Raul Julia Ended His Career With A Flop Instead Of A Bang
Some actors manage to go out on top, while others are not so fortunate. The list of individuals who probably should have had a better send-off before wrapping up their tenure in the realm of acting is filled with names that may shock certain fans. One of them is Raul Julia, whose final credit was not considered by many to be very good.
According to IMDb, Raul Julia has a vast array of credits dating back to 1951 all the way up until 1994 — the year of his death. The well-renowned actor had a very impressive career starring in many titles for both the big and small screen. During his time in Hollywood, Julia worked with some of the biggest directors in the industry, like Francis Ford Coppola, Sydney Lumet, and Clint Eastwood. He was even a major player on Broadway as well, winning a Tony Award in 1972. He also earned posthumous Emmy and Golden Globe wins for his work in the TV movie "The Burning Season." However, he is arguably most well known for playing Gomez Addams in Barry Sonnenfeld's two live-action films, "The Addams Family" in 1991 and "Addams Family Values" in 1993.
Out of all the movies the man lent his incredible acting ability to over the years, Julia's final endeavor on the big screen was his lowest-rated title on Rotten Tomatoes.
Street Fighter received no love from the critics
Raul Julia's final cinematic ordeal was the live-action adaptation of the fighting video game "Street Fighter." The game was a hit for Capcom in arcades and on home consoles, making a move to turn it into a successful movie franchise a virtual no-brainer. The film follows Colonel William F. Guile, played by '90s action star Jean-Claude Van Damme, who unites an unlikely team of heroes to go up against the maniacal leader General M. Bison, who was played by none other than Raul Julia. The charismatic and ruthless warlord served up some stellar dialogue scenes and electrifying fight sequences, but despite the actor's best efforts, the film turned out to be a critical failure of epic proportions.
The New York Times wrote that "Street Fighter" was "a dreary, overstuffed hodgepodge of poorly edited martial arts sequences and often unintelligible dialogue." Variety's review stated, "it's noisy, overblown and effects-laden and lacks sustained action or engaging characters." They also referred to it as Julia's worst performance of his career. Film critic David Hunter wrote it "is neither a satisfying martial arts exercise for star Jean-Claude Van Damme nor the irresistible mainstream diversion it strives for."
While it was most certainly a critical flop, it was successful at the box office, meaning some people did enjoy Julia's last turn on the big screen, and "Street Fighter" does have some fans out there that do revere the film as one the best live-action video game movies ever made.