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Best Movie Ever: Mortal Kombat

Remember how it felt to see a fatality on the big screen? Mortal Kombat is probably the best video game movie ever made and it might also be the Best Movie Ever.

Kthorjensen By K. Thor Jensen February 23, 2012
  

We're in a full-on Mortal Kombat revival these days, so if you're a fan of the series, you're living it up. The release of last year's Mortal Kombat brought the series back into the limelight and on February 28th we'll see the release of Mortal Kombat Komplete Edition, a full version of the game which includes every bit of DLC (characters and skins) and a full version of the 1995 classic Mortal Kombat movie. 

In celebration of the new release, we wanted to take a look at what made the original movie so damn awesome After the Street Fighter movie was a horrendous bomb, the smart money in Hollywood was to back away from video game movies. Thankfully, smart money doesn't usually make decisions in the movie industry, and in 1995 we got Mortal Kombat. This big-screen adaptation of Midway's classic arcade series tried to capture the insane extra dimensional carnage of the source material, and for the most part it succeeded. If you haven't seen it, be warned: there be spoilers ahead.

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Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins
Credit: Threshold Entertainment

The Journey Begins

Remember laserdiscs? Laserdiscs were pretty awesome. A few months before the release of Mortal Kombat to theaters, Threshold Entertainment released this promotional curiosity. Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins is an odd pastiche of animation, CGI, live-action and documentary footage that adds backstory to the characters of Liu Kang, Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage. It is completely bananas in every way. This magical artifact was lost to the ages until it was recovered on the Blu-Ray special edition of the movie. You need to watch it.

Johnny Cage Vs Scorpion

Scorpion kind of gets a raw deal in Mortal Kombat. Despite being one of the most popular characters from the game, he's relegated to supporting villain status with Johnny Cage as his rival. That's one of the few problems with the movie - the sprawling cast meant that some dudes got short shrift. Thankfully, his major fight scene is pretty damn kick-ass. Although we could quibble with the redesign of his grappling hook as a tentacle that shoots from his palm, it's a minor thing and doesn't ruin this truly epic clash.

Mortal Kombat
Credit: New Line Cinema

The Soundtrack

The fusion of techno and metal seems like old news these days, but back in 1995 the contents of the Mortal Kombat soundtrack were hot and happening stuff. The franchise had long been associated with Belgian electronic musician Praga Khan, who composed the unforgettable theme (as well as "Chinese Ninja Warrior" for Sub-Zero), but adding some grit into the mix produced a CD that went platinum in barely over a week. Some of the artists included Stabbing Westward, KMFDM and Napalm Death.

Johnny Cage Vs Goro

Yes, two of the best fights in this movie have Johnny Cage in them. Deal with it (puts on sunglasses). When Cage challenges the gargantuan Prince Goro, it doesn't look like the Hollywood shuffle will save him. But Goro learns a valuable lesson about California priorities when he crushes Cage's sunglasses. All Johnny needs is one punch to bring the behemoth down, and it's his trademark ball blow. After a single fierce fist to the testicles, Goro is demoralized, eventually defeated, and our heroes can move on.

The Theme Song

It's cheesy now, but the movie's theme song was a call to action in 1995. Generic techno beats became elevated, classic material via an overlayed distorted voice that read some of the Kombatants names and repeated popular phrases from the game. If that wasn't enough to get your teenaged blood flowing, the "Mortal Kombat" yell throughout the song most certainly did. Today if you yell the game's name in public, you're guaranteed to get someone to fist pump. Guaranteed!

 

 

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