the real origin of raiden

[The530aftescho]

Thanks for this, 4531. :D I also believe they got the Johnny Cage MK1 look from Jackie Chan's Drunken Master II (The Legend of Drunken Master in the US). Check out the courtyard scene when the team is practicing - their arm bracelets and red sashes match Cage's to a T!

[Darthodious]

So true!

[walkerlifeJC]

Desde a primeira vez que vi mortal kombat, notei que Raiden havia sido extraído deste filme, que por sinal é muito bom!

[stephenparallox]

Definately the origin of Raiden... always thought that, would have been so much better with that dude instead of the high lander

[tarnell4003]

They should be in the Mortal Kombat game as a tribute to this movie.

[kennyklove4531]

@tarnell4003 YES HELL YES ......I Totally Agree WIT DAT

[tarnell4003]

@kennyklove4531 I knew I wasn't the only one who thought this. we should start a petition and send it in to them.

[kyo221]

@tarnell4003

"I Don't think so, Ha ha ha ha ha ha"

[tarnell4003]

@kyo221 hahahahahah why not?

[kyo221]

@kyo221

its a Raiden's Quotes from Mortal Kombat the movie.

[HardKore5250]

What does it say on the front of the truck?

[Omegan01]

@HardKore5250 "haulin' ass" with a woman's body

[culturaleyes]

that's fuckin' awesome...

[BuffProductionHD]

definitely where they got raiden..but watch the movie closer..they also stole..Shang T Sung and Jade. Lopan being Shang..and the girl they kidnapped being Jade..They actually call them Shang Sings..in the movie..and refer the kidnapped girl as being the girl with Jade eyes.

[clemenza1234]

this movie is LOADED in mortal kombat references. in fact, i remember reading somewhere both Ed Boon and John Tobias where very big fans of John Carpenter and this movie.

[CODEEZY510]

YOU BROUGHT ME BACK TO CHILDHOOD MEMORIES FORGOT ABOUT THIS MOVIE

[lycandarkwolf]

RAIDEN RULEDS

[DaLukaXD]

i wish my crew on cod could get throwing knife kills like these three but they always miss -_-

[effteedubs]

ive always thought the same thing

[soundninja130]

the only reason he has those powers is because he got mad for not making a good sale at the office

[piloneman]

@ninjafalcon No, not entirely. Christopher Lambert played a good Raiden in the first one. Too bad the 2nd one wasn't as good as the first one.

Still, this was a classic. i just wish they would have made a sequel of this.

[piloneman]

@ragnarok1326 Yeah, this was a pretty cool movie. But I wouldn't wanna say that, MK(first movie) had very very cool fight scenes and I just fell in love with the movie and been wanting to get it on dvd sometime :)

[ninjafalcon1]

I have to say, this lightning guy in this movie should of been raiden in mk because the raiden in mk movie and the mk conquest one suck being raiden.

[Hakudoshy1]

That movie is a classic

[grownuptrunks]

this is back when they didn't use flashy gimmicks and made good stories 

[SytheClaw]

god i love this movie especially the storms(lightning=win)

[DDoiS]

Raiden LOL !

[buddacafe]

@DDoiS Yes, this is where mortal combat got the idea of Raiden.

[AGZraider15]

Yep johnnylikevideo I just Did lol

[johnnyLikeVideo]

Thumbs up if you just saw Big Trouble in Little China and found this with Google.

[xPUNISHER84x]

I think MK got the Shang Tsung character from this movie as well! I remember watching Bloodsport the other day and said.....Hhmm?!?!?! Van Damn looks like Jhonny Cage in the last fight scence.

[rydgemolino]

and me sitting in my room wathcing this movie thinking that asains has these kinda powers my friend was asain and i never fucked with him after this movie

[cancerman50]

I would love to have the powers of that lightning guy.

[hanchiman]

One word: FATALITY!!

[ChStapeler]

Even with all the special effects technology of today, no movie has ever created a cooler lightning effect than this! And James Pax's choreography was phenomenal... the way his hands shake and tremble as if they were actually surrounded by electricity is awesome. Also the way he moves, fast and sharp, like lightning. I never get tired of watching this movie.

[templetohelia]

Not seen better lightning special effects than in this movie.

[LAHrebirth]

this came out before mortal kombat so mk was actually ripping this off

p.s its great to speak canto, i actually understand what they're saying :D

[ChStapeler]

@LAHrebirth The producers of MK have actually said they got the inspiration for Raiden from this movie. It wasn't a rip-off, it was a tribute. They are fans.

