Movie Debate #65: Mortal Kombat (1995)

[Gloves | 11,796]

2 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

I saw it last night on my parents hbo account.

I was mostly impressed, very well done and with its own take on things.  The one part I didn't like, the hero, at least for most.  Just a whiny ass walking emo target that just gets thrown around.  Somehow he went from hack to mad skills with body armor at that last couple of fights?  Really?  For awhile i thought it would be him turning into Scorpion, so they did a really nice job on that one.

I have no issue with the introduction and break down as much as was done on the characters, then again, I've only bothered to casually keep up with the franchise since the point it went beyond MK4 as it just lost interest with me being some wonky tekken overkill button mash annoyance.  I'm old school, love the original two.

If you're mashing buttons in any modern fighting came, you're not going to be winning a lot unless you only play against your friends who don't play fighting games. They're all significantly deeper than that. 

[SailorScoutMandy | 782]

2 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

I saw it last night on my parents hbo account.

I was mostly impressed, very well done and with its own take on things.  The one part I didn't like, the hero, at least for most.  Just a whiny ass walking emo target that just gets thrown around.  Somehow he went from hack to mad skills with body armor at that last couple of fights?  Really?  For awhile i thought it would be him turning into Scorpion, so they did a really nice job on that one.

I have no issue with the introduction and break down as much as was done on the characters, then again, I've only bothered to casually keep up with the franchise since the point it went beyond MK4 as it just lost interest with me being some wonky tekken overkill button mash annoyance.  I'm old school, love the original two.

The hero could have been totally agree. I kept thinking be was going to channel his ancestor and become scorpion! The final battle between scorpion and sub zero was really cool. I'm never been the biggest fan of playing fighting games but I do like to play a round of MK at the arcades, so I was excited to learn more through the movie. 

[fox | 1,668]

52 minutes ago, SailorScoutMandy said:

The hero could have been totally agree. I kept thinking be was going to channel his ancestor and become scorpion! The final battle between scorpion and sub zero was really cool. I'm never been the biggest fan of playing fighting games but I do like to play a round of MK at the arcades, so I was excited to learn more through the movie. 

I’d check out MK 9 (just called mortal kombat) as a pretty good jumping on point for the modern series.  It actually has a really well done story mode that combines the stories of the first 3 games with elements of the 90s film.  Or at least watch the cutscenes on YouTube.

[Tanooki | 4,939]

3 hours ago, Gloves said:

If you're mashing buttons in any modern fighting came, you're not going to be winning a lot unless you only play against your friends who don't play fighting games. They're all significantly deeper than that. 

Dramatics, more or less.  I never loved the addition of the run button and the hyper fast bitchslappy mechanics they went into with UMK3 and after.  When it went 3D, it slowed up some, but they took it beyond what I'd like on the PS2 era stuff having multiple stances and layers needing to learn like 10-20 moves per character it put me off.  I've been pondering MK11 a bit just as it's on Switch and cheap.  I just prefer the older original two games, they were more slower and tactical than a rage out.  Never liked that style 2D or 3D in the end.  Probably why I got more into various Capcom and SNK stuff instead of others.

3 hours ago, SailorScoutMandy said:

The hero could have been totally agree. I kept thinking be was going to channel his ancestor and become scorpion! The final battle between scorpion and sub zero was really cool. I'm never been the biggest fan of playing fighting games but I do like to play a round of MK at the arcades, so I was excited to learn more through the movie. 

Good point.  My MK lore dropped off years ago, took me looking it up to figure out who Nitara was.  One thing I've always admired...Boon and Tobias and their storytelling.  From day one and sequel it felt like one awesome cheese HK kung fu adaptation bastardized into some B-C tier shlock scifi stuff and it worked, great, but still was pretty cheesy.  Once they went a bit further, beyond the original trilogy into 3D they started going DEEP into the stories, back stories, mythos and the rest, even taking it beyond the game into graphic novels, etc.  MK is incredible, far more for me as a story than to play in the last what 30 years now about?

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

I saw this movie in the theaters and thought it was pretty badass when I was a kid. Reptile was the shit. I'm sure it doesn't hold up at all, but it's at least an 8 in my memory. Mortal Kombat!!!

Edited April 26, 2021 by DoctorEncore

[SpoonMan Abrams X | 697]

I gave it an 8/10, a product of it's time and arguably one of the best video game movies in a time when those were barely a thing (not that it is a high bar to clear lol)

Really entertaining for what it is, and a dope theme to boot lol