Mortal Kombat (film)

Encyclopedia : M : MO : MOR : Mortal Kombat (film)

---

Mortal Kombat is a 1995 movie, directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. It is based on the popular Mortal Kombat series of fighting games by Midway. It was filmed on-location in Thailand. The movie has a sequel, .

The movie received average reviews from critics, most notably a "thumbs-up" from the late Gene Siskel of Siskel & Ebert. It grossed an estimated $125 million worldwide ($70 million in the U.S.).

Taglines:

• Nothing In This World Has Prepared You For This
  
• Kombat Begins
  
• Flawless Victory
  
• Test Your Might

Plot summary

The Earthrealm is being invaded by the evil emperor and generals led by Shang Tsung. Every generation, there is a tournament to save the Earth. If the Earth loses 10 tournaments in a row, then the portal to Earth will be opened, allowing 'The Emperor' (believed to be Shao Kahn, though he is never mentioned by name) to invade and conquer. So far Earth has lost 9 tournaments. Liu Kang and other Earth fighters (including Johnny Cage and Sonya Blade) must risk their lives to battle and win this 10th Mortal Kombat, or else Earth is doomed.

The Earth fighters are recruited and brought to a pier where they leave on a large Asian boat for the unknown island. At the same time, Kano, a member of the renegade Black Dragon gang, is being chased by US Special Forces agents Sonya Blade and Jax Briggs. Sonya ends up boarding the boat while chasing Kano. While on the boat, the Earth fighters first encounter a couple of their opponents, namely Sub-Zero and Scorpion.

Upon arriving at the island, the Earth fighters are welcomed by Shang Tsung and the first rounds of the tournament begin the day after they arrive onshore (they have a dinner that is interrupted by a demonstration of "things to come"). The Outworld fighters are victorious initially, with Shang Tsung absorbing the souls of the losing Earthrealm warriors. Rayden converses briefly with the Earth warriors, at which point they decide to take action. Johnny Cage defeats Scorpion, Liu Kang defeats Sub Zero, and Sonya Blade defeats Kano. They then witness Goro destroying an earth fighter, much to their dismay. After some time passes, they decide to step up, with Johnny Cage defeating Goro. Shang Tsung responds by kidnapping Sonya and escaping to Outworld, prompting Johnny Cage and Liu Kang to follow him in a last-ditch rescue attempt. It is there that Liu Kang defeats Shang Tsung by knocking him into the Pit, which impales him, and ending his menace.

The movie ends with the Earthrealm warriors and Princess Kitana celebrating back on Earth. The celebration is short-lived, however, as "The Emperor" and his Outworld warriors appear and threaten them as we fade to black.

Characters

The following Mortal Kombat characters appear in the movie.

• Goro — Kevin Michael Richardson with vocal effects by Frank Welker
• Liu Kang — Robin Shou
• Jax — Gregory McKinney
• Johnny Cage — Linden Ashby
• Kano — Trevor Goddard
• Kitana — Talisa Soto
• Raiden — Christopher Lambert
• Reptile — Keith Cooke
• Scorpion — Chris Casamassa (voice provided by Ed Boon)
• Shang Tsung — Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
• Sonya Blade — Bridgette Wilson
• Sub-Zero — François Petit

Trivia

• Mortal Kombat, at $70 million, is the second most successful live-action video game movie in terms of domestic box office grosses (behind 2001's ).
• The movie is renowned for its memorable theme music and the famous bellowing of "MORTAL KOMBAT!!!", which has come to be associated with Mortal Kombat as a series, rather than just the movie.
• The Outworld exterior scenes were filmed at the abandoned Kaiser Steel Mill in Fontana, California. The site is now the California Speedway.
• Johnny Cage was played by Chris Conrad in the beginning of . However, IMDB seems to indicate that Linden Ashby will appear in the third Mortal Kombat movie as Johnny.
• Steve James originally had the role of Jax until his unexpected passing in 1993. The role would eventually end up in the hands of Gregory McKinney. McKinney served in the United States Air Force Presidential Honor Guard and in law enforcement before breaking into acting. Sadly, he died of a brain aneurysm on April 13, 1998.
• In his very specific style, Trevor Goddard potrays Kano as an Australian. However, after his untimely death in 2003, it was revealed that Goddard was actually British. This came as a particular shock for people having worked with him as Goddard hid behind this accent his entire career. In the games, Kano was originally an American born in Japan. However, because of Goddard's excellent performance as Kano in the movie, he was later retconned as an Australian in his honor (in the Konquest mode for Kano in ', while beating Reptile, the game's narration boxes say "Crikey!"). The Aussie version of Kano also made an appearance in the short-lived animated series '.
• All principal production, casting, and photography were all done a few years prior to the completion of the film. Many more familiar faces almost ended up with the roles of some of the characters. Cameron Diaz and Sharon Stone were actually both approached for the role as Sonya Blade. (Diaz broke her wrist during karate practice, which forced her to bow out of the project.) Meanwhile, Jean-Claude Van Damme was considered for Johnny Cage but Brandon Lee was cast. After his untimely death Linden Ashby replaced him. Phillip Rhee, Jason Scott Lee and Russell Wong were approached for Liu Kang.
• Cary Tagawa was the filmmakers' first and only choice for the role of Shang Tsung.
• Tagawa and Talisa Soto (Kitana) were also featured in the James Bond movie Licence to Kill.
• On the DVD's French soundtrack, the part of Raiden is voiced by Lambert.
• In the credits, as well as subtitles, Jax's name is misspelled as "Jaxx."
• Though the movie was primarily based on the first Mortal Kombat game, it incorporated several elements from the second:
• *Jax and Kitana were introduced in Mortal Kombat II. Reptile's reptilian nature was also first demonstrated in MKII, though he was present in the first game.
• *Several of the scenes in Outworld, such as the Wastelands and the portal through which Shang Tsung took Sonya, were first seen in MKII.
• * Shang Tsung's youthful appearance was because the filmmakers were against covering the actor in heavy makeup.
• *Sonya's capture is a reference to MKII's storyline, as is Shang Tsung's youthful appearance and Shao Kahn's appearance at the end of the movie.
• *Johnny Cage uses his autograph Friendship from MKII after his fight against Scorpion.
• *Liu Kang used his Bicycle Kick in his match with Reptile.
• *Shang Tsung's ability to steal soul of fallen victim seen in the movie was debuted in MKII as a fatality.
• *The shadow priests, seen leading Shang Tsung to the final arena and elsewhere in the movie, debut in the background of MKII.
• It's themesong, Techno Syndrome, become one of the most requested songs in US ever since the movie came out in the theaters.

External links

• [Tribute to Art Lean, one of the movie's featured characters] (Website may not be safe for work)

 

---

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Search Titles

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

?