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Mortal Kombat
Directed by	Paul W. S. Anderson
Produced by	Lauri Apelian Lawrence Kasanoff
Written by	Kevin Droney
Starring	Christopher Lambert Robin Shou Linden Ashby Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa Bridgette Wilson Talisa Soto Trevor Goddard Chris Casamassa François Petit Keith Cooke
Distributed by	New Line Cinema
Release date(s)	August 18, 1995
Running time	101 mins.
Language	English
Followed by	MK: Annihilation (1997)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Mortal Kombat is a 1995 action movie, directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. It is based on the popular Mortal Kombat series of fighting games by Midway. It was filmed in Los Angeles and on location in Thailand.

The movie received average reviews from critics, most notably a "thumbs up" rating from Gene Siskel on the television show Siskel & Ebert. It grossed roughly $70 million in the U.S., and an estimated $122 million worldwide.[1] At the time, MK enjoyed the second-highest August opening after 1993's The Fugitive.

The film was considered to be the first major success for video-game movie adaptions, coming out a year after the critically disappointing Street Fighter and two years after the disastrous flop, Super Mario Bros.

A sequel to Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, was released in 1997, but is largely considered to be inferior to its predecessor.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Behind the Scenes 3.1 Production 3.2 Cast 3.3 Soundtrack 3.4 Mortal Kombat II relative 3.5 Miscellaneous 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

Once every generation, there is an ancient tournament known as Mortal Kombat, which was designed by the Elder Gods for the main purpose to save Earthrealm from the dark forces of Outworld. If the forces of Outworld win the tournament ten consecutive times, The Emperor, Shao Kahn (though not explicitly referred by name), will be able to invade and conquer Earthrealm. Thus far, Outworld has won nine straight victories, making the upcoming tournament the tenth, and possibly final one, for Earthrealm. The former Shaolin monk Liu Kang and his comrades, Hollywood movie star Johnny Cage and Special Forces agent Sonya Blade, must risk their lives and overcome their powerful adversaries in order to win the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament, or condemn Earthrealm to eternal damnation.

Although each combatant was handpicked by Raiden to compete in Mortal Kombat, each has his or her own reason for competing in the tournament. Liu Kang seeks to avenge the death of his younger brother Chan, who was killed by Shang Tsung in battle. Sonya Blade is after notorious and cold blooded killer Kano, who is responsible for the death of her partner before Jax. Johnny Cage is competing to prove that he is a true martial artist, and not the fake that the tabloids has made him out to be. Regardless of their individual agendas, they have been recruited and sent to a pier in Hong Kong, where they will be taken to Shang Tsung's island, the site of the tournament. While they are on the boat, they encounter two of their potential opponents in the tournament, the Lin Kuei warrior Sub-Zero and the undead spectre Scorpion, both of whom are being mind-controlled by Shang Tsung. Before any pre-tournament fisticuffs can take place, however, Raiden, God of Thunder, intervenes with two lightning bolts, then takes his chosen three aside and explains to them just what they are up against.

Upon their arrival at the island, the Earth Warriors are welcomed by Shang Tsung and the first rounds of the tournament begin the next day. Behind the scenes, however, Shang Tsung expresses his concern to the Mortal Kombat champion, Goro, that Liu Kang is competing in the tournament and that the Emperor's daughter, Princess Kitana, may betray them by allying with him. Despite their concerns, The Outworld warriors draw first blood, with Shang Tsung absorbing the souls of the losing Earthrealm warriors. Worse yet, and much to the horror of Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, and Sonya, they also witness the death of one of their friends, Art Lean, at the hands of Goro, in another tournament battle.

After the devastating loss, the Earthrealm warriors despair, until Raiden provides them with the inspiration to overcome their fears and compete bravely in battle. Johnny Cage, Sonya, and Liu Kang go on to post victories over Scorpion, Kano, and Sub-Zero, respectively. Before Johnny Cage faces off against Goro, Shang Tsung makes the stipulation that, at any time, he himself may choose to challenge any one warrior at a venue of his choosing. Johnny Cage defeats Goro, sending him falling over the edge of a cliff. Shang Tsung then kidnaps Sonya to Outworld, invoking his earlier stipulation. Raiden explains to Liu Kang and Johnny Cage that they must go into Outworld without him, and, because Sonya cannot defeat Shang Tsung in combat, one of them must defeat Shang Tsung. After Liu Kang successfully fends off an attack from Reptile, he and Johnny Cage are met by Kitana, who reveals the truth about Outworld and her lineage, thus confirming Shang Tsung's suspicions about her. The three, disguised as monks, enter the castle tower where Sonya is being held captive. As Kitana and Johnny Cage free Sonya, Liu Kang challenges Shang Tsung to Mortal Kombat. The fiercely fought battle ends in victory for Liu Kang and Earthrealm, and the freedom of the souls of all the warriors beaten in battle and absorbed by Shang Tsung.

Liu Kang and Kitana happily stride arm in arm back to Earthrealm alongside Johnny Cage and Sonya, whose previous animosity towards each other has given way to a blossoming affection. Raiden catches up to them and congratulates them for their efforts in Mortal Kombat. The celebration is cut short, however, by the arrival of Shao Kahn, who threatens the people of Earthrealm. Raiden and the four warriors assume fighting stances as the screen cuts to the credits.

