Shenmue: The Movie was released to a very limited audience in Japan on 20th January 2002. It was only shown in selected theatres in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, and Sapporo. Before you get excited about it, it's not live-action - it uses in-game footage from the Dreamcast game. Strangely it uses the English voices and is subtitled into Japanese.
The poster (below) is a little misleading as it depicts Ryo and Shenhua Rei with a forest background even though it is the story of the original game condensed into 90 minutes.
The movie won't make it to US cinemas, and even a Japanese DVD release is unlikely unless it coincides with Shenmue II's release. If somehow I do manage to see it rest assured I'll review it. Below are some screens from the movie to console you.
They look better than the DC screenshots because they seem slightly higher resolution and with smoother textures, but I haven't seen them in motion.
