I'm 31 years old, and I still get unreasonably excited when I hear that announcer say "reptile." This movie still holds up. We'll just pretend Annihilation doesn't exist.

Let's all admit! When Liu Kang fights with Reptile, it was an awesome fight scene!

Honestly I don't get why people think it is a bad movie. Maybe it's not Oscar worthy, but it was a good video game movie, and as James said, it delivered and we were incredibly satisfied about it. I still watch it 24 years later, and boy does it feel good.

I don't care I still love this movie.

James Rolfe gets this movie in a way Doug Walker (nostalgia critic) never will. I was pretty disappointed when Walker talked about this movie and made some really nasty comments towards people who like and defend this movie. Like how he said you're not a Mortal Kombat fan if you like the movie, and calling people who defend the movie "fucking pussies". James gives a more fair and balanced review, and while he acknowledges that it hasn't aged well, he still gives it credit for what it did right at the time.

You can't overlook the performances in this movie. Sure, most weren't great, but Cary Tagawa and Christopher Lambert were a lot of fun to watch, Linden Ashby absolutely nailed Johnny Cage, and Trevor Goddard literally shaped Kano's backstory and character with his performance..

Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa's performance as Shang Tsung was one of the most memorable things of the film for me. I loved that he took up the role again in Mortal Kombat: Legacy

The Johnny Cage vs Scorpion fight scene. Hands down best fight scene in the whole movie.

This is the best video game to movie adaption ever.

Robin Shou made a good Liu Kang.

There's something magical about this movie, I love it, and in my opinion it's the most underrated video game movie of all time!

Great movie. But the sequel is basically unwatchable!

The Mortal Kombat movie is such a guilty pleasure. I still love this movie. I remember when i was younger i loved it so much that i watched it every day for about a month. Don't know why i did that back then but i did. Mortal Kombat is the game that got me into fighting games as a child. Til this day it's my number one favorite fighting game franchise. Never could get into street fighter sadly. I was really into the whole fantasy and gore style of mortal kombat, So when i tried to play street fighter i couldn't get in to it. It was too dull for me.

James MK was good for the very reasons you mentioned, it wasn't ashamed of its source material, it gave us great fights, the plot was simple and straightforward, I don't think it looked that cheap at all, with the exception of some bad CG here and there and the lack of blood, there was a lot to enjoy in this movie, it's just a fun fantasy martial arts film, and as far as the modern video game movies go, nothing's improved as far as Hollywood adaptations go, in fact they're probably worse.

Mortal Kombat '95 gets a "Nostalgia Hall Pass" for me too James (saw it when I was 18). It's an iconic '90s pop culture treasure. Speaking of iconic, whenever I play/hear the classico "Techno Syndrome" track from The Immortals, I immediately transport to summer of '95 and scream "MORTAL KOMBAT!!!" and start "air kicking & punching" :)

Now Cary Tagawa is back as Shang Sung again

greatest line in movie history Bison: For you, the day Bison graced your village was the most important day of your life. But for me, it was Tuesday.

Mortal Kombat was pretty cool... I remember renting it from the video store. That music track... amazing...

Honestly, I think the movie aged pretty well. I appreciate how James understands that the context in which it came out is important to it, however IMO, it still holds up as a decent action flick. Also, the fact that it stuck to its guns and was a good adaptation of the game is incredibly relevant. When I watch it, I actually feel like I'm watching the game.

Excellent assessment. Agree 100% I love how the later games even changed up Kano by making him Australian to mirror the movie. It just works so perfectly.

The older Street fighter movie is better than the legend of Chun li garbage.

That Veronica Vaughn is one piece of ace.

I love this movie. I remember BEGGING my Dad to take me to the movies to see it and luckily mothers intervention over rode his initial "No". And for the record he enjoyed it too. Takes me back every time!

The Citizen Kane of video game movies.

Taking the time out to say, thank you AVGN for giving mortal kombat a fair reviews. Yes a lot of people covered it, but everyone of them is comparing it to TODAYS standards. Good review and Nerd considered everything.

Christopher Lambert's laugh is my favorite part of this movie.

"GET DOWN HERE!!!"

when james full on said "its not good but its entertaining" i was probably more happy then i have in recent months, finally! someone seeing why i love this movie!

MOOOOORTAAALLLL KOMMMMBATTTT!

Anyone here go to Mortal Kombat Live? My friend and I went when we were younger. It was a choreographed live show, with a bunch of lasers and they blasted that MK theme from this movie over and over again. It sounds like torture now, but my friend and I loved it when we were young.

sonya and kintana were so hot

I enjoyed the mortal kombat movie. Scorpion scene was the best.

Good movie. You should review Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.

To be totally accurate, the song wasn't "from" the movie. It was created for the Sega CD release of the original Mortal Kombat in 1993. If you put the Sega CD game disc in a regular CD player, you could hear that song along with a remix of it scattered through the CD.