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

• The Outworld exterior scenes were filmed at the abandoned Kaiser Steel Mill in Fontana, California. The site is now the California Speedway.
• All of Goro's scenes were filmed in Los Angeles.
• It is rumored that Brandon Lee was cast to play Johnny Cage, but this has never been proven. Eventually Linden Ashby was cast in the role.
• Cameron Diaz was originally set to play Sonya Blade, but she broke her wrist during production and was replaced by Wilson.
• Shooting locations in Thailand were accessible only by boat, and thus cast, crew and equipment had to be transported on long canoe-like vessels. Crew member Gerrit Folsom constructed an outhouse in a secluded area near the set in order to alleviate the problem of repeated trips to and from the mainland.
• The bows of the boats were also fitted with ornamental dragon-head carvings and used in the movie as the fighters' secondary transport to Shang Tsung's island from his junk.
• The ancient Thai temples seen during Liu Kang's dream sequence at the beginning of the picture were previously filmed for exterior shots of Bison's underground fortress in Street Fighter.

• Gregory McKinney, who played Jax, served in the United States Air Force Presidential Honor Guard and in law enforcement before breaking into acting. He died of a brain aneurysm on April 12, 1998.
• Bridgette Wilson was jokingly nicknamed "RoboBabe" during production by Anderson.
• Despite the intensity of the fight scenes coupled with the actors performing most of their own stunts, on-set injuries were surprisingly minimal; the only notable occurrence was a mildly bruised kidney suffered by Linden Ashby while shooting Johnny Cage's fight scene with Scorpion (Chris Casamassa).
• Sandy Helberg, who is briefly seen in the beginning of the film as the director of Cage's latest movie, appeared in the 1977 Mel Brooks hit High Anxiety.
• Lloyd Kino (Liu Kang's Grandfather) has made numerous film and television appearances in a career spanning 45 years.
• Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa was the filmmakers' first and only choice for the role of Shang Tsung. He came to the audition in a costume, and read his lines while standing on a chair. Shang Tsung was depicted as relatively younger in the film in order to avoid the excessive makeup that would have been required to duplicate his aged appearance in the game.
• Tagawa and Talisa Soto (Kitana) were also featured in the James Bond movie Licence to Kill, which also included an appearance by Grand L. Bush, who played Balrog in Street Fighter.

Main article: Mortal Kombat (soundtrack)

• The movie is renowned for its memorable theme music ("Techno-Syndrome", performed by The Immortals) and the soundtrack album went platinum on the Billboard charts.
• Three songs from Chicago-based group Stabbing Westward (a favorite band of MK co-creator John Tobias at the time) were included in the movie, but were omitted from the soundtrack. The songs were "Lost", "Lies", and "Can't Happen Here", all of which appear on the album Ungod.
• Goro's theme is a rendition of the band Napalm Death's song "Twist the Knife (Slowly)", except it is played three modulations higher than the standard.
• A music video was filmed for the KMFDM single "Juke Joint Jezebel" and featured clips of fight scenes from the movie, but it was pulled by MTV due to complaints about its violent content.

Although the movie was primarily based on the first game, there are several notable elements that were incorporated from Mortal Kombat II.

• Jax and Kitana were introduced in MKII. Reptile's reptilian nature was also first demonstrated in MKII; he was only seen in human form in the first game.
• Johnny Cage drops an autographed picture of himself near Scorpion's remains after their battle, which references his autograph Friendship from MKII.
• Several of the scenes in Outworld, such as the Wastelands, were first seen in MKII.
• Liu Kang uses his Bicycle Kick in his match with Reptile. This move was first featured in the second game.
• The shadow priests, seen before the final battle, were first seen in MKII as part of one of the backgrounds.

• 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 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider).
• Lambert also provides Raiden's voice on the DVD's French soundtrack.
• In the credits, as well as subtitles, Jax's name is misspelled as "Jaxx."
• According to Midway, the first MK game was to be centered around Jean-Claude Van Damme. Ironically, Van Damme would go on to play Guile in the less successful Street Fighter movie.
• In the novelization, Sonya spares Kano.
• A fight scene pitting Sonya against Jade was cut from the script during production, but the film's official souvenir magazine, published by Starlog, made mention of it in the plot synopsis: "As Sonya takes on the kimono-clad Jade, Liu Kang has his hands full with the beautiful Princess Kitana."
• One plot change in the movie is Sub-Zero and Scorpion's role as slaves to Shang Tsung. In the game, however, they are under no such control, and are in fact deadly enemies (although Shang Tsung does make a reference to their feud in the movie).

• Mortal Kombat (soundtrack)

• Goldman, Michael. Mortal Kombat: the Movie. Prima Lifestyles, 1995; ISBN: 0761500820

• Mortal Kombat at the Internet Movie Database
• Mortal Kombat on RottenTomatoes.com

v • d • e Mortal Kombat series
Fighting games	Mortal Kombat · MKII · MK3 / Ultimate MK3 / MK Trilogy · MK4 / MK Gold · Deadly Alliance / Tournament Edition · Deception / Unchained · Armageddon · MK8
Adventure games	Mythologies: Sub-Zero · Special Forces · Shaolin Monks
Information	Main characters · Minor characters · Factions · Realms · Fatalities · Glossary
Other	Films · Comics · Live Tour · Music · Card Game

v • d • e Films directed by Paul W.S. Anderson
Original films: Shopping • Event Horizon • Soldier • The Sight • The Glow • AVP: Alien Vs. Predator • Man with the Football • Death Race Video game films: Mortal Kombat • Resident Evil