[mjdc2505]

Actually Raiden origins came from all 3 of those guys(Thunder, Storm and Lighting) with the hats on.

[lowenklee]

@mjdc2505

Who in turn, it could be argued, were inspired by "The Masters of Death" from the Shogun Assassin, Lone Wolf and Cub series:)

[br0kenbutt3rfly23]

THUNDER TAKE YOU!!!

XD

[MrSyntheticDesign]

and armed to the teeth with falcata blades :D

[pellepellecorps]

THUNDER HAD THE TEMPER, RAIN WAS THE MEAN GUY AND LIGHTIN WAS THE QUIET DANGEROUS GUY

[jwallbanger]

who cares

[MoonsOverTheWell]

I miss the days when the special effects were meant to enhance the plot of a movie, not replace it, is all I will say.

Big Trouble In Little China was one of the best action-adventure movies of all time - such a sleeper popcorn classic!!!

[kungblao]

The real origin for Kung Lao is me.

[15551cue]

just like left 4 dead was inspired by dawn of the dead (2004)

[15551cue]

this thunder god was out way before mk's thunder god

[ContortedWhisk]

@15551cue The presentation and association with the look of the character wasn't though.

[vancecoledotcom]

Holy shit, that guy had mini-lawnmowers for hands!

oO

[megane230f1]

The first storm says had it dickhead lol, have it dickhead. We need these 3 on the streets to kick some charvers heAds in

[warholston1]

I love this film, all time fav Carpenter film. MK raped this movie!

[UnknownFromHeaven]

/watch?v=b360aCAPw9Q 

[NathanVoodooShearer]

im a fan of rain... hes a beast

[johnjohn0701]

sec 49 is just hilarious

[AeroZepplin]

Jacks honking face lolollll



[TEMCTZCARA]

And the real origin of Shang Tsung is Lo Pan.

[ragnarok1326]

Big Trouble in Little China has more mortal kombat in it than the actual movies.

[Shadohz75]

@ragnarok1326 Also the fight scenes and clothing were more authentic and better too lol

[natestorm]

Yeah I always thought they totally stole Rayden from this character. Glad I'm not the only one who knows where Rayden's really from. Thanks for posting!

[paladindarknite]

@natestorm is raiden the japanese deity or chinese?

[Wodanaz]

@paladindarknite Raiden or Raijen is a Japanese god. The Raiden from the game Mortal Kombat doesn't look much like him, as Raiden, the Thunder God in Shinto, as he is short and either green or red. This Thunderer is more akin to the Chinese Lei Gong, though the look of these weather gods in Big Trouble, seem to be Sinicized Hidari Brothers (three Japanese brothers who wear the same straw hat; the hat is quite accurate for China too, as it is a common hat throughout Asia) from Lone Wolf and Cub

[SatansMullet]

IF you had shown lo pan you could have shown the Origin of Shang Tsung too! thats right Boon And Tobias have said that Lo Pan is where the idea for Shang Tsung came from.

[Corvo80]

The whole movie is the real origin of Mortal Kombat.

[RM026]

Nostalgia

[hcvang]

holy shit, did the three storms scare the crap out of me when I was a kid, but I couldnt look away, all the same because they were so damned cool at the same time... =)

[Phillybob1982]

Is it just me or can anyone else hear thunder actually say "dick head" at 0:46?

[MrLive713]

@Phillybob1982 funny does sound like it

[hcvang]

@Phillybob1982 lol, thanks a lot, now I cant take him seriously anymore =(

lol

[SnakeMan227]

I hated how the most badass character in the movie (Lightning) died in the stupidest way (a statue dropped on his head), yet he survived a hail of automatic gunfire...

For some reason, watching this as a kid, I always wanted one of those hats.

[3wpfilms]

Actually it goes back even further to The Master of the Flying Guillotine where you will see the idea for Mortal combat and street fighter and check out the raiden type character in it. It was made in the 70's

[jrbooth31977]

Great movie. Hilarious and good fighting scenes, Lighting is my favorite character. He was awsome in this movie, I bet lighting could kick thunder and rain asses at the same time.

[Marmooset]

Arguably, Shang Tsung is from this film as well. They should've stolen a Kurt Russellesque character, too.

[c4spinn]

@Marmooset they did... Johnny Cage dare to compare 4 urself, of course it was a fighting game so they had to make him know how to fight.

[blodachia]

This comes as no surprise that ed boon and daniel got their idea from this one movie.I knew they imitated movie as soon as the game came out,nothing is original.

