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Traveta reviews
New Line Cinema
- Cert: PG-13
- Cat.no: N4310
- Running time: 101 minutes
- Year: 1995
- Pressing: 2002
- Region(s): 1, NTSC
- Chapters: 27
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 (Eng only)
- Languages: English, French
- Subtitles: English, French
- Widescreen: 1.85:1, Standard: 4:3
- 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
- Macrovision: No
- Disc Format: DVD 18
- Price: $14.98
- Extras:Theatrical trailer and Kombatant Info
Director:
- Paul Anderson
Screenplay:
- Kevin Droney
Cast:
- Liu Kang: Robin Shou
Sonya Blade: Bridgette Wilson
Johnny Cage: Linden Ashby
Princess Kitana: Talisa Soto
Shang Tsung: Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa
Raiden: Christopher Lambert
Mortal Kombatwas THE arcade quarter-muncher of the early ’90s. I wastedso much time and money on that game that it kept me interested even whenthe series ran out of steam. I remember seeing the MK2 cabinet and Iwas there first when MK3 came. I played all of them and nevercomplained, even when the lucrative MK4 came out. I stuck with theseries as critics moved onto the overratedTekkenandVirtua Fighterseries. So when the movie premiered on August 18, 1995, I was theretwice in the same weekend and four more times until video on December15, 1995. To this day people are still suprised when they hear that MKis one of my top 10 films but seven years and countless viewings laterhave shown me some flaws.
Mortal Kombat tells the story of a tournament held by the forces ofOutworld. This tournament will decide the fate of the world as thearmies of Outworld will invade (which happens in the sequel) uponvictory. Three fighters have been chosen, fighter Liu Kang, special opsagent Sonya Blade and movie star Johnny Cage. Liu Kang has enteredbecause the master of the tournament, Shang Tsung killed his brother(told in an unforgettable dream at the beginning). Sonya has enteredbecause the man who killed her partner, Kano will be there. Johnny hasentered because the world thinks he’s a fake and his ego causes him toprove it.
Over the course of the movie they will face cool enemies likeScorpion: a ninja with a living grappling hook, Sub-Zero: a ninja whouses the element of ice to his advantage, and Goro: a cooly-designedfour armed creature (and no he’s not CGI). And ultimately the tournamentconcludes with a cool fight between Shang Tsung and the atagonist, LiuKang.
Seven years later, I still think the movie is great but it does have afew flaws. Take into mind this might be because I’ve seen it so manytimes I probably know it by heart. I just couldn’t see past some of it’scheesy moments like I used to. But what ever the flaws, this is still agreat movie (a video game adaptation nonetheless) and the underlinedtheme is fun which it delivers well.
It’s funny what a difference a few years can make on a studio. Early NewLine discs were plauged with pixelization and few were anamorphic. Nowlook at them, New Line is producing the best transfers out of all thestudios. Unfortunately, this was one of their first (the back touts:“…experience the movie in the best picture and best soundavailable!…”). MK is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen or full frame.While pixelization can be overlooked, a lot of the dark scenes showedit. This is really the only problem but it’s enough to knock it a fewnotches. I’ve seen this movie in evert form available here: Laserdisc,VHS and now DVD. I don’t remember the pixelization on the laserdisc butthis is not nearly as bad as it could have been.
The sound is decent as well. Presented in 5.1 dolby digital it is verybooming at times. A few times the dialogue was a little low but overalla very good track.
The extras are wierd. I’ve seen the terrible animated Mortal Kombatvideo and at the end of that it had a 15-minute “making of” segment. For somereason this is absent and we only get a nicely done trailer and someKombatant biographies.
Overall, I definitely recommend this if you haven’t seen it. Firstviewing’s always the best and it’s just a great film. Yeah, yeah, sowhat if I like these cheesy films, these are what movies are supposed todo, entertain. I just hope New Line makes a special edition sooner orlater but it’s doubtful. This is still easy to find in a bargain bin ortwo so pick it up if you can. Oh and there was a sequel and l’ll reviewthat sometime as well.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALLEmailTraveta
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.