Customer Reviews

Mortal Kombat

5 star:		(88)
4 star:		(44)
3 star:		(39)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

This movie still rocks. The Reptile effects are kind of dated, but everything else... hell yes! Next to Resident Evil (One, not Two), the best video game adaptation ever. No, it ain't a life affirming oscar worthy masterpiece, but its' a damn good time, with rockin' music, excellent fight scenes and gorgeous scenery. It stays pretty close to the game (minus the extreme gore). If you dug Enter The Dragon, you'll dig this.

When this movie came out, I was twelve years old and horribly afraid of being caught out as not old enough to see a PG-13 movie without an adult. In spite of that fear however, I saw this movie no less than seven times in the theatre alone. Now at almost 23 years old, I can say that this movie still makes me giddy with enjoyment. I love Liu Kang, Raiden and especially Reptile. Annihilation didn't come close to matching this movie. They couldn't keep the actors from the first film, Johnny Cage died in the first five seconds and the actor who had replaced Christopher Lambert as Raiden was terrible. But this movie, this movie captured my imagination over and over again and will likely continue to do so.

Video game films are either awful or just entertaining...nothing more. Mortal Kombat is the only film based on a video game that was very good. Kevin Droney, who wrote this film really did job writing it close to the game. Even the characters from the game were done well. The only problem is that some of the dialogue sucks and the fatalities were watered-down.

Paul W.S. Anderson showed his talent in directing for the first time in the USA. He is a good director, too bad his directing isn't as strong now as it was before he did Resident Evil. And I'm glad he didn't write this because he's one of the worst writers in Holloywood today.

Johnny Cage {Ashby} was the best character in this movie and he the best fight scene, the battle between him and Scorpion {Casamassa}. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa has played many villians in his career, but Shang Tsung is his best performance. Liu Kang {Shou} Sonya Blade {Wilson} Kano {Goddard} and Rayden {Lambert} were all good characters too.

Nothing has beat Mortal Kombat as the best film based on a video game because films based on video games are never done right. A lot of them are just films using the game's title to make money.

Hopefully one day, a real director/writer will make one super cool...and not written by Paul W.S. Anderson or anything by Uwe Suck.

But for now, Mortal Kombat will still hold on to that title as the best film based on a video game.

This is a very cool movie. I like it a lot. Both the acting and the plot were stupendous, and I loved the fight scenes. Also, there were quite a few memorable quotes, many of my favorite characters were in it, and the way it was made, designed, and molded was just terrific. Here's how I would rank the fighters and the best parts:

Characters:

1. Scorpion-My favorite Mortal Kombat character of all time. Had cool powers, a cool outfit, and is the best ninja I've ever seen.
I loved his fighting skills and scary skull face as well. Yow!!!

2. Sub-Zero-Only Scorpion tops him. I loved his skills and blue and black uniform, and his freeze comes very close to Scorpion's spear and hellfire. And both ninjas look a lot like each other.

3. Reptile-He is a green ninja who could kick the toughest butt! I thought he was the most able and agile of all fighters except for the two above. I just wish he used his acid like in the game.

4. Kitana-Beautiful, acrobatic, and trained, she was the female in the movie I liked most. I loved her moves as well as her solid bravery and determination. Could've used some fans, but so what?

5. Sonya-The next best female. She was nearly as beautiful than Kitana, she was as defiant and tough as a girl should be, and she's a butt kicker. Cool guns, too. I also liked her angry tone.

6. Shang Tsung-A perfect villain. He was both vile and powerful, and he had no heart whatsoever. Also, the way he sucked souls out of bodies and ran the tournament was amazing as hell. He rocks.

7. Liu Kang-The Bruce Lee of Mortal Kombat and protagonist of the movie. I liked this guy A LOT. He was amazingly good in terms of fighting and lasting, had a funny accent, and he's just so cool.

8. Raiden-The god of thunder and Earth. Though he didn't do much fighting, he still had a heart of gold and I loved the one part where he did fight, using his extraordinary powers of lightning.

9. Kano-This guy didn't get many chances to fight(in fact he only got one)but he was still able to do some damage. He was also cool looking and I loved his Australian accent and poor table manners.

10. Johnny Cage-This guy is both funny and a good fighter. I like the way he never lost his cool and was able to help out a lot in terms of defeating villains. He was good at movie acting, too.

11. Jax-He was cool looking, but never got a chance to show his true fighting ability. Hopefully he does in the second MK movie.

12. Goro-This guy stinks. He is the only character that I hate.

Okay, here are the reasons I recommend this movie to you. Now-

1. It is well put together and the fighting and action are both intense and suspenseful.

2. It has great heart and courage in it, as well as funny parts.

3. There are many good scenes, like Sonya fighting Kano, Johnny Cage fighting Scorpion, and more heroes fighting more villains.

