Mortal Kombat
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For a detailed overview of this movie, click here.
To save the realm of Earth, Liu Kang, Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage compete in Mortal Kombat.
Original USA release date: August 18th, 1995
Contents
1) Synopsis
2) Notes
3) Errors
Synopsis
Sonya Blade tries to track down Kano, the man who murdered her partner, at a nightclub. Elsewhere, movie star Johnny Cage is accused of being a fake by the press, and his mood worsens after a bad day of shooting. His master comes by the set, and tells him about a tournament that he should enter to win the respect of everyone. In China, Liu Kang returns home, having found out about his brother's murder at the hands of Shang Tsung. Wanting to enter the tournament for revenge, he meets Rayden, the god of lightning. Rayden accuses him of running away from his destiny, but Liu is determined to enter the tournament no matter what.
A boat arrives a a pier in Hong Kong. Liu and Johnny board it, along with several other fighters. Sonya sees Kano boarding it, so she also get on it. Sonya tries to find Kano, and ends up meeting Shang Tsung. Liu and Johnny appear, so Shang summons two of his fighters, Sub-Zero and Scorpion. Rayden appears and blasts them away, telling Shang that combat before the tournament is forbidden. Later on, Rayden explains to Liu, Johnny and Sonya about the stakes: Shang's tournament is called Mortal Kombat, and he and his forces have won 9 of them in a row. If they win this 10th tournament, the emperor of Outworld will be able to claim the realm of Earth. He believes that one of them will decide the outcome of the tournament. The boat arrives at Shang's island. The three see a woman waiting nearby. As they head on, Shang knows who she is: Princess Kitana. He has one of his minions, Reptile, keep an eye on her, and tells him not to let Kitana get too close to Liu and the others.
Shang hosts a banquet, and gives everyone a taste of things to come. A group of warriors led by Sub-Zero and Scorpion appear, and Sub-Zero kills one of them be freezing him with ice, leading to him shattering when he lands. Elsewhere, Kano speaks to Prince Goro, the currently Mortal Kombat champion. Kano wants to know when he's getting paid, and Shang tells him after he's fought Sonya, but he must only humiliate her. Liu and the others overhear this conversation. As they leave, Liu searches for Kitana, but ends up finding Reptile. Reptile escapes, and Liu believes he is following Kitana.
Liu and the others are found by some of Shang's warriors, and a fight starts. They defeat one group, but a much larger group appears. Rayden appears and stops Shang's warriors from attacking, and then leads Liu and the others out. The next morning, the tournament begins, with Liu defeating his first opponent. Sonya's first fight has her facing Kano, who she kills be breaking his neck.
Johnny faces and defeats Scorpion, with the latter exploding upon defeat. Liu then has to fight Kitana, but she appears to be on his side. She gives him advice about using the element that brings life to defeat his next opponent. Liu later fights Sub-Zero. Sub-Zero creates a barrier of ice, which starts to expand to cover the entire room.
Liu throws a bucket of water at him. The contents of the bucket falls out and passes through the ice, forming an icy spike which pierces into Sub-Zero and kills him. Believing that they've let the humans win enough, Shang allows Goro to start fighting. Goro quickly defeats many opponents, including Johnny's friend, Art Lean. The others watch as Shang takes Art's soul. Rayden tells everyone that both Goro and Shang can be defeated, and they must conquer their fears to win.
Johnny makes a deal with Shang: he is to fight Goro next, whilst Shang may challenge the winner himself, or another of his choosing, in a place designated by himself for the final battle of the tournament. Rayden appears to try and stop it, but Shang says a deal's a deal. As Shang departs, Johnny says he made a choice, as this is their tournament. As he walks off, Rayden is happy that one of them has at last understood. Johnny fights Goro and defeats him, sending him falling to his doom.
However, Shang takes Sonya hostage, and takes her to the Outworld, so he can challenge her to Mortal Kombat there. Rayden is unable to follow them, but Liu and Johnny can. The two arrive in Outworld, and Liu gets into a fight with Reptile. After killing Reptile, he and Johnny are found by Kitana. Kitana guides them to Shang's tower, and explains that her father used to rule this realm. But his warriors lost 10 Mortal Kombats, allowing the emperor to take over, kill her parents and adopt her, letting him lay claim to the throne.
Sonya refuses to accept Shang's challenge, but he warns her the realm of Earth will forfeit the tournament if she doesn't fight. Liu and the others arrive, and Liu challenges Shang directly. Shang accepts his challenge, and the two begin fighting. Shang unleashes the souls of fallen warriors, who fight Liu. Liu defeats them all.
Shang morphs into Liu's brother, and tries to trick him. Liu doesn't fall for it, and Shang morphs back, as the two resume fighting. Liu eventually defeats Shang by hitting him with a fireball. Shang lands on some spikes and dies, which results in all of the souls he'd taken being released.
This includes Liu's brother. Chan tells Liu that one day they will be reunited, and then ascends into the afterlife. Liu tells Johnny, Sonya and Kitana they can go home, and they return to the realm of Earth. Rayden tells them that they all did great.
The skies suddenly darken, as the emperor appears! He tells them that he's come for their souls, but Rayden says he doesn't think so. He and the others get ready for more kombat...
-This film adapts the plot of the first Mortal Kombat game, but also adds several things from Mortal Kombat II to it:
--Jax and Kitana weren't in the first game, they both made their debuts in the sequel.
--Shang Tsung had the appearance of an old man in the first game, but had his youth restored for the sequel. For the movie, he is based on his MKII appearance.
--Shang is seen taking the souls of the fighting monk and Art, which is a reference to one of his Mortal Kombat II fatalities.
--Johnny Cage throws a signed picture of himself down after defeating Scorpion. This is his friendship move from Mortal Kombat II.
--The move Liu uses to defeat Reptile is the bicycle kick. He didn't have this move in the first game, it was a new move he gained in the sequel.
--The emperor is not seen in the first game.
-The director of Johnny Cage's movie played by actor Sandy Helberg. Originally, it had been intended for Steven Spielberg to play the role, but due to scheduling conflicts, he had to back out.
-Art Lean was a character made up for the movie, and has never appeared in the games.
-Liu's first opponent is not named, in the credits he's listed as "Fighting Monk". He was portrayed by Hakim Alston, who would go on to play Jax in Mortal Kombat: Live Tour.
-The set for Scorpion's lair was so ambitious that the production team had to hire a hangar to build it in.
-In the early days of the games, Raiden's name was spelt "Rayden" in the console ports, due to an issue with the Raiden shooting games. This change also effects the movie, as seen in the credits.
-The credits feature a dedication to Danny Westerberg. According to his IMDB page, Danny worked in the transportation department for this film, and several others.
-During the credits, Goro is credited as playing himself.
-During Johnny's fight with Scorpion in the forest, there are a couple of times where you can see things moving between the trees in the background in the far distance. They're actually cars!
-During the credits, Jax's name is spelt as "Jaxx".
