MovieChat Forums > Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997) Discussion > Script Cuts = The reason the movie sucke...

Script Cuts = The reason the movie sucked.

posted 17 years ago by bj_arni
20 replies | jump to latest

Apparently, here are some deleted/alternative scenes that were cut while scripting and filming due to the budget being smaller. I personally think the movie would be better with this in it.

-Johnny Cage dies (but in battle, sacrifising his life so that the others can live)

-Shao Kahn reveals the resurrected Sindel and mentions that he has powerfull allies in the Netherworld that helped him with this. (Scorpion and Kano are also generals as they were also resurrected.)

-A longer battle between Sub-Zero and Scorpinon, ending with Sub-Zero joining Liu Kang on his path to Nightwolf.

-A longer training scene with Nightwolf, including Sub-Zero and Nightwolf talking about Liu Kang's real power.

-Jade is introduced as an actual member of Nightwolf's team, and is shown to have doubts how to win Shao Kahn and mentions that surrendering is maybe the only way of surviving.

-We see New York City being destroyed by Kahn's Extermination Squad led by Rain. Stryker and Kabal are shown batteling him in a 'match' and he kills them both after a long battle (Kabal dies first from wounds inflicted in the battle, but Stryker is killed by a 'fatality' attack).

-Rain returns triumphant over New York in Outworld. We see more of Shao Kahn's plans of action against earth and how the others are doing (such as Kano is teaching the minions of Outworld how to use machine guns).

-Mileena revealing more about her backstory, and instead of an unearthy creature, Jax saves Sonya from Scorpion, killing him again.

-Instead of a group of Tarkatan soldiers, Liu Kang battles only Baraka, who is decapitated in the end of the battle.

-Kitana actually battles Sheeva.

-Instead of a trio of Reptile-like Warriors, the resurrected Reptile battles Rayden, more time is spent on the actual battle with Sindel and it's even shown when Jade knocks her out.

-When their plan on re-uniting Sindel and Kitana together, doesn't work, Jade flees in horror, instead of being a traitor. She goes to the castle, and tries to join Shao Kahn in fear of dying if she keeps fighting with the others. Shao Kahn makes her tell him everything she knows of their plan (and Rayden becoming human) and then snaps her neck.

-Shao Kahn gathering what's left of his generals to finish off the heroes.

-In the final battle; Jax battles Motaro, Sonya battles the resurrected Kano, Kitana battles Sindel, Sub-Zero battles Ermac and Liu Kang battles Shao-Kahn.

-Instead of ripping off one of Jax's cybernetic prosthetics, Motaro ripps off one of his arm.

-Jax continues to fight bravely, but is fatally injured in battle, Motaro is about to give him the finish blow, but Nightwolf shows up and continues to hold off Motaro.

-While Sub-Zero and Ermac battle, he releases Noob Saibot who Sub-Zero reckonizes as a fallen member of his clan. They double-team on Sub-Zero, and while he appearently fatally injures Noob, Ermac get's the best of him and manages to kill him.

-Sonya battles Kano, but his new improvement is too much for her, Jax manages to sneak up behind on Kano and remove a pin from his grenade belt, blowing him up. Sonya (wounded from the battle) tries to cover up Jax's wounds they briefly mention how she finally called for help and how he finally realized his inner strenght. He dies in her arms.

-As Kitana finishes off her mother (killing her, in the script), she faces Ermac who is about to attack the wounded Sonya.

-A much longer Animality battle. it's explained that Liu Kang manages to reach his animality so soon because Nightwolf is there to guide him through it.

-When the world returns to normal, the heroes still alive, go to a Shaolin Temple and bury their friends, also seen on the gravestones are Art and Liu Kang's brother (from the first movie). Raiden arrives in a form of an elder god and bids farefell to his friends, who then rejoice that the world is saved.

-In the Netherrealm, we see Quan-Chi re-resurrect Scorpion and mentions that Shao Kahn was a fool, it's seen that he's talking to Shinnok (now in his MK4 look) and how together, they will rule the Outworld, Earth and everything in their sight. The scene ends with the camera zooming out showing an army of undead warriors, including Noob Saibot as his personal general. This was appearently set to be the beginning to MK3, simular how the ending of the first film was where the second one started.

