Mortal Kombat (1995)
Welcome to The Guys Review, where we review media, products and experiences.
**READ APPLE REVIEWS** mention listener in Cour D'Alene, ID
Mortal Kombat
Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson
Starring Robin Shou, Bridgette Wilson, Christopher Lambert, Linden Ashby and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
Released August 18, 1995
Budget: $18M ($31.1M in 2021)
Box Office: $73M Domestic ($126M 2021), $52M ($90M 2021) international, total of $125M ($216M 2021)
Gross: #1 movie for 3 weeks, and the 7th highest grossing video game movie (double dragon is not on the list)
**The film's soundtrack went platinum in less than two weeks.
Ratings: IMDb 5.8/10 Rotten Tomates 46%
Metacritic 58% Google Users 89%
Plot:
We open to two men fighting at some temples. The younger boy is defeated, and we see it's Liu Kangs dream. Next we're on a raid of some sort, with Sonya and Jax looking for Kano. Kano is working with Shang Sung to get Sonya on a boat. Next, we flash to LA and a Johnny Cage facing 4 guys in, what we learn, is a movie. His mentor convinces him to participate in a tournament, and is then shown to be Shang Sung in disguise. Liu Kang returns to the temple of light. He argues with his grandfather, and wants to represent the temple in the tournament. Enter Raiden. The fighters are shown waiting on the dock when a mystical boat appears. Sonya sees Kano board the boat and follows him. The main characters are introduced to each other. Sonya, searching for Kano finds Shang Sung, and are introduced to Scorpion and Subzero. Raiden stops them from fighting. Raiden then explains to them what Mortal Kombat is, and that if Shang Sung wins, the Outworld warriors will invade Earth. Shang Sung declares the tournament has begun.
S:
-I love that the movie just starts with the techno theme. Super 90's.
-The dialoge is a bit... Eh
-Eye electricity
-Boat CGI isn't that bad.
-Why 10 victories to be able to invade?
The fighters arrive to the island, where they're shown climbing impossibly tall stairs. Liu Kang eyes Kitana, and we see the very poorly cgi'd reptile is sent to follow them. The fighters are at a banquet, that is disrupted by Shang Sung, and we're shown what Subzero can do, when he freezes and explodes a fighter. Flawless victory. Liu Kang, Sonya and Johnny Cage follow Shang Sung, who leads them to Kano an our first proper view of Goro. He gives some exposition on who Shang Sung is, and who he is. The three are heard trying to leave, and Shang Sung sends men after them. Liu Kang has an encounter with Reptile. Johnny leads them in a circle back to the hall where Kano was, and 6 guys attack them. After, Raiden saves them from a large group of attackers. Raiden gives some exposition on Shang Sung, and the tournament begins with Liu Kang fighting a dude, who he defeats, and Shang Sung takes his soul with a fatality. Next is a supposedly long awaited fight between Sonya and Kano. Sonya ends up killing Kano with her signature move from the game. Next, Johnny Cage is walking through a forest, and he encounters Scorpion, Scorpion sends his hand/hook thing at Johnny, which he evades, and when he tries to reel it in, Johnny goes after him, and they end up in Scorpions lair where the intense fight continues. Scorpion does his signature fatality from the game, which Johnny repels with a shield, which he then uses to kill Scorpion...and ends with a signed photo of him.
S:
-Johnny Cages one liners, "cant wait to see what the bathrooms look like"
-Again, like Double Dragon, you can tell who has martial arts training.
-The floor in the room where Kano was, you can see the squares that makes up the floor.
-What's with all the pageantry before the fight?
-The guy who plays Kano is SO much bigger than Sonya, those haymakers would have taken her out.
-Johnny Scorpion fight was well choreographed.
-Ed Boone, creator of Mortal Kombat, voiced Scorpion.
Liu Kang is to fight Kitana on a beach. As they fight, she gives him advice for life and his next fight. In the main hall, Raiden is shown to bringing in buckets of water as Liu Kang enters, and SubZero comes down the stairs, their fight begins. SubZero powers up some sort of ice attack, and Liu Kang realizes he can use the water to stop the attack, which impales Sub Zero and freezes him. Goro is shown to enter the tournament and destroy all the humans with ease. We're shown a fight where Goro kills an unnamed fighter Johnny had made a connection with earlier on. Goro kills him with a flawless victory, Shang Sung then takes his soul. Raiden gives a pep talk. Telling them they'll have to face their fears. Liu meditates, Johnny and Sonya talk and Johnny is going to fight Goro to protect Sonya. Raiden tries to stop him, but he makes the deal with Shang Sung. Goro and Johnny meet to fight, Johnny does his move from the game, does the splits, and punches him in the crotch. Johnny runs off and Goro chases him, to a clif. Johnny hides above the entrance and surprises him, and knocks him off the cliff to his death. Shang Sung kidnaps Sonya to Outworld for the final fight. As they walk through Outworld, Liu catches Reptile, and throws him into a stature, which he then becomes a human-like fighter, and the two fight. Liu ends the fight by doing his video game move, the bicycle kick to Reptile, who turns back into the stature and as the reptile creature tries to escape, he kills it. Kitana then tells them what happened to Outworld. She tells him he'll face 3 challenges in the black tower, where Sonya is shown being held.
S:
-The Goro animatronics are so bad. The top hands and head are terrible.
-That Veronica Vaughn...
-Cary Tagawa is pretty good in this.
-The Goro yells are annoying.
Shang Sung and Sonya exchange dialog, and Johnny Cage, Liu Kang, and Kitana are there beside them. Shang Sung challenges Johnny Cage, but Liu then challenges him. As the mortal kombat theme begins, so does their fight. Liu lands a good punch, and uses the souls of a thousand dead warriors and brings in extra fighters. Liu defeats all of them. As he goes to challenge Shang Sung, he morphs into his younger brother Chan, and tries to convince him to give in, as spikes are raised on the ground below (like the stage "The Pit" from the first MK game)... He switches back and they continue to fight. Shang Sung thinks hes won, but Liu realizes his power and begins to make him free the souls. He tries to make him surrender, which he wont. Liu beats him back to the edge and finishes him with a fireball to the chest, and onto a spike. The turns in a shriveled skeleton, and explodes with light and the souls are released. Liu makes peace with his brothers soul. They're shown back at the temple on Earth and everyone is celebrating. Raiden is waiting for them. As they walk, the emperor is shown to be attacking, saying hes come for their souls, and Raiden responds with, "I don't think so." Cue fighting pose and MK theme music.
S:
-I like that they changed Sonyas outfit and blew out her hair too. Gotta be pretty as a slave/fighter.
-This was obviously a VERY well rehearsed fight.
-I've never understood why everyone waits to take their turn to fight like that...
-LOVE the end song.
Webpage: https://theguysreview.simplecast.com/
EM: theguysreviewpod@gmail.com
IG: @TheGuysReviewPod
Twitter: @The_GuysReview