Mortal Kombat (1995) – Film Review

Director: Paul WS Anderson
Cast: Christopher Lambert, Robin Shou, Talisa Soto
Certificate: 15

By Roger Crow

I remember the summer of 1995 like it was yesterday. While on an epic road trip across the States, adverts for the movie version of Mortal Kombat were bombarding the airwaves, so naturally I was keen to see if the film lived up to the hype. It was a fun diversion, but little more.

This was the era when video games movie conversions were still in their infancy, and MK felt like a more dangerous version of arch rival Street Fighter. And compared to the movie version of the latter, MK the movie is a masterpiece.

Helmed by Brit Paul WS Anderson, his first major Hollywood production, it’s interesting to hear on the yack track how he brought the saga to life. With budgetary concerns always an issue, naturally losing a chunk of cash due to cuts forced him to be resourceful. And trying to achieve those epic set pieces on a limited budget is fascinating, as is the fact arthouse maestro Peter Greenaway was one of Anderson’s inspirations.

“Influential”

The plot: Earth’s greatest fighters clash with the forces of Outworld in a no-holds-barred tournament for the fate of humanity. Think Enter the Dragon meets Big Trouble in Little China and you get the idea.

Featuring characters like Liu Kang, Sonya Blade, Johnny Cage and the thunderous Raiden, the film blends martial arts choreography, fantasy world-building and an electronic soundtrack to create one of the most influential video game movies of its era.

Admittedly the then-ground-breaking CGI effects have dated terribly, but Goro, the multi-armed boss monster, is still a sight to behold. (As a side note, I once had a chat with effects genius Alec Gillis, and he revealed that Goro was one of the toughest jobs he ever took on).

Admittedly this is no masterpiece, but how good could it have been considering the source material?

“Heady mix”

Anderson went on to make a fortune by adapting the Resident Evil movies into a series of hit films; made the gloriously creepy Event Horizon, and smackdown epic Alien vs Predator. But this is the movie which proved to Hollywood he could bring in good looking fantasy epics without spending a fortune. (It cost around $20 million and grossed around $122 million).

Picture and sound quality is excellent for a 31-year-old movie, so while it obviously won’t look as good as the new MK films, it’s still scrubbed up quite well.

It’s a heady mix of retro eye candy which may leave some fans of the revamped movies colder than Sub-Zero (a character in case you’re wondering), while 1990s gamers will no doubt have a great time while wondering where the last three decades went.

Roger Crow( Writer )

Adopted Yorkshireman Roger Crow developed a passion for film and TV in the 1970s and 1980s. He has been a published film and TV reviewer since the 1990s; a world travel and restaurant critic since the noughties, and for the past decade has assessed the pros and cons of live gigs and theatre productions around the UK. His ideal day would involve reviewing a performance of Bat Out of Hell, followed by a Pad Thai while being serenaded by Texas on a cruise around Europe.
crowsfeat.com; nostalgiahhh film podcast

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