Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Warner Brothers – 101 minutes – 1995 – Rated PG-13 – 1080p Widescreen 1.78:1 – DTS 5.1 Audio Mix – Digital Copy

The original Mortal Kombat game released in 1992 captured gamers in a big way and became one of the most controversial games of all time. Hollywood saw how the kids were eating it up and decided they could catch the videogame-to-big-screen-movie wave, which was beginning to brew. After the release and failure of another fighting game turned movie, 1994’s Street Fighter, which crashed and burned at the box office, folks were hesitant when they saw that a Mortal Kombat flick was coming out a year later. But where Street Fighter failed, the Mortal Kombat movie pulled the ultimate finishing move to become a success, even spawning a sequel. Mortal Kombat finally hits Blu-ray courtesy of Warner. Now “Finish him!”

THE MOVIE

Being that this movie is based on a 90’s videogame, don’t expect a plot, just a premise and a lot of kicking ass. Basically there is an underground fighting tournament that happens once in a generation that allows the best fighters on Earth to face off against the best warriors Outworld, which is within another dimension. The warriors of Outworld have won the tournament consecutively for the last nine generations and if they win the tenth competition, the enemy force led by Emperor Shoa Khan will rule the Earth.

Lord Rayden (Christopher Lambert) has selected three of Earth’s ultimate fighters to compete in the tournament: Liu Kang (Robin Shou), Johnny Cage (Linden Ashby), and of course because there has to be a hot girl in the mix, Sonia Blade (Bridgette Wilson). The trio must use their skills to fight the oddest collection of Outworld warriors who include, Sub-Zero, a killer who freezes his prey and then smashes them to pieces, Scorpion, a fighter who can change his body structure at will, the wicked Princess Kitana, a mercenary named Kano, and then there’s the four-armed freak named Goro who is claimed to be unbeatable.

Don’t hope for much and you won’t be disappointed, but at the same time in the era of the mid-90’s you shouldn’t even expect the fighting in the film to be anywhere as insane as what you’ve played in the game. Some of the action and fight scenes are so corny that they’re laughable. It makes you wonder what would this film have looked like if it was directed by the Wachowski Brothers, and they added some of their Matrix glitter to the mix. With exception of a few of the cast members, most of the actors are not real martial artist, and move like they just completed a quick two-week martial arts bootcamp. When you see someone on screen that actually is trained in fighting, such as Robin Shou, it stands out in a big way.

Even though the videogame aimed for hardcore guilty pleasure violence, such as finishing moves that allow you to rip out your opponent’s spine, the movie version has been tamed to a PG-13 package. You’ll see guys kicked in the head and their frozen bodies reduced to shards of ice, but there are no decapitations here. Also, the effects are laughable with dated CGI that can be done by anyone today with an iMac now, but just fifteen years ago were considered to be draw-dropping.

This film put director Paul W.S. Anderson on the map as the king of videogame movies that actually make a profit (sorry Uwe Boll), and he later went on to take credit for such treats as the Resident Evil movies, Alien vs. Predator, and of course DOA: Dead or Alive (a film that could have been directed by Uwe Boll). Anderson must be given his props, because as we’ve seen with other videogame based movies like Super Mario Brothers or Alone in the Dark, this film could have been a disaster, but he made it work by making the film fun and campy.

VIDEO

The Blu-ray offers a full 1080p image locked into a 1.78:1 aspect ration and its fine for a sixteen year old catalog title, but it is in no way showroom material. Colors are overblown in certain scenes and the effects don’t exactly pop out at you, actually the upgraded quality makes the CGI look more unrealistic. Darker scenes are littered with grain and the image looks soft at times. Warner didn’t put much work into this, and it’s only a small step up from the DVD.

AUDIO

Just like the video quality, not much love was given to the audio presentation. The Dolby DTS 5.1 sound mix is just alright, but you won’t need to turn on your surround sound system for this one. Dialogue goes from being clear to getting lost in the shadow of the action. The sound effects are all basic punches, swooping kicks, and an occasional explosion. Unfortunately, this is a good as it’s going to get for this movie.

EXTRAS

There must not have been much in the archives for this film, because it seems to be more of a promotional tool for the new Mortal Kombat videogame than a Blu-ray package.

There’s a trailer for the new Mortal Kombat game, as well as a code (for PS3 gamers only) that allows you to unlock Jade’s classic costume from the original game.

A Digital Copy of the film can be downloaded.

The only guilty pleasure is Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins, which is a 39 minute animated, which no one’s eyes have probably seen in over a decade. This badly animated film must be seen, not only for nostalgia, but just to laugh at it.

BOTTOM LINE

Mortal Kombat raised the bar in fighting videogames, and in the mid 90’s made plenty of fans happy in it’s motion picture form. The Blu-ray is for fans only, because it’s image quality and sound are not up to the high standards you would expect. Overall this appears to be more of a promotional tool to get you hyped for the new Mortal Kombat game. If you can pick up this Blu-ray for under $10, then grab it, otherwise just fire up your old game console and play the classic game.

SCORES (Out of 5):

The Movie: 2.5

Video: 3.0

Sound: 3.0

Extras: 2.0

Bottom Line: 2.5