"I will make my arrows drunk with blood and my sword shall devour flesh"
www.ibs-entertainment.com

[–] theruinedangel14 17 years ago

wow, knowing all that now, no wonder the movie that was filmed and released sucked dog balls. as much as i enjoy the first movie, i will never understand why people would make PG-13 rated Mortal Kombat movies. this would have been an awesome R-rated violent much truer to the source material movie. damn hollywood!

[–] negativec07 17 years ago

Well whatever happened it wouldn't have made the film any worse. They needed a bigger budget, a decent writer and fewer characters for a start

[–] sweatman815 17 years ago

actually dude most of those scenes they aren't deleted infact most of them never existed, They wouldn't revive Kano and Reptile, Sub-Zero never died in the games only in the fictional endings, Really they wouldn't kill off both Sub-Zero and Jax they play big roles as LIVING people in Mortal Kombat 4 Which would be the sequel to this, plus in the original script of the first movie Art was buried on Shang Tsung's Island, and Kabal and Stryker they weren't killed thats the main reason Rain was killed. So yea most of this was pretty much made up by some obsessed fan boy

[–] bj_arni 17 years ago

You are wrong on some parts. Some of these scenes (if real) were removed during pre-production, so they were removed in script form.

They revived Scorpion, Sindel (died before the movies) and had Reptile 'siblings', I wouldn't find it hard to believe that they had a reason for it.

Sub-Zero died in Mortal Kombat 1. Mortal Kombat 2 has his brother. (In the Video Games AND movies)

You do have a point with them Sub-Zero and Jax being alive in Mortal Kombat 4, but then let's also remember that Kano was suppose to be in Mortal Kombat 4 (and he was resurrected in the games) and Reptile was in number 4....

Your right about Art being buried on Shang's Island, but they never did show it in the first movie. And his body could have easily been picked up like they did Liu's brother.

Kabal and Stryker WERE killed, but Rain didn't make them beg for their lives which is why he was killed.

So, yes, this could have been made up by some obsessed fanboy, but some of the things you listed weren't true.

"I will make my arrows drunk with blood and my sword shall devour flesh"
www.ibs-entertainment.com

[–] Island_Of_Ireland 17 years ago

"Kabal and Stryker WERE killed, but Rain didn't make them beg for their lives which is why he was killed. "

You're wrong here, he is killed for letting them live,listen to the dialogue,they have been taken captive not killed yet.

[–] bj_arni 17 years ago

This is the exact dialouge: (the lines that really indicate they are dead are capslocked)
Shao What is your report?
Rain: Two of earth's best warriors have already been taken. KABAL AND STRYKER.
Shao Kahn: Tell me, did you make them BEG FOR THEIR LIVES BEFORE YOU DESTROYED THEM?
Rain: But, Master, I thought IF I LET THEM LIVE...
Shao Kahn: I have no use for excuses! Rain, this will never happen again.
Rain: It will never happen again.
(Kahn kills Rain)

The dialouge indicates that Rain killed them quickly, and he thought that if he let them live long enough to beg for mercy, they would have escaped. Kahn is simply angry because his father was angry at his failure.

Maybe in some TV Edit of the film, they cut out the dialouge to make it sound like they are still alive, but it's pretty obvious they are dead.

"I will make my arrows drunk with blood and my sword shall devour flesh"
www.ibs-entertainment.com

[–] Island_Of_Ireland 17 years ago

you just answered your own question, shinnok was angry at kahn for letting raiden live, and kahn was angry at rain for letting kabal and stryker live. The begging for their lives dialogue is just typical bad guy crap, dont look too far into it.

rain was going to say something along the lines of "If i let them live they would lead us to other earth warriors " blah blah. i thought that was pretty obvious, you think Kahn is going to kill a general for murdering two of earths best?

the key word is TAKEN, now if he had said their souls were taken ,then yes we could accept that they're dead. But in this context he obviously means they've been captured and still live.

and i think raid knows kahn well enough to simply lie and say yes i did make them beg, if they really were dead,but they're not, so he cant lie, see?

