MovieChat Forums > Mortal Kombat (1995) Discussion > Still holds up well after 22 years!

Still holds up well after 22 years!

posted 8 years ago by BrickNash
3 replies | jump to latest

This film was THE biggest surprise of 1995 for me. After Street Fighter I honestly expected utter *beep* and what I got was a solid and fun action film.

I watched it the other day and bar a few bits of ropy CGI it holds up incredibly well. The sets are gorgeous as is the cinematography and all the leads seem to be really taking it seriously.

There are a few story voids of course and it's not exactly deep but the fight scenes are excellently choreographed which is a shock for a video game film and it has a great atmosphere all round.

My only two big gripes are that I wish they'd used some of the game actors in the film as cameos as it would have been good fan service plus the Mortal Kombat theme song is used far too much and gets annoying after a while. Also Trevor Goddard as Kano was horribly underused as he was one of the more charismatic characters.

As for the lack of gore....I honestly didn't miss it. An R rated film would have been cool but for a film to STILL be the best video game adaptation after 22 years and also an entertaining film too is a great feat.

[–] PrimeMinisterX (8824) 7 years ago

I came here to post exactly this, that 22 years later the movie still holds up pretty well!

I've been arguing with some people over the last few days over whether or not Mortal Kombat is a "good movie." I saw that it is a good film, not just because I personally enjoy it but because I think it's a genuinely well-made movie. They stick to the story of the games pretty closely, the acting is sometimes quite good but at least serviceable even at its worst, the production design is fucking OFF THE CHARTS with Shang Tsung's island and Outworld very nicely realized, the fight scenes are quite well done, and Paul Anderson knows how to use the camera in a way that gives us some interesting angles in each scene.

This is easily the best video game adaptation, in my opinion, and I enjoy it quite a bit to this day.

[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

It was a great movie, and the theme didn't get boring for me.

I would have liked an R version with fatalities. But I understand the need for a PG13.

[–] FatherStack1987 (171) 7 years ago

This is miles better than Street Fighter. My brother and I used to watch this a lot when we were younger. My uncle taped it for us back in the day and I still remember the little advert that was on Sky Movies just before MK started.

I know it's a shitty film, but I happen to love a lot of shitty films. I'm not looking at this though nostalgia glasses, because I'm well aware of its many flaws. They CGI is atrocious, the acting is iffy at times, but it's still one of my favourite films and I have as much as I love the games, it's this movie that inspired my second tattoo the stunts are excellent, the action is non-stop, its endlessly entertaining and Christopher Lambert as Rayden is absolutely perfect casting. It also has one of the best theme tunes EVER!

I do honestly think it's a well made film. Would I have liked gore in this, just like the games? Of course I would, but I don't miss it and I think it is still incredibly fun without it. This is a very important film to me and I adore it, warts and all. I think it stands up very well nowadays and I probably enjoy it better now that I did back in the nineties.