Mortal Kombat (1995)

Three unknowing martial artists are summoned to a mysterious island to compete in a tournament whose outcome will decide the fate of the world.

Director:

Paul W.S. Anderson

Writers:

Ed Boon (video games), John Tobias (video games),

Stars:

Christopher Lambert, Robin Shou, Linden Ashby

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Lambert	...	Lord Rayden
Robin Shou	...	Liu Kang
Linden Ashby	...	Johnny Cage
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa	...	Shang Tsung
Bridgette Wilson-Sampras	...	Sonya Blade (as Bridgette Wilson)
Talisa Soto	...	Kitana
Trevor Goddard	...	Kano
Chris Casamassa	...	Scorpion
François Petit	...	Sub-Zero
Keith Cooke	...	Reptile (as Keith H. Cooke)
Hakim Alston	...	Fighting Monk
Kenneth Edwards	...	Art Lean
John Fujioka	...	Chief Priest
Daniel Haggard	...	Assistant Director
Sandy Helberg	...	Director

Storyline

Based on the popular video game of the same name "Mortal Kombat" tells the story of an ancient tournament where the best of the best of different Realms fight each other. The goal - ten wins to be able to legally invade the losing Realm. Outworld has so far collected nine wins against Earthrealm, so it's up to Lord Rayden and his fighters to stop Outworld from reaching the final victory...

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Plot Keywords:

tournament | mortal kombat | island | sorcerer | lightning | 

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Taglines:

Kombat Begins

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for non-stop martial arts action and some violence

Details

Official Sites:

The Threshold Network

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 August 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Combate Mortal

Filming Locations:

West Railay Beach, Krabi, Thailand

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$70,360,285 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Threshold Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS (8 channels)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The sets used for the film were later digitized for use in the next made-for-video animation release.

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Goofs

During fight scene between Scorpion and Johnny Cage in the plantation, Scorpion releases the creature from under his arm; but when he calls it back, it can be seen that the source is his palm (this happens twice in that scene).

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Quotes

Johnny Cage: [after Rayden saves the trio from several ninjas] You're lucky he stopped us.

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Crazy Credits

Play Mortal Kombat 3 at arcades everywhere.

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Connections

Spoofed in How It Should Have Ended: Mortal Kombat (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Can't Happen Here"
Written by Walter Flakus, Christopher Hall, Jim Sellers, David Suycott, Stuart Zechman
Performed by Stabbing Westward
Courtesy of Columbia Records
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

Street Fighter Correction

Following up the spectacular disaster of competing fighting game turned movie, Mortal Kombat succeeded where Street Fighter failed. Not a fantastic movie nor one that goes in my top ten, but Mortal Kombat (without a doubt) is one of the better game-based-films.

MK wisely avoids inventing plot in unwelcomed places and sticks to the game as frequently as it can get away with. Actually the biggest contradiction that comes to mind is Scorpion and Sub-zero on the same team. Die hard fans will call the screenwriter on this, the rest of us won't care.

All the mistakes Street Fighter made, MK avoided. Instead of colorful campy cameo-fest, Mortal Kombat comes across as a dark tale about a handful of martial artists shot with an exaggerated epic style with humorous undertones to provide comic relief every now and again. Then again, it is ironic that Street Fighter would feel cartoony and Mortal Kombat more concrete when looking at the style of the games (drawn sprites versus live actors). MK is a little silly when reproducing game effects and trademark moves, though now more and more films are moving in that direction (Matrix, anyone?)

The movie's premise is the first Mortal Kombat arcade game featuring a few plot hints (journey to Outworld) and a few characters from Mortal Kombat 2 (Kitana, Jax, a youthful Shang Tsung.)

Christopher Lambert and Cary-Hiroyuki Takawa make the most memorable impact as Thunder God Rayden and Shape-shifting Sorcerer Shang Tsung. Both ham up their performances just enough to remind us that we're watching a live-action video game, but they don't go overboard into Street Fighter's territory. The rest of the cast plays their part straight forward and makes their characters believable.

It's a quick and slick film, gets to the action and gets over with before you can ask too many questions. It's a pretty decent martial arts film, and an outstanding ‘video game' film. And in 1995, it was the best game-inspired film you could find. Today it's still in the top five.