Julia was a big believer in public television and had appeared in several WNET productions before this, as well as pledge drives. This was the last of WNET's attempts at TV movie adaptions of sci-fi lit, the first two being one of some of Vonnegut's short stories and the other being the well received 1980 tele-film based on Le Guin's The Lathe of Heaven.
This one however, was not so well received. At all.
He was dying of cancer and knew that he only had enough life for one last movie. As I understand it, his performing in Street Fighter was a final gift to his grandchildren, who loved the videogame. Every day the director had to ensure Julia was on his drugs and that Jean Claude Van Damme was off his drugs.
Here's an article that goes into a bit more detail about the many problems with Street Fighter's production, including Raul Julia's health and Van Damme's drug problems:
I have seen the PBS Lathe of Heaven, and it's quite good. It's available on youtube. Those from the Northwest might delight in the attempts at making 1980 Portland look like a science fiction landscape.
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