10 Things You Didn’t Know About Mortal Kombat (1995)
The newest film version of the legendary fighting game Mortal Kombat has been released and whether you have already seen it or not you have to admit that the 1995 version of the film laid the groundwork for the fighting movies even two decades later. While the film was nowhere near perfect, Mortal Kombat and the AMAZING soundtrack that came along with it holds a dear spot in my heart and I’m happy to share with you 10 Things You Didn’t Know About 1995’s Mortal Kombat.
1: Director Paul W.S. Anderson had only made one small film before landing the job. He was reportedly a fan of the video game and wanted to direct the film very badly. He quickly began to research digital effects and matte paintings to the point where he became something of an expert in it and landed the role.
2: Bridgette Wilson-Sampras had read and auditioned for the role of Sonya Blade but the long casting process had led her to taking the role in Billy Madison instead. Cameron Diaz, after her role in The Mask, was cast as Sonya instead but injured herself during training for the film. Bridgette was able to slip back into the role and flew out to set the day after Billy Madison wrapped.
3: Veteran fight choreographer Pat Johnson was brought in for the film. He had worked on The Karate Kid films as well the live action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series.
4: Christopher Lambert was reportedly great to work with on the film. Many of the stars were far less experienced with the large size of the production and he kept everyone calm and collected during filming. Since he was the most expensive actor on set, they could only afford to bring him in for a few weeks while they were doing close up shots on a stage in LA. He thought the film would be better if he was there all the time instead of a stand-in so he traveled to Thailand free of charge to film his scenes.
5: Sean Connery was originally eyed for the role of Rayden but he didn’t want a physical role at this point in his career. Danny Glover was also considered before they went with Christopher Lambert.
6: Reshoots were done after test audiences thought there weren’t ‘enough fight scenes. The Johnny Cage/Scorpion scene was extended and the fight between Liu Kang and Reptile was filmed. Robin Shou served as the fight choreographer for both scenes and they are commonly considered the best fight scenes in the film.
7: While The Matrix (1999) is often considered the first big Hollywood film to use wire work, Mortal Kombat used it for multiple scenes. Robin Shou had worked for the first part of his career in Hong Kong and brought the experiences to set with him.
8: Michael Jai White claims to have been cast as Jax for the film but it’s long delays caused him to do Tyson and Spawn instead.
9: The animatronic used for the character Goro had to be controlled by 13-16 people. All of the scenes featuring the creature were filmed in a studio in LA.
10: Actors/Stuntmen Chris Casamassa (Scorpion) and Hakim Alston (Fighting Monk) were both regulars on the television show WMAC Masters. Another of their comrades on the show was Ho-Sung Pak, who did the motion capture for Liu Kang in the first and second Mortal Kombat video game.