[lowenklee]

Love this film, these guys as a design concept definitely seem inspired by the Masters of Death from the Lone Wolf with Cub films though, love the addition of the elemental magic. What a great concept whatever the case.

[jhangirk]

I hd the privilige to meet James Pax aka Lightning. Man he is rell kick ass guy and ice cool too. Hope Hollywood offers him better roles to come, unlike the crap actors of today.

[Levi2008910]

@jhangirk Did Jame PAX Also Play in the Movie Storm Riders?

[jhangirk]

@Levi2008910 Just checked IMDB, afraid not.

[Levi2008910]

@jhangirk oh well it was still a good movie (BCLT) I Would rent this movie every weekend for a whole year when i was in middle school almost knew the script down to word by word like they preformed gordon Gecko script in Broiler Room lol I had it that bad lol!

[Levi2008910]

@jhangirk Except it would be the Whole Movie Script

[jhangirk]

@Levi2008910 For me these films will never be best, cause it was at a time when everything was ahead of itself. Not many films today stand the test of time, especially with today's standards that are beyond poor.

[megatron0357]

Big Trouble In Little China what the SHIT!!!!!!!

[AceBanyon]

Those lightning graphics are on point

[Dibrini]

When the F is "BTLC 2" gonna come out!

[QShaque]

Raiden Wins!

[Summon256]

@QShaque LOL Friendship...

[Dean200783]

I thought this for years

[Regime326]

yea this dude should've been raiden in mk

[evilmidget]

0:49 "butt scratcha!"

[LDKBBAB]

@evilmidget fuck....you beat me to it!

[Slimdagremlin]

@evilmidget LMAO!

[Nyrufa]

If someone descends from the fucking sky on a lightning bolt and starts shooting sparks from his arms, would YOU open fire on them with pistols!?

[Summon256]

@Nyrufa no...i'd have come closer and give him a hug...

[Summon256]

@Nyrufa i like shock terapia...

[ER0CK99]

i like the thunder guy

[kennyklove4531]

@ER0CK99 lol no i wood not :)---i wood run like hell

[Frankdanny51]

genial!!

[777Chileno]

As a kid, i actually belived that asians had these powers....

[Painkiller86]

@777Chileno Hahaha!!!

[Tigerman1138]

@777Chileno LOL! You mean they don't?!

[777Chileno]

@Tigerman1138 Im sorry you had to find out this way..... first i found out santa claus didnt exist.. then asians are just boring people with no actual powers.... its a boring world as an adult! LOL

[APOL1000]

@777Chileno lol

[salum75]

@777Chileno that is cute

[MdP2]

You know... The first time I saw a Mortal Kombat arcade machine up-close I was surprised by how it reminded me of "Big Trouble in Little China"...

The Storms from John Carpenter's "Big Trouble in Little China" were inspired by the three hat-wearing assassins from "Shogun Assassin". Older oriental films were also a source of inspiration for "Big Trouble in Little China" though.

[arsonistmonkeyzblaze]

Raiden the awezome thunder god has the most notable feature of wearing a conical hat and as god of thunder he can control lightning.

[jhangirk]

I had the privilege and honour to meet James Pax who played Lightening from Big Trouble at the Comic Con in back July this year. Such a nice fellow and asked him how does it feel to be remembered and referenced in a Video Game?

And said to him that he would make a perfect Raidan if MK was to be remade properly!

[RobbieNerve]

You should check out 'shogun assassin' early 80s kung fu film.

There are three characters in that movie on which the three guys with straw hats from big trouble in little china are based.

[GialloHorror]

It is funny how 3 characters in the original MK, that I know of came from movies.

Raiden, here. Liu Kang, Bruce Lee "Enter The Dragon", and Johnny Cage, Jean Claude Van Damme "Bloodsport"

[VierNulAcht]

mortal kombat even used similar music

[Infamous256]

Shang Tsung = Lo Pan

[PandoraKyss]

MK is based on this and also on the Van Damme film 'Bloodsport.'

[martinbarnes8]

@PandoraKyss also the bruce lee fim enter the dragon

[Kingvenom7]

when i saw big trouble in little china id allways knew it was inspired in MK, the oldman Shang Tsung, Raiden, Liu Kang and Kurt Russel Johnny Cage

[nukem11]

It basically is raiden or how he would look in a film if that stayed closer to the characrters look.

[15551cue]

so this is were mk got its idea from

[luisaheavymetal]

i love this movie i can't stop watching it! sessão da tarde volta com esse filme!

