 Okay, tell me I'm not alone in this. Early 90s, young teen, forging and destroying friendships over the intense button mashing and frantically trying to memorize and execute the exact sequence to pull off that sweet, sweet fatality. Yep, that's it. I'm talking about Mortal Kombat, the hottest and one of the most controversial games of its time. Now, Street Fighter established the foundation for fighting games, but Mortal Kombat came in and turned that model on its head. I mean, what martial artists didn't spend hours listening to the radio on your tape deck waiting to hear that kick-ass electronic Mortal Kombat theme song to come on so you could just jam that record button? Honestly, probably a lot of you. I had too much free time. But in all seriousness, back then, Mortal Kombat was a big deal, and it has blossomed with quite the solid franchise with 11 main entries in the series and a handful of spinoffs. And when it was announced that a live action movie was going to be made, I was beside myself with excitement, and I couldn't wait to see how it translated to the big screen. And now it's also just been announced that we can look forward to a brand new movie that just went into production coming out in 2021. Now, while it really hasn't quite aged well in the past 24 years, it's been that long. It still holds a rather unique place in motion picture history, and it will always hold a special sense of nostalgia for me. This film landed in a couple of different transitional phases. First, it came out during the early experimentation of video game movies. With the massive failure of the Mario Brothers movie and Street Fighter film, Hollywood was not the friendliest venue for video game adaptations at this time. So what was different this time around? In my personal opinion, both the Mario and Street Fighter films felt like they lacked the confidence to be true to the source material and almost felt apologetic. Mortal Kombat, on the other hand, knew what it was, and it doubled down on that commitment and it ended up being the first major video game movie that was successful, so it broke that barrier. Second, the early 90s was the transition into CG becoming mainstream in films. It was still fairly new and Mortal Kombat found this sweet spot of keeping one foot in the old school style of special effects and another in the new world of CGI. Now while the effects don't quite hold up to today's standards, it had enough of a wild factor for us at the time to keep us engaged. So today in honor of one of my favorite guilty pleasures of martial arts films, we're going to look at 10 fun facts about Mortal Kombat. Okay, so there's actually a reason I chose to do the Karate Kid as our first in a dojo video and Mortal Kombat as our second. Both films have something in common. They were both choreographed by Tongue Siddle Master and one of Hollywood's most notable choreographers at the time, Master Pat E. Johnson. And in fact, I have three films that I've always considered the Pat Johnson trilogy. They are the Karate Kid, Mortal Kombat, and 1990s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. These films stand out due to mainly because they show just how versatile Pat Johnson can be. Look at the dynamics of the films. The Karate Kid, he had to work with actors, most of which had zero prior martial arts experience, and he had to portray them in a realistic and relatable way. That's not an easy take. But with Mortal Kombat, he had to deal with a diverse cast, most of which did have martial arts experience and from a wide array of different arts and portray them in a magical fantasy setting and still have it be exciting. With Ninja Turtles, he had to direct stunt actors and martial artists in heavy-layed tech suits with mechanical heads and direct them to do their stunts blindly. With that film portraying the turtles in the more downward fashion, he had to balance realism with science fiction. So why do I think that Pat Johnson was able to do such a great job with these films? Mainly because he understands the story that the fighting portrays, and he also invites a lot of input from the experienced cast and masterfully blends everything together. Mortal Kombat is very much in this vein. The choreography in this film is amazing and this movie features ninjas, kung fu, karate, taekwondo, tactical combat, and magical beasts and creatures. Now Mr. Johnson lists the advice of Robin Shu, who plays Liu Kang, and also François Petit, who plays Sub-Zero. Both have a lot of extensive experience and working with Mr. Johnson, they were able to add a lot of flavor to the film's fighting styles. And in a little additional fun note, the director of the film, Paul W. Anderson, was in a little bit over his head as this was the biggest film he had worked on to this day and it was his first action film. When they started production, he often played it safe by filming all the fight scenes in the white shots, but he found that after several repetitions, the actors were getting really tired and really fast. Robin Shu gave him the advice that in the martial arts film, white shots are used only for a few seconds to establish a scene in action, and then cut in closer for the more intimate action. This then helped him streamline the film and the scenes much more efficiently. Now speaking of Robin Shu and François Petit, they were just a couple of cast members that had extensive martial arts experience. François Petit was actually the highest ranking martial artist on staff. Supposedly currently having the ranks of Kaiden Shihan in Ninjutsu, an A3 Black Belt in Jujutsu, a 7th degree Black Belt in Karate, and a 3rd degree Black Belt in Judo. He was very heavily involved with the film and they needed someone to play Sub-Zero, so he got the part, but his screen time was limited due to the amount of work he did behind the cameras. Now Robin Shu, who played Liu Kang, worked as an action star and stuntman with experience in Karate, Kempo, and Wushu. Scorpion was played by Chris Casamasa, president of the Red Dragon Karate Schools, and held the number one title forms competitor for four consecutive years. Reptile was played by Keith