I love the 90s. This is the most colorful and optimistic decade, filled with self-irony, futuristic orgies, sweet pop hits, fierce grunge and perhydrol. The first half of the 1990s is the natural continuation of the period 1986-1989, the organic link between the cyberpunk/post-apocalypse ideas emerging from the new wave's darkness and pop culture, sprinkled with pink sugar sticks. In the 90s, the malignant ideas of the previous decade were fried, painted in bright colors, soaked in sugar syrup and shaped like hearts before being presented to the public. 

Yes, I miss that time. And this movie is a classic example of a product of the 90's. Double Dragon is a hybrid between the Backstreet Boys, Commando, TMNT and Fist of he North Star.

PFC cult rating (1-5): 3 

STREET FIGHTER (1994)

(Wikipedia) In the Southeast Asian nation of Shadaloo, civil war has erupted between the forces of drug lord-turned General M. Bison and the Allied Nations led by Colonel William F. Guile. Bison has captured several A.N. relief workers, and via a live two-way radio broadcast, demands Guile secure a US$20 billion ransom in three days. Guile refuses and vows to track Bison down and place him on trial for his crimes, but his assistant, Sergeant Cammy, is only partially able to pinpoint Bison's location to the river-delta region outside the city.

One hostage is Guile's friend Sergeant Carlos "Charlie" Blanka, who Bison orders taken to his lab for his captive doctor and scientist, Dhalsim, to turn into the first of his supersoldiers. Though Charlie is severely disfigured by the procedure, Dhalsim secretly alters his cerebral programming to maintain Charlie's humanity.
American con artists Ryu Hoshi and Ken Masters attempt to swindle arms dealer Viktor Sagat by providing him with fake weaponry. Sagat sees through the ruse and has Ryu fight his cage champion, Vega, but Guile bursts in and arrests everyone present for violating a curfew. In the prison grounds, Guile witnesses Ryu and Ken fighting Sagat's men, and recruits them to help him find Bison in exchange for their freedom, since Sagat is Bison's arms supplier.

They are given a homing device and win Sagat's trust by staging a prison escape and faking Guile's death. However, news reporter Chun-Li, whose father was killed by Bison, and her crew, former sumo wrestler E. Honda and boxer Balrog, who are out for revenge against Sagat for ruining their careers, stumble across the plan, and over Guile's objections, attempt to assassinate the two warlords at a party. To maintain Bison's trust, Ryu and Ken stop the assassination and reveal the conspirators to Bison.

Returning to his base, Bison inducts Ryu and Ken into his organization and orders Honda and Balrog imprisoned and Chun-Li taken to his quarters. Ryu and Ken break Balrog and Honda out of confinement and rush to confront Bison, who is fighting Chun-Li, but Bison escapes and releases sleeping gas, sedating them all. Guile plans his assault on Bison's base. He is impeded by the Deputy Secretary of the A.N., who informs Guile that the decision has been made to pay Bison the ransom, but Guile and his loyal troops nevertheless proceed with the mission.

At the base, Dhalsim is found out by a security guard; during the ensuing fight, Charlie is released, and he kills the guard to protect Dhalsim. Guile arrives and sneaks into the lab, where he encounters Charlie. Guile prepares to shoot Charlie to end his suffering, but Dhalsim stops him. Bison prepares to kill the hostages by unleashing Charlie on them, but Guile emerges and engages Bison's guards until the remaining A.N. forces arrive. After Bison makes it clear that he will not surrender peacefully, Guile orders his allies to rescue the hostages and engages Bison in a personal duel. As Guile and Bison fight, Ryu and Ken defeat Sagat and Vega. Bison's computer expert Dee Jay flees through a secret passage, joined by Sagat, while Bison's bodyguard, Zangief, engages Honda in a fight until learning from Dee Jay that Bison was the true enemy, and sides with Ryu and Ken to save the hostages... (Wikipedia)

Author's comment: This is s pure hack and slash movie! I think of at least three other similar movies with JCVD - The Quest (1996), Kickboxer (1989) and Bloodsport (1988). But this one is definitely the most powdered. No, is not because of the presence of Kylie Minogue. At least not only. If the narrative composition seemed naively fresh in Double Dragon, then JCVD's attempts to follow the steps of his older action brothers somewhat louse up this atmosphere.

PFC cult rating (1-5): 2

SUPER MARIO BROS. (1993)

(Wikipedia) About 65 million years ago, a meteorite crashes into the Earth, killing the dinosaurs and splitting the universe into two parallel dimensions. The surviving dinosaurs cross into a new dimension and evolve into a humanoid race. In the present, a mysterious woman leaves a large egg, along with a rock, at a Catholic orphanage, but as she attempts to leave, she is accosted by King Koopa, who demands the location of the rock. Rocks then fall onto the woman, killing her. The egg then hatches, containing an infant girl.

Twenty years later, Italian American plumbers Mario and Luigi live in Brooklyn, New York. They are on the verge of being driven out of business by the mafia-operated Scapelli Construction Company led by Anthony Scapelli. Luigi falls for NYU student Daisy, who is digging under the Brooklyn Bridge for dinosaur bones. After a date, Daisy takes Luigi back to the bridge only to witness two of Scapelli's men sabotaging it by leaving the water pipes open. Mario and Luigi manage to fix it but are knocked unconscious by Iggy and Spike, Koopa's henchmen and cousins, who kidnap Daisy. Mario and Luigi awaken and pursue them through an interdimensional portal that leads them to Dinohattan.

Iggy and Spike realize they didn't bring Daisy's rock, a meteorite fragment which Koopa is trying to get in order to merge his world with the human world. It is then revealed that Daisy is the long-lost Princess of the other dimension. When Koopa overthrew Daisy's father the King and devolved him into fungus, her mother the Queen took her to Brooklyn. The portal was then closed, but Scapelli's men inadvertently reopened the portal when they blasted the cave.

Koopa sends Spike and Iggy to find Daisy and the rock to merge the dimensions and make him dictator of both worlds. However, after Koopa subjects them to one of his experiments to make them more intelligent, Spike and Iggy realize Koopa's evil intentions and side with the Mario Bros. in the desert. Daisy is taken to Koopa-Tower, where she meets Yoshi. Koopa informs Daisy that she descended from the dinosaurs, believing only Daisy can merge the worlds because of her royal heritage. Eventually, the Mario Bros. rescue Daisy with the help of Toad, a good-natured guitarist who was devolved into a Goomba as punishment... (Wikipedia)

Author's comment: ImdB rated this movie with only four stars. Why? Because of the ridiculous acting? It is this kind of game that fits the story of two plumbers circumnavigating the sewerage to save princess of the other dimension. We cannot expect anything serious about such a plot. And we can't say that Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper and Samantha Mathis are talentless
 actors. If you watch the movie now, you will definitely feel that there is something iconic about it.
PFC cult rating (1-5): 1