[–] bj_arni 17 years ago

I really don't know how to explain this in any better terms.

The only reason Kahn wanted them to beg for their lives is basically Kahn has some daddy issues, Shinnok got angry for not killing Raiden, and even though Rain did good, he takes out his anger on him, like bullies. Simple, simple writing.

And the key word are TAKEN, as in their lives have been taken. And Rain says that IF he had let them live long enough to beg for their lives, they could have escaped and such. It's obvious.

Really, really obvious.

What makes it even more obvious is:

A.Kabal and Stryker have no connection to the lead characters of the film, ergo they could not be used to lead Kahn to them.
B.When excpect as hostages, have any of Earth's warriors been taken as prisoners.
C.If they were still alive, Kahn would have probably quoted his father more ("You let them live?") or said ordered Sindel, his new general to dispose of them....

I don't know how to explain this any better. But it's sooo obvious that they were killed, that I don't know what else to say...

"I will make my arrows drunk with blood and my sword shall devour flesh"
www.ibs-entertainment.com

[–] Island_Of_Ireland 17 years ago

It's only obvious to you, its says on wikipedia that rain was punished for letting them live, and while thats not the best site for pure facts, it does show most people think they were taken captive, and they were.

[–] bj_arni 17 years ago

Everyone I have ever talked to about this movie (except you, and that other guy on this board) said that they were killed and that it was obvious.

But, I don't know, it's been awhile since I saw the film, but I still think they died.

But since there is no real confirmation on their fates, seeing that we never hear or see the characters or their whereabouts ever again for the entire movie, it's really open for question.

Also with a script that severed a handful of re-writes simular to Alien 3, I guess there's no shock that something in this movie (or rather, everything) had questions to the motives and what was really going on...

I really think that they were killed, seeing how pretty much every other character that showed up got killed as well. But that's just what I think, and I can't tell you any differently.

"I will make my arrows drunk with blood and my sword shall devour flesh"
www.ibs-entertainment.com

[–] collingossard 17 years ago

i think its pretty obvious that they are alive...

2 of earths warriors have been taken
did you make them beg for their lives?
i thought if i let them live
(kahn gets mad)

a: if they were dead why would he get as mad
b: the fact that he says they have been taken then kahn says did you make them beg for their lives obviously indicates that they were not dead by this point, then he says i thought if i let them live...seriously man who gets mad at the fact that they did not beg...yeah sure he would be upset but i dont think he would have killed one of his own because of that

[–] bj_arni 17 years ago

"i dont think he would have killed one of his own because of that"
Which is why it's a bad movie.

And I'm pretty sure they are dead. Just because otherwise, if would defeat the purpose of just name-dropping them like that. How come we don't hear Kahn tell his new general to murder the prisoners?

"I've just picked up a fault in the AE35 unit. It's going to go 100% failure in 72 hours."

[–] scislac_busorez 17 years ago

Rather than pointlessly debate whether or not Rain allowed Kabal and Stryker to live, I'd rather ask the far more interesting question- where did you read / find out about these script cuts? Understandably, the internet has rendered me a Doubting Thomas - I refuse to believe that all of these cuts are real until an honest to God authentic script is presented. I do own the movie novel and there are some discrepancies between book and film, so I don't doubt that material was excised; I only doubt that all of it was originally there in the first place.

And for the record, in the film itself, Kahn is indeed pissed that Rain allowed Stryker and Kabal to live. Why? We need only look back at the scene between Shinnok and Kahn:

SHINNOK: "Tell me- did you make Rayden beg for mercy before you killed him?"

KAHN: "Rayden... is no longer any concern to us"

SHINNOK: "You let him LIVE?!?"

Daddy Shinnok is upset that Sonny Boy Kahn didn't exterminate one of Earth's key defenses, that he allowed someone, who conceivably could screw up their plans, to live and that he flat-out wasn't ruthless, merciless.

