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Mortal Kombat [Region 2] | ![Mortal Kombat [Region 2]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51PFE6JSR5L._SL500_.jpg) | Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Actors: Christopher Lambert, Robin Shou, Linden Ashby, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Bridgette Wilson
Category: DVD
Buy Used: $37.89
as of 3/22/2010 07:44 EDT details
Seller: valleycd
Rating:  171 reviews
Format: PAL
Languages: German (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), English (Original Language), German (Original Language)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 2
Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
Running Time: 101 Minutes
EAN: 4006680018263
ASIN: B000050X8L
Theatrical Release Date: August 18, 1995
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 171
 Not So Flawless Victory January 21, 2010
Ethan D Van Vorst (Salisbury, NC USA)
As a sometime fan of the original Mortal Kombat arcade game I was rather excited to see this film at the theater with a group of likeminded friends when it first came out. The movie hits the right notes in some places but falls a little short in others, resulting in a fairly average viewing experience that I can't see anyone outside of MK game fans and martial arts afficionados really enjoying. In so many words, chances are your average fan of Pride of Prejudice is not going to spill their tea and crumpets over this movie.
The plot of the movie Mortal Kombat is for the most part in line with that of the video game, in that a tournament is held every 100 years in which the best martial arts warriors of Earth are sent to do mortal combat (erg...kombat) with warriors of the realm of Outland. Once 10 tournaments in a row are won by Outland the emperor of Outland, Shao Khan, will be able to launch an invasion of Earth. The setting of the game (and by extension the movie) is that Outland has won 9 in a row and this tournament is the one which will decide Earth's fate. A thunder deity named Raiden, protector of the Earthrealm, gathers together a force of Earth's best warriors to take the fight to Shang Tsung (a previous champion and the evil master of ceremonies of the tournament) and make sure that this tournament ends up as a score for Planet Earth.
The casting for the film is suprisingly good. Robin Shou is perfect for the role of Liu Kang, direct descendant of Kung Lao, the tournament's last successful human warrior 900 years ago, while Linden Ashby plays a pretty good Johnny Cage. I've read somewhere that Cage was the least played of all of the characters in the first Mortal Kombat game, but I have a feeling Ashby's portrayal in this film sort of boosted the character's popularity (it did with me). But head and shoulders above the rest is Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa's portrayal of evil sorcerer Shang Tsung. The man nailed everything from the look down to the game voice of the main baddie from the game. Definitely an inspired casting choice! The rest of the cast is kind of lacking...Brigitte Wilson was adequate as Sonya Blade, a Special Forces babe...er...soldier...in hot pursuit of underworld crime lord Kano, played by Trevor Goddard, who comes across a bit as a comical interpretation of a Crocodile Dundee villain, complete with metal faceplate.
All the various characters at some point perform some of their signature moves from the game (Liu Kang's Bicycle Kick, Cage's Shadow Kick, etc.) and it's kind of fun to watch them go at it, interspersed with Shang Tsung's deep intonations of "Flawless Victory" and "Fatality". The fight choreography is pretty darned good, and by far the film's strongest selling point. The weak point is with Wilson's Sonya Blade, who fights only once (that against Kano) and then pretty much spectates for the rest of the film. Despite Raiden's constant promotion of her as one of Earth's finest warriors her fighting, while workable, came across as a bit clunky, especially when placed next to Cage or Liu Kang. But then again I'm not a karate/kung-fu expert by any means, that's largely what I drew from the film. Sub-Zero and Scorpion ("Get over here!") round out the cast of characters and were spot on faithful to their video game forbears.