[nvhearld]

check out the big trouble in little china trailer i just made

[Sejanus]

The three Storms Lightning,Thunder and Rain

[mekoskitecho]

keny so raiden origin is on this movie johny cage in blood sport, liu kang bruce lee movies, sonya blade cintya rockot, kano looks like one guy mercenary in robocop i'm not sure, i'm wandering about scorpion ,sub zero i dont know,

[fgt73]

@mekoskitecho probably sub zero copied superman because he can also freeze stuff

[robertanthonyplant]

it's a well known fact.the creators of mortal kombat based raiden on the storm lightining.

[MrDancalvin1983]

i wish i had this power lol

[ClumzorZ]

I always heard that the "Three Storms" in this movie were based on "The Lords of Death" from the Lone Wolf and Cub show.

[DarthChr1st]

On a related note, the makers of Street Fighter got the idea for Dhalsim from the movie Master of the Flying Guillotine. Search on youtube "jimmy wang yu vs. indian" and it's the first video.

[Berni0707]

Yeah, Mortal Kombat it's similar to this movie. Johnny Cage = Jack Burton

Wang Chi = Liu Kang

Grace = Sonya Blade

David Lo Pan = Shang Tsung

[kennyklove4531]

ok so what is it based on then......

[vonghoul]

@kennyklove4531 This movie is really not "based" on anything. It's source material that inspired it was the old/ancient beliefs of the far east mixed with the modern far eastern mafia sect. Great movie. John Carpenter can do no wrong. As far as Raiden being heavily inspired if not a down right rip off of the "Lightning" character in the movie; I dont see how anyone can doubt that. But that's not a bad thing.

[Blastrix1]

Raiden means Thunder God. Raiden is a ripoff of... nothing. His name means thunder god for Christ's sake.

[RossiDelPiero]

@Blastrix1 appearance duh!!

[ichimich75]

mortal kombat and raiden are not based off this movie

[JKB1980]

Yes is The creators confirmed that this guy inspired Raiden and Lo Pan( the main villain) inspired Shang Tsung.

[ovniforos]

@ichimich75 Yes it is, Shang Tsung and Raiden.

[glockzup]

i'd zap into crispy critters all day if i could do that.

[Ghostx1977]

shame that Raiden didn't look anything like the game version IN the film MK. When I 1st heard that Mortal Kombat was being made into a film is was thinkin ...'damn Raiden's gonna look and act sooo cool' boy was I wrong!

[luisaheavymetal]

@Ghostx1977 raiden should be chinese and wear a hat and the same clothe of the game.

[kriss3d]

@Ghostx1977

Well I thought Cristopher Lambert made a really great Lord Raiden. I like his martini-dry laughter. He really has a sense of humor... Not exactly very frightening but funny.. But lets be serious.. Mortal Kombat was never really great movies ( counting all of them).. The plot was wack and only the hot women and Cristopher Lambert really held it together.

[camelflas]

they got a bunch of ideas for mortal kombat from this movie, look closely at it and youll see shang tsung lu kang and the obvious raiden

[mmakid1980]

its true mortal kombat was kinda based on this movie

[ovniforos]

@mmakid1980 Kinda ? , it was based.

[dlc85007]

What did the guy say in Chinese when they pulled out the knifes, did he say 'givem the knifes' haha

[ThePerplexo]

i havent seen this film in years! i have to do it now! thanks for reminding me how great it was.

[shinbooks]

I knew it, but I think that they should have used him in the Mortal Kombat movie instead of Christopher Lambert. I think Christopher is a great actor, but they should have used this guy instead.

[waterboyneb]

It's official, Mandarin is the boss of raiden in this movie hahaha

[egg64]

SEEE MY POWAAAAAAAH!!!!!!

[attffgg]

amazing movie!!

[kennyklove4531]

they dont make movies like this any more--------------thats why movies like this will always be cool

[LUVMEN21]

@kennyklove4531 YOU GOT THAT RIGHT!!!

[guatenico]

I THOUGHT MARTAL KOMBAT WAS MADE ,1984

[skatenate22]

No dude, MK came out in the early 90s.

[dlc85007]

no dog it was fully in the 90s i saw it in movies when i was a kid and i was born in 1985

[Aglassact77]

Yeah, The Movie John Carpenter put out in 1986, and I bought the game Mortal Kombat in 1991, then MKII came out about a year or two after that. To bad they didn't put a Jack Burton character in the game.

[ucah8er]

johnny cage.

[U3X6785]

This character could have really went somewhere....

[hunnykun101]

Wow O_O

[doc1985buckaroo]

the truth about raiden. i think they are going to make part 2

[a5s3tzo5]

is incredible is kool