One scene later, Kahn asks Rain if he made Styker and Kabal beg for mercy for before killing them. Rain is beginning to explain that, for some reason, they're still alive (Presumably to extract information, possibly to torture them, but one way or another, they're not dead). Just like Daddy Shinnok did one scene prior, Kahn is outraged that Rain didn't exterminate one of Earth's key defenses, that he allowed someone, who conceivably could screw up their plans, to live and that he flat-out wasn't ruthless, merciless:

RAIN: "Two of Earth's best warriors have already been taken: Kabal and Stryker."

KAHN: "Tell me- did you make them beg for the lives before you destroyed them?"

RAIN: "But, Master, I thought if I let them live..."

KAHN: "I HAVE NO USE FOR EXCUSES! Rain, this will never happen again."

RAIN: "It will never happen again."

It's simply a case of the Son trying to be like the Father. That said, as a devoted MK fan, it doesn't help that Kabal and Stryker are relegated to name-drop cameos.

[–] bj_arni 17 years ago

I too am a really big MK fan, so you can understand why I didn't enjoy this movie. Seeing Kahn act like an angry child is not cool...

But anyways, the I found news about the script cuts on some unofficial MK site, but they weren't written down like this. They just mentioned some of them, I made a post about it on IMDb asking if it was true. And I got a lot of replies. The list that I posted here though, was a list that I saw on wikipedia. It's has since been taken down, seeing that there is still some question of it's authenticity.

They could have undoubtably be fake, due to the much more gruesome violence and other. So, the script cuts could either be, a fan, who wanted the movie to be like that, or some first draft that was a lot better then the final movie.

Overall, I have no idea, but I do think that at least some of the script cuts (if not all) must have been in the original story at one point or another.

I would love to see the original script, and listen to the scriptwriters talk about how the movie was originally going to be (seeing how all movies are always rewritten every now and then to fit the dream of everyone onboard for the film.)

So, I don't know if there are any sites containing the list of script cuts, but there have been in the past, and I doubt that we've seen the last of the list.

Also, thanks for the info on the whole characters and what not, but I always understood that Kahn was being angry at Rain for the only reason of his dad being angry at him, but once again, I did believe that Kahn killed Rain not because they were alive, but because he didn't make them beg for their lives, and Rain was going to say that if he let them live LONG enough for him to make them beg, they could have escaped. That's always how I looked into it, since seeing the film when I was a child, and seeing that we never hear of them again or see them, I have no reason to believe that they survived the film. But then again, bad storytelling is all over the film, so I can't deny or believe anything in the film...

"I've just picked up a fault in the AE35 unit. It's going to go 100% failure in 72 hours."

[–] scislac_busorez 17 years ago

No arguments here about how badly the characterizations were handled in MKA- I think all MK fans can agree that just about everyone in the MK roster was handled badly (Emphasis on "Just about"). To be fair, a straight, no frills, completely literal adaptation of any of the MK games probably wouldn't have fared well, which is why I like the original MK movie - it takes a few risks here and there but the film on the whole is entertaining enough to pull them off. I mean, let's be honest- did any of us ever imagine Raiden / Rayden as the wise-cracking Thunder God that Christopher Lambert portrayed him as? Probably not. I think we all imagined him closer to how he's played in the scene with Scorpion and Sub-Zero in the first movie: "Your sideshow freaks attacked my fighters. That is expressly forbidden before the tournament, as your emperor well knows..." I digress...

And, yeah, the main narrative suffers quite a bit and, unfortunately, we can't honestly know if its because of the final script, the final editing, the final budget, the final performances of the actors, the final say of the studio or some combination thereof. My money's on "Some Combination Thereof", obviously... I just get this feeling that someone involved in the production honestly, truly, sincerely thought that cramming 22 characters from the game into MKA with minimal backstory or explanations etc. was a good idea. Hell, Sheeva alone was featured as a secondary character and she had, what, four lines of dialogue total? No real explanation of her character, no real fight scenes ("The date's over" and she's crushed by a cage), nothing. Ditto Noob Saibot - can we really call him Noob Saibot? I mean, yes, he sorta, kinda looks the part, but I don't think he gets a name credit in the credit roll. Nothing about Rain or Ermac or Baraka. I mean, the worst offender in the original MK film was Reptile - no real explanation of how he turned into a ninja, just that, well, he's a ninja now. Let him fight.