4. The majority of viewers will think that it has a very sweet and happy ending.

5. And finally, it is possibly the only good Mortal Kombat movie so far(I'll see the second one and find out for myself, but MK 2 or Annihilation got very bad reviews, I am very sorry to say)

Anyway, I would tell you the best scenes, but that would be the deed of spoiling the movie for you. Rather, I will let you see it yourself and see if you like it. Hope this was a good enough tale for you to rent or buy the movie.

This is yet another film based on a video game. Howevr, there is a difference. "Mortal Kombat" ends up being better than, say, "Super Mario Bros." or "Street Fighter". The plot follows three martial-arts experts to an island, where they must fight to the death to defend Earth from supernatural creatures. They must face enemies such as Sub-Zero, who can (for those of you who don't know already) freeze his foes and smash them to pieces. Also, there is Goro, a four-armed monster, who has never, ever been defeated. That might change. All of these enemies are the soldiers of Shang Tsung, an evil wizard from another dimension, who captures the souls of a vanquished enemy and enslaves them. Though the acting is mediocre, the script is okay. However, forget the dialogue and pay more attention to some of the mind-boggling action sequences and excellent special effects. I can't really explain how this is better than the other films based on video games. Perhaps, the reason is that it's more like the game than the other ones were. Of course, lots of martial-arts action and special effects never hurt. There are some enjoyable moments for older kids and adults. Mainly from the character Johnny Cage, a vain movie star, who wants to prove that his moves aren't fake. He gets some of the best lines.

Mortal Kombat isn't "Enter The Dragon", but there are plenty of moves and action that would have made Bruce Lee proud.

Mortal Kombat, based on the video game is awsome. MK has an awsome case which includes Christoper Lambert (Beowulf) and the characters are awsome.

Kano, Lu Kang, Kitana, Raiden, Scorpion, Sub Zero, Johnny Cage, Sonya, and Goro!

awsome movie with some pretty awsome fight scenes. i only wish the final battle scene between Lu Kang and Shang Tsung was a bit longer and with a little more action, but other than that, great music and great action.

and a great ending scene, but i don't want to ruin it.

real quickly, the plot revolves around Shang Tsung trying to take over the world and inorder to do so, they have to win 10 Mortal Kombat's in a row, and to day, they had won 9. so it's up to Lu Kange, Johnny Cage, and Sonya to save the world.

awsome movie and great special effects. Goro looks pretty cool.
anyway, great movie with tons of action, excellect plot and great music.

so if your ready, test your might with MORTAL KOMBAT!!!

3/5 Stars

"Let Mortal Kombat begin!" Quotes like that are what this movie (and the video games in which it is based) is going to be remembered for. I decent action film based on the successful Mortal Kombat fighting games the movie is focused on, you guessed it, "Kombatants" punching each other around trying to win an inter dimensional tournament to save the world from the evil Emperor. About as scary as playing a game of Space Invaders, but you don't go to see a movie like Mortal Kombat and expect anything more then the title implies. Plenty of action and a plot so simple that there is no brain required to watch this film.

The plot centers on three Kombatants who the thunder God - Lord Raydon - believes will decide the fate of the earth. During the course of the tournament they face a series of warriors possessing supernatural powers who are commanded by the Emperor's evil sorcerer Shang Tsung. As the tournament goes on the face stronger opponents, including the red-eyed Kano, the ninja attire wearing Sub-Zero and Scorpion, the four-armed champion Goro, before they take on Shang Tsung himself.

A short film, barely going over ninety minutes Mortal Kombat certainly does what it intended to do and with a fair level of success. The constant action and laughable dialogue will no doubt entertain teenagers and just make for a fun late-night movie for casual viewing.

The cast and crew of Mortal Kombat receives my good graces for their valiant efforts to make this movie a resounding success. The plot stays true to the original story of the video game. The characters are the closest to how video game adaptations to the big screen should be. The fights are spectacular, and the music does extremely well to go with the flow of the movie.

The movie opens up with a young man fighting the main antagonist, Shang Tsung, on the sacred grounds of the Temple of Light. The man (revealed to be Liu Kang's brother) loses, dies, and has his soul taken away by the sorcerer. Liu Kang wakes up from this dream and sets off to the Temple of Light. Meanwhile, U. S. Special Forces agent Sonya Blade chases after the famed arch-criminal, Kano, at a concert. Then in Hollywood, discredit martial artist/actor Johnny Cage makes another failed attempt at making it big in Hollywood as the best martial artist in the world. Eventually, these three humans unite on Shang Tsung's boat with the elder god, Rayden, to learn about their driving goals with one common purpose: to save the world.

