Mortal Kombat (film)

Mortal Kombat (film)

Mortal Kombat is a 1995 American action film directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. Based on the Mortal Kombat series of fighting games, the film was the first part of the Mortal Kombat film series.

The film follows the warrior Liu Kang, actor Johnny Cage, and Special Forces agent Sonya Blade, guided by the Thunder God Raiden, on their journey to combat the evil sorcerer Shang Tsung and his forces in a tournament to save Earth. The main inspiration for the film was the first title of the video game series, but also featured elements and characters from the game Mortal Kombat II.

Mortal Kombat was filmed primarily in Los Angeles, as well as on location in Thailand. The film was released on August 18, 1995 in the United States, on October 20, 1995 in the United Kingdom and on December 26, 1995 in Australia.

The film proved very popular with fans of the games, despite receiving mixed reviews by critics upon its release, and spent three weeks as the #1 film at the United States box office and earned a total of $122,195,920 worldwide. Due to its success at the box office, the film later spawned a sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, released in 1997, and a television series, Mortal Kombat: Konquest, released in 1998.