That all said, I agree - I'd love to see the first draft of the MKA script and see what direction they had planned. I have to believe it was far more fleshed out than the final product.

[–] bj_arni 17 years ago

I agree with everything you said.

The first Mortal Kombat, is, in my opinion, the only good adaptation to a movie from a video game.

Seeing films like Hitman, Doom and Resident Evil, just makes me love Mortal Kombat a lot more.

The story they interpreted was awesome, and the characters were well introduced and just overall great.

I think the main problem with the sequel is maybe because they weren't sure how to do a follow up. The story comes from MK3, and they wanted to do like they did with the sequels of the games; have more characters, more action and more fights.

But, unfortunatly, because of various reasons, the movie just became bad because of it.

But, at least we have the first one, which is still as good today, as it was in 1995. Some aspects are, of course, weird. But overall, it has the MK-vibe to it. And that is why it will always be entertaining.

Unlike Annihilation, who had more of a Disney Power Rangers feel to it... :S

"I've just picked up a fault in the AE35 unit. It's going to go 100% failure in 72 hours."

[–] scislac_busorez 17 years ago

I agree - I feel like MK The Movie just captured some intangible yet unmistakable element of MK and MK II, perhaps the tone? That, and, perhaps just as important if not more, the first MK movie feels like it takes itself seriously. Is it somewhat dumbed down from the source material? Yeah, kinda, but not *so* dumbed down as to be unrecognizable - true, there isn't a Fatality every other scene, there isn't a fight every other scene, but the story is given prominence and the characters are fleshed out enough so that you care about them on some level. We want to see Johnny Cage regain faith in himself, we want to see Sonya open up and accept help when she truly needs it and, most central of all the characters, we want to see Liu accept fate for what it is and, of course, give Shang Tsung the beatdown he deserves.

That said, it would've been nice if Sub-Zero and Scorpion had been given a little bit more to do other than skulk around under Shang Tsung's control and then get killed by Liu and Johnny. I think I would've preferred to see Reptile in his ninja form, rather than his cinematic form. And the late Trevor Goddard as Kano was criminally underused - his take on Kano seems to have become the standard, circa MK Deadly Alliance onward.

As far as story is concerned, the original MK and MK II were brimming with cultural influence - Ed Boon and John Tobias have mentioned dozens of Asian / Oriental influences during interviews in gaming mags - and those games just have a grim, serious feeling to them. When MK3 came out, it was blatantly obvious that they looked to Western culture for influence (Kabal and the Cyberninjas seem to be nods to the Predator movie series, Sub-Zero has changed his look to something far more refined, Kano is practically pimped out in black, etc.) and, while I can't say I hated MK3, I can say it just felt different. Ditto UMK3 and Trilogy (although, let's be honest: they're all expansion packs of the same game, similar to Sonic the Hedgehog 3 / Sonic and Knuckles). I think that a great movie, on par with the original MK movie if not better, can be made out of MK3 / UMK3 / MKT; I'm just positive that MKA wasn't that movie. If I honestly felt the audience existed for it, I'd say that they could make a trilogy of films, akin to Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings; the first film detailing Shao Kahn's invasion of Earthrealm, the second film detailing the gathering / factioning of the kombatants, and the final film detailing the all out war between the warring factions.

Hey, I can dream, can't I?

[–] jtdam09 16 years ago

"Sub-Zero died in Mortal Kombat 1. Mortal Kombat 2 has his brother. (In the Video Games AND movies) "

The 1st Sub Zero became Noob Saibot actually, but the point is that he did die.

[–] bj_arni 16 years ago

Yeah, when I say he died, I'm talking about Mortal Kombat 1 (the movie).

And when I say that his brother appears instead of him, I'm referring to both the film and movie.

But thanks for clearing up the confusion for those who didn't understand my post.

"I've just picked up a fault in the AE35 unit. It's going to go 100% failure in 72 hours."

[–] Zan-tastic 16 years ago

I don't know how much of this can be taken as gospel truth, but I don't think I would have liked this version of Jade any better. She doesn't follow Jade's video game storyline any more closely than the Jade on screen does

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