12 Increasingly Interesting Facts About That 1995 'Mortal Kombat' Movie
Another 'Power Action' special
“Well, now you gotta do one on Mortal Kombat.”
I heard some version of this sentence several times over the past week, and it makes sense: As we saw in last week’s “12 Increasingly Interesting Facts About That 1994 'Street Fighter' Movie,” the respective reputations of Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter franchises were intertwined throughout most of the 1990s. The two video game franchises topped bestseller lists; Hasbro did both of their action figure lines (and as you’ll see below, intermingled some already reused molds); and the two have been pitted against one another on the playground and in gaming press since their inception. (In terms of the proximity of their debuts: MK’s first game came out in 1992, and like we noted last time, it was 1991’s Street Fighter II: The World Warrior that put its franchise on the map and was the basis for all that came after it.)
So we’re going to dive into Mortal Kombat’s first film incarnation in this post, but first, something I need to confess upfront. While I previously did say that I don’t want to be too negative about Street Fighter: The Movie, I have to admit that Mortal Kombat, as a piece of cinema, is a much richer text.
And I’m not just talking about the 40ish% points MK has on SF on Rotten Tomatoes. Mortal Kombat, helmed by habitual video game adapter Paul W. S. Anderson (not the brilliant auteur PTA, mind you), is actually watchable in a genre of adaptations that never ensures that attribute. MK went beyond what SF attempted in terms of world-building and production quality, and it offered another entry in a tried and true action movie format: The filmmakers opted to ground the film in the global tournament of the game, the sprawling, multi-fighting style contest that follows a tradition of movies including Enter the Dragon and Bloodsport. (Jean-Claude Van Damme, who as I mentioned previously turned down the role of Johnny Cage in this film for Guile in SF, would do a couple of these, including the underrated The Quest in 1996.)
And frankly, it’s a better film. (I would say that, in some ways, it’s even better than the 2021 cinematic take on Mortal Kombat.) Due to its higher quality than Street Fighter: The Movie, we’ve adjusted our sliding scale of intrigue for these piece of trivia accordingly. And, as a wise Shang Tsung once said: “It has begun.”
OH, THAT’S NEAT!
1. It’s obvious that the big Hollywood director in Johnny Cage’s introduction was modeled after Steven Spielberg. But this guy was only hired after Spielberg himself, an enormous fan of the Mortal Kombat video game, was set to make a cameo but had to cancel because of scheduling woes.
Let’s talk ninjas: The line about Sub-Zero and Scorpion being under Shang Tsung's spell was added only after test audiences were angry that the two were shown as allies and not mortal enemies, as they are in the games.
As for Reptile, his appearance was also stoked by a test audience: the CGI lizard originally died when absorbed into that statue. At one attendee’s suggestion Anderson had that statue transform into the game’s Reptile upon absorption and in turn, add even more action to the film. The voiceover announcing the introduction of “Reptile” is akin to unlocking a secret character in the game and was garnered a clap break in the theaters.Beloved voice actor Frank Welker did the voices of Reptile and big baddie Shao Kahn. Eagle-eared folks will notice that the voice he uses for the latter is oddly similar to the one he used for Dr.Claw in the Inspector Gadget cartoon.
Speaking of voice actors, let’s move to the iconic song that opens the film. The release of the home console version was hailed as "Mortal Monday": Sept. 13, 1993. The tune created for that marketing, titled "Techno Syndrome," became the theme most associated with the franchise. You know, the one with the signature "MORTAL KOMBAT" scream.
The artists, known as The Immortals, tapped actor Kyle Wyatt to craft that scream. And Wyatt still wholly embraces his part in it: His Instagram account is even titled "Kyle Wyatt | Mortal Kombat Cry," and he tailors version of that cry on his popular Cameo account.
WHOA, REALLY?
5. Let's go back to that Liu Kang and Reptile bout real quick. On the wall in that scene are six symbols that are carved into the wall: Those are a question mark, Goro, the game's logo, a question mark, Goro, and the logo again, respectively. That's the "Kombat Kode" for Mortal Kombat 3, which upon entering on the Versus screen, will switch up your characters throughout a given battle. The game had just hit arcades when the film was released.
6. Several of the game's special moves appear in the film. Those include ...
* Johnny Cage’s Nut Punch and Shadow Kick
* Liu Kang’s Bicycle Kick and Fireball
* Reptile's Invisibility and Acid Spit
* SubZero's Ice Blast and Ice Shatter Fatality
* Scorpion’s Living Spear Throw (with MK co-creator Ed Boon doing the signature "Get over here!" yell) and Fire Breath Fatality
* Sonya Blade's Leg Grab
* Raiden's Teleportation
* Shang Tsung's Soul Steal Fatality and Morphing (and his death itself being ripped from the games)
7. Fans of the franchise stand by this film, and developers for the 2019's Mortal Kombat 11 game (Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S) honored that when they released a pack of skins taken from the 1995 film.
The games also carried film references into future games: In Mortal Kombat X and Mortal Kombat 11, there are references to Johnny Cage's broken sunglasses. His original movie line, "Those were $500 sunglasses, asshole," was actually improvised by actor Linden Ashby.
8. The studio didn't have the money to get Christopher Lambert to Thailand with other members of the cast, but he insisted on being there and paid for his own travel. Highlander money, man. He also paid for the wrap party, and as a big gamer himself, jumped at the opportunity 26 years later to voice Raiden again in Mortal Kombat 11.
HOT DOG, THAT’S INTERESTING!
9. Goro himself was a million-dollar animatronic during an era marked by the shift to CG. Stuntman Tom Woodruff controlled the bottom two arms, and the rest of him was operated by up to 16 puppeteers at any given time. The only CG really used for him was post-production attempts at correcting the syncing between the voice acting and the dialogue, which only kinda-sorta worked. Also, a la Jaws, the thing kept breaking down, forcing the crew to get creative and keep him away from any pools of water.
This wonderful BTS video offers a look under the hood to see how he was built:
10. During the Liu Kang fight against SubZero, the former was supposed to duplicate the latter's flips down the ramp at 1:23 in the clip below. Actor Robin Shou, though incredibly talented (and funny in Chris Farley’s Beverly Hills Ninja two years later), couldn’t do it. So instead, he did a take where he just shouted like a weirdo, jumped, and punched the air after him. This was the take they used, much to fans' delight.
As mentioned above, Hasbro did the figure lines for Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. And while we mentioned previously that multiple figures in that first SF line were poorly sized new heads on old G.I. Joe bodies. Well, their first MK movie line wasn’t much better. Just take a look at they used the mold of that poorly sized Ken head as Raiden’s mug:
The non-film toys were far more forgivable:
This movie’s cast was almost completely different. We know Van Damme turned down Johnny Cage from the previous newsletter, but check these out: Brandon Lee was also offered the role of Cage, but was tragically killed on the set of The Crow. Cameron Diaz filmed some as Sonya Blade but an injury forced her bow out. Thankfully, Bridgette Wilson-Sampras, who originally opted out after auditioning to do Billy Madison, was then available to take the role. Also: A completely different Highlander was originally tapped for Raiden: Sean Connery
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