Cook, grand champion of five titles at the U.S. World and U.S. Open Karate tournaments, with experience in Karate, Wushu, and Taekwondo. He also played the role of Younger Sub-Zero in the sequel, Mortal Kombat and Iolation. Carrie Hiryuki Tagawa had experience in Kendo, traditional Karate, and was part of the Japanese Karate Association. He also spent his free time developing his own art of Chun Shin, in which he focuses less on the violent nature and more on the energy and fulfillment side of the arts. Lyndon Ashby, who portrayed Johnny Cage, had previous experience in Taekwondo, Kung Fu, and Karate. Trevor Goddard, who played Kano, was an avid boxer in England and held an impressive 58-1-1 record as a light heavyweight, and he came to America the Box with a professional record of 2-1-1. Gerald Okamura studied the arts of Kendo, Taekwondo, Aikido, and had a fifth degree black belt in San Shu, Kung Fu. And there's Kenneth Edwards, who played Art Lean. He had a background in multiple Chinese arts, including Northern Prane Mantis, Zhao Ga, and is the founder of the Shan Tong, Kung Fu Association of America, which eerily comes close to Shang Tsung. Now, superstition often plays a part in Hollywood, and people like to attribute curses for any ill fate met by cast members, such as the poltergeist and Superman curses, just to name a couple. Now, I don't personally buy into this. However, Mortal Kombat had some unfortunate untimely deaths, which eerily seemed to be tied to certain characters. The character of Jax was supposed to be played by Steve James, notable 80s action star, but unfortunately he passed away before production began. The role was then picked up by Gregory McKinney, who sadly passed away a couple of years after the film. Both actors were 41. Similarly, Kano seemed to carry the same fate, with Trevor Goddard passing away at age 40, and actor Darren Chalavi, who played Kano in the web series Mortal Kombat Legacy. He was 42. So that's four Mortal Kombat actors that passed away at the young ages of 40, 41, and 42. It's a little eerie if you believe in that sort of thing. Now, on the flip side of this, we have the amazing Carrie Huyuki Tegawa, who did a fantastic performance of Shang Tsung, capturing both the charm and deception of the evil sorcerer. Mr. Tegawa has a distinction of playing Shang Tsung in three different incarnations of the character. First in the 1995 film, then again he played the sorcerer in the second season of Mortal Kombat Legacy, the web series in 2013, and then once again as the voice of Shang Tsung in the recent Mortal Kombat 11 video game. I guess he's just not ready to finish him. Now, as mentioned before, this movie was developed on the threshold of CGI taking hold in the movie industry. Mortal Kombat's budget was nowhere near the likes of effects pinnacles, such as Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park, but they still utilized the technology to ump the amperage of the film. In the battle between Johnny Cage and Scorpion, the effects supervisors were originally gonna have Scorpion's spirit be a real tangible prop to be used on wires and filmed in camera. However, during brainstorming and the leap of faith, they decided to give CGI a try. Now, while it's pretty low end by today's standards, it did open up a major freedom in the scene, and it did add an element of tension. In 1995, this was super cool to see on screen. By the time Mortal Kombat the movie went into production, the video game series was already firmly established with the first game and even better second game as a part of everyone's own collection. The film primarily focuses on the story of the first game, but it does include a few overlapping features from Mortal Kombat 2, including the inclusion of Jax, Kitana, Outworld, and the Emperor of Shao Kahn. Now, while this film was in production, so was the new Mortal Kombat 3 arcade game, and they were in fact marketed together in dual campaigns. Now, one of the new features of Mortal Kombat 3 was the inclusion of combat codes or a series of icons that players could enter and unlock characters and special features of the game. These codes were found everywhere in game manuals, magazines, advertisements, and even in the movie. Although not always easy to decipher, the Mortal Kombat 3 combat codes can be found peppered throughout the film. Each Mortal Kombat character is known for their own signature moves in the game. Many of them are basic, but some are just outright outlandish. The movie I felt did a pretty good job including at least one special move for each video game character. Raiden, Harness, Lightning, and Teleportation. Sony Blade did her leg grab takedown. Johnny Cage got both his shadow kick and his split speed deck move. Sub-Zero Ice Disopponents. Scorpion used both his spear and its teleportation. Shang Tsung used his shape-shifting. Goro, his grab-and-pound move. Reptile has acid attack and spit, and they somehow even worked in Liu Kang's bicycle kick and fireball. Now, there were even some nods to the game's finishing moves, including Scorpion's fire breath and Johnny Cage's friendship move from Mortal Kombat 2. However, there seems to be two characters that did not get to utilize their signature moves from the game. Kitana and Kano. Their fights were among the smaller moments of the film, but they didn't really break out any video game moves, although Kitana did in the second movie. Hmm, and both of the names start with K. Coincidence? Probably. The two major non-human characters in this film could not have been made any more different from each other. We have the Outworld Mortal Kombat Champion of Goro and the slimy, stealthy Reptile. Now, Reptile was less impressive in design. He was a later addition to the film, and his animation and texturing did not age well at all. But to be fair, he was a little cringe-worthy even then. CGI was still really expensive and experimental, but I do give him credit for including an all-CG character, which really still wasn't all that common at the time. Goro, on the other hand, was much more impressive looking. He was constructed out of a mechanical rig strapped to an actor. The