On a ship, Liu Kang and Johnny Cage are heading towards an island, where a tournament known as Mortal Kombat is taking place. Special forces agent Sonya Blade is also onboard, having had a tip that a wanted man is on the ship. Shang Tsung, the tournament master, along with Sub-Zero and Scorpion, appear, and attack the group. They stop when Rayden teleports in, who berates Shang for breaking the rules of Mortal Kombat. Shang offers his apologies, and then leaves.

Rayden gives Liu and the others insight into the history Shang's involvement in the tournament, and how he defeated the temple master a thousand years ago. He warns them that if they lose this tournament, the portals of the realm of Earth will be thrown open to the armies of Outworld. The ship arrives at the island, and the group head onto it. They see many other fighters, but then also see Scorpion following Sub-Zero.

Rayden tells them about the history of Scorpion and Sub-Zero. The two had fought long ago, and Sub-Zero killed Scorpion. Scorpion is a specter, and seeks to redeem his honor by killing Sub-Zero himself. But both fighters now serve Shang Tsung. Later on, the group come across Goro, the prince of Shokan. Rayden explains about Goro's past, such as the time he killed his own brother after losing in a fight against him.

Rayden goes onto mention that Goro met Shang Tsung, and after being promised power, now serves him. Centuries ago, Liu's ancestor, Kung Lao, had defeated Shang Tsung. But he would be defeated by Goro, who finished him in Mortal Kombat. Shang then took Kung Lao's soul. Back in the present, Goro sends out a group of warriors called Nomads to deal with Liu, Johnny and Sonya. They get into a big battle.

Rayden appears, and says that Shang has broken the tournament's sacred rules again. Shang walks in and says the real contest will now start, and tells them they have no hope of winning, so he implores them to lose with grace and dignity. He then says to let Mortal Kombat begin, and then he teleports out of the cave. As a new group of Nomads arrive, Rayden says it has begun...

Notes

-This film initially received a video and laser disc release. It has also been included on certain DVD versions of the Mortal Kombat live action film as a special feature.

-Sonya mentions that there is a wanted man on the ship. She never names him, but she's most likely talking about Kano. Kano never appears in the film though.

-The end battle scene is notorious within the fandom due to how much animation gets repeated -certain shots get played three times or more during the fight.

-The character bios at the end of the film list the names of the moves and fatalities for each fighter. Their moves are from the first three games in the series.

-An oddity with the character bios is that the finishers are listed under the name of "fatalities" for Sonya, Scorpion, Liu and Sub-Zero, whilst Rayden and Johnny's are listed under "finishing moves".

-During the credits, there are six symbols which briefly flash, and then at the very end of the credits, the symbols will all appear together. This is a "Kombat Kode" which can be inputted at the VS. screen in Mortal Kombat 3.

However, there is a bit of a problem -the "11" symbol doesn't actually appear in the game! There is a "3" but no "11". The closest kode in the game would be for unlimited running, if you swapped the "11" for another "?".

Errors

-During this shot, Shang's body doesn't quite reach the bottom of the frame.
-During this shot, as the camera zooms in, the top of Rayden's hat disappears.
-When Rayden says "you can do this", Johnny looks unfinished compared to Liu and Sonya.
-Johnny takes his sunglasses off during the last battle scene. But he's suddenly wearing them again when he bashes two Nomads together.
-A Nomad stabs at Johnny, but misses and hits a rock. Johnny has no sunglasses during this shot, but is suddenly wearing them when he kicks the Nomad a few seconds later.
-During this shot, Sonya's foot is missing.