5 Questions: Mortal Conquest
As Mortal Conquest begins, our hero Steven Colin finds himself in a hospital bed with electrodes strapped to his body… the doctors and nurses are monitoring Steven as he sleeps. Colin is haunted by a violent dream that takes place in ancient times, where a long haired version of himself is battling Mongolians over a sword. The dream ends with Colin getting stabbed in the gut with said sword.
After I concluded my viewing of Mortal Conquest, my life changed. One viewing of Mortal Conquest and I was able to relate to Steven Colin, because I was now being haunted by a memory from my past… in this case the recent past and my memory of watching Mortal Conquest. I found myself waking up at 3am with so many unanswered questions about Mortal Conquest, questions like…
1. What is Nick Rotundo’s obsession with Alexander the Great?
Director Nick Rotundo only directed two movies over the course of his Hollywood career, 1995’s Gladiator Cop starring Lorenzo Lamas and 1999’s Mortal Conquest starring Daniel Bernhardt. In Gladiator Cop, Lamas’ Andrew Garrett is the reincarnated Alexander the Great. In Mortal Conquest, Bernhardt’s Steven Colin is the reincarnated Alexander the Great. In both movies James Hong plays Parmenion, the man who history taught us actually killed Alexander the Great and both movies plots center around the sword of Alexander the Great.
Had Nick Rotundo continued to direct movies, I have to imagine he would have made a third Alexander the Great themed movie in the early 2000’s (probably starring Mark Dacascos) because it is obvious Rotundo could not get enough of telling the same reincarnated Alexander the Great story and casting James Hong as the villain.
2. Why did James Hong play two different characters in Mortal Conquest?
And speaking of James Hong… why in the world was Hong cast as Steven Colin’s Obi Wan Kenobi like spiritual sensei when he was already Steven Colin’s chief rival in the movie? Why would Colin take advice from a spirit that looked like the guy responsible for killing him 2,000 years earlier and the guy making his life miserable again in present time? Are you trying to tell me that Gerald Okamura was not available for the role of Colin’s spiritual advisor?
3. Did I miss the part where the Cory Lee Harris character got a promotion?
When we first see Cory Lee Harris (played by Meeka Schiro) she is dressed like a beat cop. In what felt like the very next scene, she is a detective investigating the “sword play” murders and making her way over to Steven Colin’s antique store/blacksmith shop to get some background information on a piece of evidence that was found at the murder scene. As you might expect Cory eventually becomes the love interest of Colin (which means Daniel Bernhardt is not the only one who went topless in this movie) but If I missed the part where Cory got promoted that is my bad and I want to extend my congratulations to Cory. If not then the question becomes why was she dressed like a beat cop? OR why is a beat cop investigating a series of “sword play” murders?
On a side note, Cory does have the best line in the entire film when she tells Parmenion… “I don’t know you from jack shit!”
4. Why G2?
Mortal Conquest is also known as G2: Mortal Conquest, G2 Time Warrior or as IMDb lists it… just plain ol’ G2.
I really wish I knew what the significance of G2 was… but to paraphrase Cory Lee Harris, I don’t know G2 from jack shit!
5. Was this the worst Daniel Bernhardt movie I have ever seen?
What Mortal Conquest lacked in logic was more than made up for with boredom. Even the fight scenes, normally the silver lining when you have an action star/martial artist like a Daniel Bernhardt in your movie, seemed completely uninspired. If I reviewed this movie the title of this post would have easily been What Not To Watch: Mortal Conquest, but with all of that said Mortal Conquest was sadly not the worst Daniel Bernhardt movie I have ever seen.
In my opinion, the “honor” of worst Daniel Bernhardt movie still goes to Bloodsport IV: The Dark Kumite. That movie is a steaming pile of crap and the fact that it tarnished the good name of Bloodsport will probably keep it as Bernhardt’s worst film in my eyes forever. Also annoying was the fact that Bernhardt starred in the first two Bloodsport sequels, but in The Dark Kumite he played a completely different character.
I would also rank Mortal Conquest over another crappy movie Daniel Bernhardt had the misfortune of finding himself in… Supreme Champion. But saying Mortal Conquest is better than The Dark Kumite and Supreme Champion is the living and breathing definition of a backhanded compliment.