actor walked and controlled the lower arms, which the rig controlled the mechanical upper arms via motion control. Goro's head was also remotely controlled, and the blended effect created what I felt was a pretty cool and menacing character at the time. Now, it was a little well known that the Goro animatronic experienced a lot of issues, and it broke down a lot. But the mark of a good film is being able to push through broken technology. I'm looking at you, Bruce. There's this current stigma regarding films and reshoots. Lately, when people hear of a film going into reshoots, the assumption seems to be that something's horribly wrong, something's wrong with the film. But the truth is, reshoots were always were a very common practice in motion pictures. Many times what works on paper doesn't always translate to a finished edit. The reshoots are the way that you nip and tuck your film to be as good as it can be. Now, I think I can fairly say that most fans of the movie are pretty much in agreement on the two best fights in the film. The first, between the battle of Johnny Cage and Scorpion, and the second, Luke Hanger Reptile. And both of these sequences were the results of reshoots. When they played the original cut of the film to test audiences, the result was lukewarm, with many people feeling that the movies didn't really contain enough action scenes. As a result, they set Robin Shoe out to direct the second unit and film additional scenes. The first was actually an expansion of Johnny Cage and Scorpion. In the original cut of the film, the fight ended with Johnny Cage shadow kicking the specter in the Battle in the Woods. In the reshoots, they decided to extend the sequence through a portal and have them undergo an epic underworld rumble. The scene was fierce, visually appealing, and totally engaging. It was a fun sequence and it actually felt like it was ripped right out of the Mortal Kombat game. Now, the human reptile fight was never originally intended to be in the film at all, and it was added last minute. And ironically, it's probably the most high octane fight of the film. And it's in these scenes that you can see the directional differences between Pat Johnson and Robin Shoe. Pat Johnson's fight scenes featured more character development, dialogue, and that moved the story along. Robin Shoe's scenes were just balls to the wall, fun, exciting, and it captured the spirit of Mortal Kombat. You can get a sense of some of the Kung Fu production with frantically fierce and well-coordinated counters, fast cutting, and inclusion of wire work. In fact, these are the only two fights in the movie that use wire work at all. And this is one of the first mainstream American films to feature wire work as well. Now, in a film that features extensive martial arts, injuries are unfortunately a possibility. Now, while most of the cast of this film were experienced martial artists and many did their own stunts, a few actors did experience some accidents. During one of Sony Blade's fight scenes, actress Bridget Wilson suffered a dislocated shoulder. Luckily, it wasn't too severe and set medics were able to reset it easily and she was able to continue filming. Lyndon Ashby had expressed an interest in stunt doubles for many scenes, but Robin Shoe talked him out of it, saying it was best to do as many of your own stunts as possible. He did very well, but during his fight with Scorpion, one of Scorpion's kicks happened to land between protective padding and he accidentally bruised one of Ashby's kidneys. He was ultimately fine, but he apparently urinated blood for a bit. Robin Shoe convinced him to go without a stunt double and then he was injured in a scene directed by Robin Shoe. Coincidence? Yeah, probably. But that's okay, Robin Shoe didn't get away scot-free either. During his battle with Reptile, he was flung by the Green Ninja and he struck a pillar on the set, actually breaking two of his ribs. He didn't tell anyone because he was afraid that they would halt production. So in the end, they were the winners of the box office, but it wasn't the flawless victory. Yeah, I went there, deal with it. Now, as a quit bonus fun fact, the Mortal Kombat film is also known for its killer soundtrack. Now, this was another risky move by the filmmakers. The studio and record company wanted to fill the movie with pop music, but the filmmakers really wanted to try an electronic dance music score. The producers really had to fight for it, but they eventually got their way and it paid off. Mortal Kombat was one of the first films to have an EMD soundtrack go platinum and it did it in less than two weeks. And one more bonus fun fact, Trevor Goddard was so good at playing Kano that he actually permanently changed the character for the origin story canon. In the original storyline, Kano was of Japanese American descent, but Goddard came in as an Australian and he nailed his addition so well that Mortal Kombat creators John Tobias and Ed Boone were totally impressed and they decided to change the character background to Australian and it remained that way in all future games. Even funnier about this was that Trevor Goddard lied. He wasn't even Australian. He claimed to be Australian, but he was born in England, but he did so well with the accent, and they all believed that to be his nationality. I mean, it is fitting, Kano was not a man to be trusted. So I really hope that you enjoyed this episode. I had a lot of fun researching this one. And as I mentioned at the beginning, that I've considered this the second of my own Pat Johnson trilogy with the third one being Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. So as you've probably guessed, that will be our next Nintendo feature. In the meantime, I've listed a bunch of Mortal Kombat goodness down in the description below, so go enjoy. Thank you so much for watching. Please like, subscribe, join us on Patreon for exclusive content. And as always, I would love to hear your contributions in the comment section. If you're new to the channel, we have a ton of content and we're always expanding every day. So get over here. Yeah, this is why I get down those.