The effects might be outdated and some cheesy acting here and there, but that aside I thought the movie was pretty good. It also had great practical effects (Goro) and - most importantly - good fight scenes! A remake of this with better costumes and modern CGI could be a real banger!

I remember when I saw it in theatre when I was about 13 and as soon as the movie started with the loud techno music I was in awe. I still remember that moment and loved the movie ever since.

Wait, you're 37 years old? You look like you're in your late 20s. You really aged well!

Mortal Kombat the movie was my introduction to real badass heavy metal, which is why the Johnny Cage, Scorpion fight was my favorite. Fear Factory's "Zero Signal" blew my mind. It was only after I bought the MK movie soundtrack did I get into Fear Factory all the more.

"it respected its material" Honestly if more directors took that approach, these adaptations from animes and video games would be so much better.

I'm 5 years younger than you, and when I was 10, and after playing the video games in the arcades all summer the years before the movie came out, this movie was the greatest thing to happen to my young self. Your review was spot on and very well said

Get the guy who made The Raid films to do a Rated R Mortal Kombat movie.

I seen Mortal Kombat in the theatre as well. The music kinda pumped me up

For me it was perfect in my teenage years. It portayed the video game I loved perfectly, there were lot of cool moves, and they directed it that I could follow and understand everything going on in the action, seeing all the cool coreography. Nowadays in action movies a lot of things are lost for me because of the camera movements. My only problem with this movie back then was that it focused too much around Liu Kang, a character I don't care about, but he's the main hero, so it's not much we can change.

I wish he'd review more movies, movies of any genre. He's better than most at reviews and I think his transition would be relatively easy. This review was spot on.

This movie is a guilty pleasure of mine and I still watch it every other year. Emmy or Oscar award winning script or acting you will not find here, but it is action pack from start to finish with only one or two insignificant slow scenes.

Who can forget when reptile appeared..... siiiiiiiiick

I remember the hype among teens and kids when this movie came out. I loved it. And that "Test Your Might" song was amazing. I heard it many times in a laser tag arena in the late 90s.

Truly a cinematic masterpiece.

I loved this movie back then. It was mind blowing and fun. I probably saw it over 100 times on VHS.

I think the fight Johnny Cage has with Scorpion is the best part of the film. I love how Scorpion stomps on Johnny's head when he's on the ground. It's a realistic touch not seen in most film fights.

This is my #1 Ultimate favorite guilty nostalgia pleasure movie. I saw this when I was 10 years old and LOVED IT and still do.

Definitely a piece of Movie History. The Official Motion Picture Soundtrack released was great too - KMFDM, Orbital, g/z/r, Fear Factory, Napalm Death, Type O'Negative. Unforgettable part of my childhood...

Probably still the best video game movie.

The movie was better if you grew up playing it, because you knew what the stakes were and expected most of our only heroes to die. Great movie!

Shang Tsung was the best actor and he is the best ting about this movie

I loved it as a kid too. I remember it being so much better than it actually is but that nostalgia factor gives it a warm place in my heart

yep. the second one was the one that sucked.

He's the Calmer Movie Theater Nerd.

Exactly - it was good back in 1995, but you had to be there to experience it.

You forgot Liu Kangs Bicycle kick.....

Saw this when I was 10, loved it then. Love it now!

this movie is the best, it's not bad at all

Very good and fair review. I've always had a soft spot for the film. Not perfect lol, but it was/is fun and like you said pretty much delivered to its target audience at the time. Easily the best or at least in the conversation for best game adaptation

Thanks for the review. It’s awesome hearing different perspectives on these things. I’ve basically had the same feel when I went to go see it with my friends, with my parents reluctance. I think most people who talk crap about things they don’t necessarily understand are just full of it. And while they do bring up issues, it was still a byproduct of the times and that’s at least something worth respecting.

I used to take karate when this movie came out, and the master sensei's son played Scorpion in the movie. I think his name was Lou Cassamassa. I also got to see Scorpion's spear when they were still making the movie, since my mom's boyfriend at the time worked at an effects studio in Hollywood.

Good breakdown of what made the film so good back then compared to now. I'd agree that Mortal Kombat probably doesn't hold up nowadays and isn't winning any awards, but I still feel it's the most solid video game adaptation we've had so far, right alongside Street Fighter. Prince of Persia COULD come close if not for the terrible way it's directed at times. Plus, this film, for the most part, just focused on Liu Kang, Johnny Cage, Sonya, and Raiden instead of throwing almost every character in like the Street Fighter film, much as I like it. Plus, this and Street Fighter are Oscar caliber compared to something like Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li.

I bought this on DVD 20 years later for 99 cents on amazon, don't regret it. It was actually pretty good.