The characters are perfected to a 'T.' Liu Kang is a disgraced Order of Light monk who must accept his destiny as the chosen one. Johnny Cage is a failing movie actor who works to prove himself to the world. Sonya Blade is a self-reliant Special Forces agent in pursuit of Kano, the one-eyed criminal. Meanwhile, the cast is supported by a plot that includes a former princess of a lost kingdom (Kitana), a four-armed champion (Goro), and three awesome ninjas with fearsome powers and ferocity: Sub-Zero (freezes things), Scorpion (shoots out a snake from his hand and teleports), and Reptile (Reptilian-like ninja with the power of invisibility).

Instead of showing off its display of blood and gore as depicted in the video game, the cast and crew took a chance to develop a morality tale with awesome fight scenes and a plot that would literally blow your mind. Believe me when I say, it's a fight movie like you've never seen before.

How would you feel if one day, the world began to rest on your shoulders? If you were the only thing that stood between your world and its destruction, what would you do? This is an extraordinary circumstance that just happened to pick you as the chosen one. Given the purpose of the mission, you could not afford to lose.

"The essence of Mortal Kombat is not about death, but life." No one could have said this better than Christopher Lambert's character, Rayden. His part is done so well as the God of Thunder and the Protector of the Realm of Earth. There is nearly a religious undertone echoing throughout the movie. Even when the Thunder God cannot interfere with the world's problems, he teaches them that man is responsible for their destiny. Their callings, however undesirable, are necessary to combat the everyday evils that surround our world. If no one will take responsibility, who will?

This movie receives the highest of accolades in my opinion. I hope the cast and crew continues to produce high-quality action flicks such as Mortal Kombat. It'll blow you away.

saw it with my father at age 15. saw it 2 times on vhs. saw it 8 times on tv. saw it 4 times on dvd. glad I bought it on dvd less then a year ago. it's a hit like the video games and cards and some comics made from this series are. it amazes. gives you laughs here and there. shocks the hell out of you. like when Scorpion has Cage in his hell lair and rips off his face or face mask and you see his ugly, horrifying, shocking, evil skull grimacing. and then Cage kicks some ass by shattering his stomach open with a shield with spikes on it. and then Scorpion burns up and blood oozes out and his head explodes like a watermelon or something like that. the effects, visuals , etc are amazing
see this movie

The Emperor of Outworld has his sights set on conquering the realm of Earth. But in order to do so, he has to win 10 straight Mortal Kombat tournaments. The Emperor's sorcerer, Shang Tsung, has led Outworld's forces to nine straight victories.

The only thing standing between Earth and the Emperor's evil forces are three humans: Liu Kang, who is only at the tournament to kill Shang Tsung for the murder of his brother, Sonya Blade, a law enforcement officer who was lured to the ship under the pretenses of catching her partner's killer, and Johnny Cage, an egotistical movie star who the press has dubbed as a fake and is only at the tournament as a way to prove himself. It will be up to Lord Rayden to teach his three warriors to look deep inside themselves to find the ability to beat Shang Tsung and save the realm of Earth from devastation.

Overall, the plot is pretty solid and holds up well, at least for a video game adaptation. There are a couple of small timeline issues within the plot and a couple of other small items that just don't quite make sense. But it's not worth listing them here because, for the most part, they don't take away from the movie.

The casting for this movie was good. Christopher Lambert's dry wit and subtle facial expressions make for a great Lord Rayden. Linden Ashby (Johnny Cage) has egotistical down to an art form, and Robin Shou's impressive martial arts abilities make him a great choice as Liu Kang. Bridgette Wilson (Sonya Blade) and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Shang Tsung) both give excellent performances.

At an hour and 41 minutes, this is not a very long movie. And unfortunately, the character development suffers for it. The friendship that forms between Liu, Johnny, and Sonya seems a little forced. When they first meet, none of them can stand the other. Yet every time you turn around, one of them is following the other somewhere. Also, while Johnny was in two fights and Liu was in at least four fights, Sonya was only in one fight. And finally, the reasons behind Princess Kitana helping the humans in the fight were never really flushed out. Although you could guess the reasons behind it, a little more on-screen time behind her motives would have been nice.

With one exception, the special effects were pretty good. The exception was with Johnny's fight with Scorpion. During the fight, Scorpion pulls off his mask and shows a skeleton underneath. For the rest of the fight, the skeleton Scorpion looked very robotic. It was just really jarring to see that.

The sets are a sight to behold. It seems like a good chunk of the estimated $20 million budget went into building these sets.

I have seen this movie many times now, and thoroughly enjoy watching it every time. It's a classic "good guys whip the bad guys butt" movie that is fun and action-packed. The soundtrack is awesome and really adds to the rhythm of the movie.

This movie was made before the time of DVDs, and as a result the DVD release is lacking any real extras. The disc does contain the theatrical trailer for the movie as well as both the full screen and widescreen versions of the movie. The main extra is called "Kombatants," which is a page with very short profiles of seven of the characters. However, the profiles are based on their video game history and not from what we see in the movie.