Mortal Kombat

Based on Midway's 1992 fighting game, Mortal Kombat is one of the few video game adaptations that won over players and general audiences alike. From 1998 to 2018 it was the best-reviewed video game adaptation on Rotten Tomatoes, and it grossed more than $120 million worldwide on a $20 million budget.

Fighters behind the camera

The fights were coordinated by Pat E. Johnson, a 9th dan in Tang Soo Do, former chief instructor at Chuck Norris's school and the man behind the fights in The Karate Kid (1984). Robin Shou, who plays Liu Kang, is a former wushu champion who worked as a Hong Kong stuntman; he is credited as additional fight choreographer and brought wirework to the shoot. Linden Ashby trained in karate, taekwondo and kung fu to play Johnny Cage. The result mixes styles: Korean-style kicking combinations, kung fu stances and strikes for Liu Kang, throws and locks for Sonya Blade.

What practitioners will see

The film makes no claim to realism, with magic, creatures and video game sets. But the empty-hand duels are easy to follow, shot wide enough to read the techniques, notably Liu Kang against Reptile and Johnny Cage against Scorpion. Christophe Lambert plays a wry Rayden, and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa's Shang Tsung was so memorable that he returned to the role in the game Mortal Kombat 11.

Shoot and soundtrack

It was filmed from August to December 1994, mostly in Thailand, with exteriors at a former steel mill in Fontana, California. The Immortals' Techno-Syndrome opens the film, and the soundtrack album went platinum in under a year. Reviews were mixed (43% on Rotten Tomatoes), but it became a cult classic. A sequel, Mortal Kombat Annihilation, followed in 1997, and the series was rebooted in 2021.