I remember being addicted to Reptile's fight song in my childhood. Good times

The movie isn't perfect and honestly is terribly made at certain times, but regardless I still fucking crack up at the scene when Johnny cage busting goro in the balls, it may be nostalgia talkin' but I love this movie

Mortal kombat movie still kicks ass today

"I imagine 15 year olds today have access to a lot more gorey stuff" Oh we had access to the bestgore

I loved this movie as a kid

When James said, "Mortal Kombat: Annihilation," I threw up a little in my mouth. :(

I really loved this movie as a child And still have weakness for it nowadays!

Let's not forget how fucking epic the soundtrack was!!!

I love this film. I actually rewatched it again last night since it's on amazon prime. It's so cheesy but fucking awesome at the same time. You can't beat the soundtrack as well.

I feel the exact same way. It hasnt aged well, but back then it was magic. Late 95 to the summer of 96 was a great time for me and this movie is a part of it. The other parts being the Dallas Cowboys winning Super Bowl XXX, the Chicago Bulls winning 72 games and then the world title, watching Dumb and Dumber on VHS, playing Mortal Kombat 3 on SNES and also that Coolio song "Gangsta's Paradise". Everything was great back then. Then the 2000s happened and everything went to crap.

I reccomend "Street Fighter II: the Animated Movie".

They even had Fear Factory playing during the fight between Cage and Scorpion. Badass!

Nah, it's still awesome. I even showed it a couple of years ago to people who never saw it and they said it's an awesome movie. 90s are the best movie era =)

Kitana: "Mother, you're alive!" Sindel: " Too bad YOU...........Will die."

I can still hear the theme song from this movie

This movie actually aged well. It could’ve been better but the casting was spot on, the fight scenes were good, the plot made sense, all the characters were there, the costumes were spot on. I saw this in theaters and it was great and every time it comes on TV I can’t help but watch it & the soundtrack was awesome.

The song is actually not from the movie. It is from something called "Mortal Kombat: The Album", which had electronic songs inspired by each character and by the game as a whole, all created by Praga Khan of Lords of Acid under the pseudonym "The Immortals". The song used for the opening of the movie is a slightly remixed version of the song "Techno Syndrome (Mortal Kombat)". If I remember correctly, MK: The Album actually hit the billboard top 10 when it was released one year before the MK movie in 1994.

I still think Mortal Kombat is damn good, the sequel though, holy crap, is that bad!

Mike, you and James gotta fit your schedules around to sitting back and watching the First Three Hellraiser Movies. Or maybe just the first two. I definitely would wanna hear your guys' opinions on them.

When "That song by The Immortals " or "The Mortal Kombat Theme" came on in the roller-rinks, IT WAS ON.

"in case you want to hear my take on it" it seems like almost a million people wanted to

Agreed. This movie definitely didn't age well, but it was certainly a stepping stone for many later action movies. I didn't have much of a "crowd" to see it with at the time; I had a couple friends who were into it, but a lot of people in my age group at the time were ashamed to admit that they were that into video games. But I definitely loved it at the time, and shared the joy with those who did care. That soundtrack is still one of my favorite albums as well.

I was watching a hockey game on tv the other day and they played the mortal kombat song

Reptile vs Liu Kang is still the best fight scene out of all of the MK movies

I don't care what anyone says this movie is awesome. I was 7 years old when it came out and I watched the piss out of it. It was one of my favorites as a kid and still is even as an adult. I've seen it hundreds of times and I will never get tired of it. Annihilation on the other hand... Don't get me started.

It was on tv in Hungary 2 weeks ago. I accidantely found it afternoon and watched it. It is still really enjoyable.

"MORTAL KOMBAT!!!!!" hit the music.

To me the best vg movies are all based on fighting games, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat and DOA Dead or Alive, just simply they're very over the top action movies with some value placed on them and they still give me the same excitment that I had when I watched them, on cable but still amazing, of course now we have Detective Pikachu and the Sonic movie and it seems vg movies can be a thing that the mainstream audiences can enjoy but that triad of movies will have an special place in my heart.

I still think it's my all-time favorite adaptation, and I hope ppl would appreciate this more since we all know the 2021 version, I think, is WORSE than Annihilation. But, what about its predecessor, Big Trouble in Little China? Not based on a game, but I strongly think it's what inspired MK, other than Enter the Dragon. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

BEST MOVIE EVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i just know this movie has THE BEST music theme of ALL TIME.. NO movie can beat MK's music theme.

The reason why everyone still remembers (and still plays) the MK theme from this movie is because it was written and performed by a tiny little band you've never heard of called The Immortals... made up of the primary members of Lords of Acid.

Excellent review. I was with you on loving this film. I'll have to check it out again. The music was phenomenal and you're right it was everywhere. All my friends and I loved the game and the movie did not disappoint at all. I even owned the soundtrack! 😊