The low point of this film, and the real killer in my opinion, is the dialogue. Some of it is just hackneyed to the point where you can't see why characters as smart as they're supposed to be would utter them. Sonya Blade's utterance of "When I need backup I'll radio for it" was a crown jewel of bad dialogue in the film. Another issue were some of the transitional scenes. For example when Cage and Liu Kang head into Outland to pursue Shang Tsung, who has just split town with Sonya Blade as hostage, there comes a scene in which the two are talking, and then suddenly Liu Kang finds himself...kombatting...with Reptile (a hidden character in the original game), while presumably Johnny Cage is still standing nearby with a perplexed look on his face. Logically if one gets into a fight the other would join in to assist, especially considering they're both in hostile territory and working together for a common cause, but here the scene cuts to Kang fighting Reptile, with Johnny Cage nowhere to be seen, even though he's less than 50 feet away and is probably able to witness the whole fight. There are a few incidents like this in the film and I found it rather distracting. The special effects are predictably aged, but are passable. The CGI of Reptile is the most obviously fake, but I'm willing to let this slide as they did the best they could with the budget they had in the mid-90's. Another point of contention for me was the total lack of Raiden (played by "Highlander" Christopher Lambert) joining the tournament as he does in the video game. Here he comes across more like an intergalactic Don King with the ability to shoot lighting from his fingers. Lambert plays the part well, but Raiden not fighting in an MK film soured the experience for me, especially since he's my favorite character in the game.
Overall this is a pretty decent movie. It's not going to win any kind of awards and frankly it doesn't set out to do that. This is like a love letter to fans of the Mortal Kombat video game, and you know what? It's not a half bad movie. Director Anderson does a decent job with the material, even if the dialogue is ham-handed and the story not 100% faithful to the original. Certainly one of the best video game to movie translations I've seen. If you're a fan of the game series this film will strongly appeal to you.
 Mortal Kombat January 4, 2010
Arnita D. Brown (USA)
Evil sorcerer Shang Tsung has led a powerful prince to victory against his mortal enemies for nine generations. If he is victorious in the tenth Mortal Kombat tournament, the desolation and evil that have flourished in the Outworld will reign over Earth forever. Now, guided into battle by Rayden, a mighty and powerful god, three human warriors--Sonya Blade, Johnny Cage and Lui Kang--must look deep within their souls to discover the power they need to conquer a host of insurmountable events and superhuman foes. The game is one of the best of all time, and the movie had everything right. This movie is awesome.
AN AWESOME MARTIAL ARTS FLICK 8.25 OUT OF 10 December 26, 2009
ACEMAN1 (Ripon, California)
Ah Mortal Kombat, the film considered to be the the first good VG-adaptation. While this is not my favorite of Paul W. S. Anderson's films (Resident Evil trilogy most definitely), he proved himself to be a good director and helped create one of the better martial arts flicks ever made. This film is pure, awesome popcorn entertainment that never gets old to watch.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT: The films stars three main characters: Johnny Cage, Liu Kang, and Sonja Blade, who all enter a fighting tournament called Mortal Kombat and they each have their own goals. Johnny Cage went because the film's villain disguised himself as a friend of Johnny's, Sonja wants revenge against the man who killed her partner, and Liu Kang wants revenge for his murdered brother who was killed by the film's villain; Shang Tsung. What they discover is that it's more than a fighting tournament, and that they must win it to save the world. Sure the story is really stupid, but you didn't come here for the story, you came to see awesome fight scenes.
MUSIC: This music is awesome! It fits the fighting theme quite well, and I loved the film's musical theme because it's so cheesy, yet so awesome at the same time.
ACTING: Bad acting and dialogue are aplenty in this film, but the actors do put on funny performances. It's always amusing to hear the incredibly corny dialogue because it's just so laughable. This is definitely a B-movie lover's delight.
ACTION: If you want to see really awesome fight scenes, then you'll definitely love this film because this film has got plenty of those. Sure, they're a bit corny, but the over-the-top mentality this film has is rather awesome and that's why the action is never boring and always feels inventive. Too bad this film gets dragged down by boring moments of meaningless dialogue. When the film isn't at an action scene, it suffers.
OVERALL: While the film has problems with a paper-thin plot, bad acting and dialogue, and moments of boredom, it makes up for it in awesome fight scenes and the cheesyness of this film is also a plus. This is B-movie heaven and should delight any B-movie fanatic or person who loves martial arts films.
THE GOOD: Awesome fight scenes, awesome music, fun sense of cheesy humor.
THE BAD: Moments of boredom, bad dialogue and acting, and a bad script.
Fantastic! December 8, 2009
tishadatgirl (Va)
Received the product in great condition with super-fast shipping...will definitely consider ordering from this seller in the future! Thanks!
From Game To Movie October 14, 2009
David A. Smith (Webberville, Mi, USA)
Mortal Kombat is awesome in any form. i loved this movie. the characters are sweet espicialy scorpion. this is a must see for all mortal kombat fans.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 171
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