The Street Fighter movie is shaping up to be a love letter to Capcom’s classic fighting game series, with its goofy action and costumes, but if there’s one crucial element it’s nailing, it’s the franchise’s sound. Specifically, Guile’s iconic theme, which is legendary for its ability to complement anything in life. How does the movie version match up? It’s not straying from what is considered fighting game soundtrack perfection, but it is adding to it with a kickass guitar solo and a few more cinematic tweaks, allowing the main theme to do all the heavy lifting. Listen to it yourself, from one of the streaming links below:
Guile’s Theme is one of those evergreen memes of the late 2000s and early 2010s, and while it’s nowhere near as popular as it once was–YouTube probably got sick of all those 10-hour uploads–it’s still instantly recognizable. The original theme debuted in the 1991 arcade release of Street Fighter II and was composed by Yoko Shimomura.
For the upcoming Street Fighter movie, the score was produced by Leo Birenberg and Zach Robinson (Cobra Kai), who say that the original game soundtracks were instrumental in shaping their musical identities. “As young and budding composers, we listened to Yoko Shimomura’s iconic Guile’s Theme probably more than Raiders of the Lost Ark,” the duo said in a press statement. “We hope fans will hear the love and reverence we hold for this music within our version of Guile’s Theme.
The full Street Fighter soundtrack will feature 39 tracks in total, and it’ll be available starting October 16. The movie releases on the same day, and so far it looks like it’s leaning fully into the absurdity of its source material. WWE performer Cody Rhodes plays Guile, and if you feel like cosplaying as him, you can grab an official Street Fighter popcorn bucket shaped like his iconic hair. Absolutely perfect, no notes.
Street Fighter will be landing a month after another film based on a Capcom video game series, Resident Evil, hit theaters. So far, the Zach Cregger-directed movie has been a critical hit and, commercially, continues to smash franchise records.
